SigNET 200 "E-Bus expander communication fault"

Pauley2

Over the past few weeks I keep getting intermittent "E-Bus expander communication fault" notices via SMS. Sometimes there'll be up to 5 in one day, other days nothing..

Yet the (SMS) logs indicate that the system is being set and unset properly and seems to function OK.

I can't physically get to the system (Signet 200 + expander unit, about 10 years old now...) for at least a few days but am wondering what to expect other than to double check and re tighten all wiring connections.

I HATE intermittent problems!!

Anyone come across this before?

Tx!

davidconroy46

Have you checked battery voltage in panel or if you have power supplies batteries. Have to be 12v plus also check the wiring going to the exspander. If ok poss new exspander wanted.

KoolKid

Pauley2 wrote: »

Over the past few weeks I keep getting intermittent "E-Bus expander communication fault" notices via SMS. Sometimes there'll be up to 5 in one day, other days nothing..

Yet the (SMS) logs indicate that the system is being set and unset properly and seems to function OK.

I can't physically get to the system (Signet 200 + expander unit, about 10 years old now...) for at least a few days but am wondering what to expect other than to double check and re tighten all wiring connections.

I HATE intermittent problems!!

Anyone come across this before?

Tx!

Can you give us an idea of the wiring configuration for the entire Ebus?
How many expanders & keypads?
Are they wired daisy chain or star configuration?
Are there EOL terminations in place on the last devices?

Pauley2

1 expander unit (8 input/2output - outputs unused)
2 keypads
Daisy chain for keypads
Expander direct connect.

No EOLs on the ebus - the manual doesn't mention anything about EOLs... In fact all it says is this:
"The EBUS interface allows connection of the Keypads to the SigNET Controller. The EBUS can be wired in a ring configuration (Controller to Keypad, then last Keypad back to Controller) or Spur configuration (Controller to Keypad, last Keypad does not connect to Controller) with a maximum distance between Expanders of 400 metres."

It worked for years without an ebus EOL, but it might help to install one - where/how would I do that?

I'll check the voltages per above and now that I look at the logs closer I can see that I was getting some "tamper" notices on one of the zones connected through the expander which have stopped since the ebus warnings, so that circuit is suspect too and might be the root cause. Given that it's just a "tamper" I think I'll just short it out at the expander and disable it...

Tx for the ideas. I'll post back when I can get my hands on it!

KoolKid

Probably no need for the EOLs in that configuration anyway.
Maybe try switching the expander & keypad inputs and reconfigure.

Pauley2

I finally got to the bottom of this. It turns out that one of the wires in the cable to the furthermost keypad somehow went bad (I checked with a meter - it wasnt broke, but it had developed a higher resistance than the others). Luckily there was a spare working pair in the same cable so I switched to those and all seems OK for now...

I also put in what I assume is the terminating jumper (it's mentioned but not identified in the manual) at the first keypad which didn't have one. "J3" - roughly in the middle of the circuit board - is that the correct one?

Things seem to be working OK and there are no obvious errors when operating the alarm HOWEVER I've noticed another issue, which for the sake of clarity, I'll put in a new thread..

Tx all..

KoolKid

The terminating jumper should be applied on the last device on a cable run.
I would leave them all off of a small configuration like that.