WattMaster WCC III part 13 - Manual (Page 4)

WCC III Technical Guide 13A-2
13. WCC III - MCD INSTALLATION GUIDE
The WCC III – MCD Basic Operating
Conditions
The WCC III - MCD must be kept in a clean and dry area in the
building. The ambient temperature must be between 50 and 100 °F,
and the relative humidity must be kept between 0 and 90% (non-
condensing). The interior components are cooled by ventilation
fans within the WCC III – MCD unit, and therefore the unit should
not be kept in tightly confi ned or enclosed areas. The WCC III -
MCD is primarily designed to mount on a wall with the supplied
brackets.
The WCC III – MCD computer requires 115 VAC power and must
remain powered at all times for proper operation and control. The
115 VAC power circuit must be separate and dedicated exclusively
to the WCC III – MCD computer.
A dedicated Network IP Address or Domain Name is required.
Uninterruptable Power Supply
The WCC III - MCD system is designed to automatically restart
after a power failure. However, the industrial computer which
acts as the WCC III Master Communications Device will not
automatically reboot unless the power is shut off cleanly and
then restored cleanly. During most power outages, the incoming
115 AC voltage could have great fl uctuations before the power
fi nally fails. In a like manner, brownouts will usually cause the
industrial computer to “lock-up.” That is to say, the screen will
continue to display on the monitor, but the cursor will not respond
to the keyboard commands. To prevent this “lock-up” issue from
happening to the WCC III – MCD, an Uninterruptible Power
Supply (UPS) is required on each and every WCC III – MCD
computer.
An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) provides emergency
power to keep the WCC III Master Communications Device
(personal computer) on-line for several minutes after a primary
power failure. The UPS regulates the incoming power to the
computer and shuts the power off cleanly several seconds after the
power outage, or brownout. When the primary power is restored,
the UPS brings the MCD back on-line automatically. The WCC
III system does not lose any information since all of the programs
and user entered data are stored on either a disk in the MCD, on
fi rmware, or on battery backed memory in the satellite controllers.
Basic Operating Conditions
MCD (Master Communications
Device)
The MCD has the following specifi cations:
•
A PCI Slot type Single Board Computer in a wall
mounted case
•
Processor - Pentium M processor running at 1.3
Ghz
•
Memory – 1 GB SODIMM
•
Hard Drive – Solid State 8 GB Hard Drive.
•
2 line by 20 character Dot Matrix LCD display
•
Backplane – A passive 5 slot PCI backplane
•
Required I/O
1 - External RS232 port (9 Pin connector)
2 - External USB ports
2 - Internal USB ports
1 - Ethernet Port
Software Updates
WCC III-MCD program updates will be made available using
USB “jump” drives and/or internet uploading.
NOTE: As of September 1, 2009 all WCC III - MCDs will
only be shipped with the Linux operating system installed.
Older Windows XP-based WCC III - MCDs should be
upgraded for any future support issues from WattMaster.
The Windows XP operating system is at the end of long
term support with Microsoft. Microsoft’s main issues are
with continuous updates, and the multitude of viruses that
are written for Windows XP are also of concern. The Linux
operating system software on the WCC III - MCD must be
maintained and updated periodically. WattMaster Controls,
Inc. can do these software updates and upgrades remotely
via the internet only if the WCC III - MCD is connected
to the internet. This is why internet access to the WCC
III - MCD is so important. Failure to keep the operating
system updated could result in a WCC III - MCD system
malfunction. WattMaster Controls, Inc. is not responsible for
a system failure that is so generated due to lack of upgrading
or updating because the end customer does not provide a
static IP connection for the WCC III - MCD to the internet for
WattMaster Controls to connect to.