Troubleshooting Start Fail Alarms

Owned by Michael Blake
Jul 25, 2024
3 min read

About Start Fail Alarms

A pump Start Fail alarm indicates that the Specific Energy Tagger expected to see a pump start (either from seeing a HOA turn to Hand or from its control logic attempting to start the pump), but it never received the feedback to say that the pump was running.

Every pump has a Start Fail Time which is the amount of time that the controller will wait after expecting to see the pump start before triggering the Start Fail Alarm (default: 30 seconds). This helps account for the real world delay between telling a pump to start and it actually spinning up.

Start Fail alarms can have various causes including unaccounted HOA’s, loose wires, misconfigured VFDs, etc. This document is procedural way of diagnosing why a start fail might be occurring.

Diagnosing a Start Fail Alarm

In the event of an unexpected Start Fail:

  1. Verify that the VFD or Soft Starter is powered on.

  2. Verify that no HOA's may be preventing the Tagger from starting a pump, i.e. HOA is in HAND (this includes settings on VFD's such as "Local Mode").

  3. Verify that there or no faults codes on the VFD or soft starter. If there are, address them according to the documentation provided with your starter.

  4. Verify that if the pump is put into physical HOA HAND or Local Mode, it starts. If the pump doesn't start with a direct, local HAND signal, the issue most likely lies within the VFD or soft starter. Consult your starter’s documentation.

  5. If the Tagger is using a PLC to start the pump over a hardwired connection:

    1. Verify that the PLC is receiving the start signal from the Tagger when the pump is in Hand on Specific Energy. The appropriate output on the PLC should energize. If it is not, there is a communications or configuration issue between the PLC and the Tagger. Run manually until your system integrator can investigate with support from a Specific Energy technician.

    2. Verify if the PLC output is delivering the correct power (e.g. 24 VDC) to energize the starter/VFD when the pump is in Hand on Specific Energy. If it is not, this output may be malfunctioning, and rewiring  or replacing the PLC/PLC card will most likely be needed.

    3. Verify that the power to energize the starter/VFD is making it to the driver/Starter when the pump is in Hand on Specific Energy. If it is not, there may be an electrical issue between the PLC and VFD or on the VFD input board.

    4. If using a basic “across-the-line” starter, perform the required maintenance procedures to diagnose its failure to start.

    5. If using a soft starter or VFD:

      1. Verify that the VFD is configured to receive start signals from the the terminal inputs. If it is not, set it to the correct setting, power cycle the drive, and test starting the pump in Hand on Specific Energy.

      2. Follow the troubleshooting steps for you VFD to diagnose its failure to start.

  6. If the Tagger is starting a soft starter or VFD over digital communications:

    1. Verify that the VFD is configured to receive start signals from the the communication port it uses to communicate with the Tagger. If it is not, set it to the correct setting, power cycle the drive, and test starting the pump in Hand on Specific Energy.

    2. Verify the value of the VFD parameter that indicates Remote Start Status* when the pump is in Hand on Specific Energy:

      1. If it is OFF, there is an issue in the coordinated configuration between the VFD and the Tagger. Run manually until a Specific Energy technician can coordinate with you to verify configuration details for the drive.

      2. If it is ON, follow the troubleshooting steps for your VFD to diagnose its failure to start.

 

*The particular naming and configuration schema of VFDs is not consistent across makes and models. Consult documentation for your VFD to find the correct configuration parameters that are supposed to allow for adjusting how the VFD can be started by remote devices (i.e., the Specific Energy Tagger).