Our Norstar Meridian phone system w 6

[regent23]

Our Norstar Meridian phone system with about 25 lines and roughly 115 phones occasionally will disconnect all lines and shut down and then restart.(This has always been the case for about 3 years now - maybe 4 times a month) The latest twist came after we assigned one line as a "private Line" on one phone, right after we did that the system showed all lines as out of service - when rebooted everything was fine.

Today , About 3 days later the system suddenly showed all lines out of service and would not provide any outside lines
we restarted the system and everything came back again.

Any ideas as to what the problem could be?

 

[jeter]

Sounds like it is time to upgrade. “Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all”

Fisher CCNA,(CCNP-Routing)
UOP Student BSIT

 

[lowradiation]

It may be that your phone system is plugged into a dead battery back-up which is plugged into a non-dedicated power outlet - ex. a power drain happens on the circuit causing the battery back-up to switch to battery (which is dead) so the phone system goes down even though there is no power outage in the building.
The phone sytem should be connected to a dedicated 110 VAC, 50/60 Hz, 15 A minimum service with a third wire safety ground - consult an electrician to make sure.

 

[Guest_imported]

The first thing we need to know is the software version on the ksu? the second is what alarms and events are in the system test log? This information can be located in the maintance section. Here are three possable problems that come to mind 1. there is a software problem that "fills up a buffer" then the system resets itself to clear. 2. there is a station port that is on a faulty cable run that is introducing garbled data into the system causing a reset. 3. there is a device plugged into a station port that shouldn't be there. ie an analog phone or modem in a norstar phone location. and if there was a fourth one it would be overall bad/old/messy site wiring.

 

[Arr]

I've seem this behavior on a Compact 6/16. On that machine it is the CPU having a bad day. The CPU needed replacing.

PhM

 

[VEASEL]

We've had that problem on two diferent ICS's. On both it was
a software problem. Nortel is aware of this and issued a bulletin. I believe the software was 3.0 or 3.1.
Good luck
Randy

 

[regent23]

The lastest on this situation is the system giving alarm coes 68-0702, 68-0715 and 51-02. With a couple of shutdowns


Having real fun. Thanks for your input.

 

[Guest_imported]

alarm 51: a trunk module has been disconnected. module 2 is the core ksu.
alarm 68: a device has been connected to a port which is not available for the device type.
action: power down the systemand disconnect the device from the port identified reconnect to a valid port.
translation: you have something goofy plugged into ports 702 and 715 pull the jumpers from these ports and cycle the power. if one of your phones goes dead there is a problem with the cabling to that set. I don't have an explanation for module 2 being disconnected other than it may be related to the ports 702 and 715. good luck.

 

[regent23]

I did have a tech install about seven ext's to an Anaolg Station port about 2 weeks ago - Could that have something to do with this?

 

[Guest_imported]

possable, but you stated in your first post that this has been happening (the system shutting down ) for about three years. best call the tech back and get him to check his work. explain to him that your system is resetting if you don't get any results call the next company. give him a chance, it might take a couple visits though.

 

[regent23]

It has been going on for 3 years - but much more frequently since the analogs weree added and the not in service lines had never happened until last week.

Thanks for all your responses west coaster.

Best regards,

 

[wgombar]

I hate to say it but....Has anyone ever looked at the ground wire? I had a EKTS problem a few months ago where
if 8 people were on the phone, once the ninth person picked up the telephone, the system reset.

After many hours on the job I decided to take a look at the only thing that hadn't been replaced, the ground wire.

When I went into the ceiling (3rd floor of a 3 story building) I found the ground wire attached to the steel roof trusses. Once I ran the groung to a cold water pipe
there has been no trouble since...

Hope that this helps.


Wayne Gombar, General Manager
Coppercable Network Systems Inc.
wayne.gombar@coppercable.com

 

[Guest_imported]

there is no ground wire on a norstar system

 

[lowradiation]

it's grounded through the outlet which is why it is recommended that you disconnect the CO trunks when you unplug the KSU

 

[regent23]

Turns out that the KSU needs to be replaced and the software has to be upgraded ... Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Guest_imported]

while I am hardly the all seeing , all knowing phone god, I am skeptical about the replacement of the ksu. the software upgrade I agree with 100% If you are under a maintaince contract smile and go along with it, if you are paying for it ask more questions like what was with alarm 68-702/715? there is probably lots more info that we ( the board ) are not seeing to cause your interconnect to replace the ksu. keep us posted as to your results.

 

[Arr]

If the KSU must be replaced, then it can also be repaired. If the problem turns out to be a bad CPU chip as I suggested here in a previous post, then any vendor worth the name will have a spare on hand to rent to you while your system is repaired at an authorized depot. While repairs are often cheaper than full replacement, sometimes it isn't worth the cost if it comes close enough to new. BUT check it out.

PhM

 

[regent23]

Well the good news is this software upgrade and new KSU are included in my service contract so we will be ahead of the game - A few months ago they wanted me to pay for a software upgrade, so this worked out well.

Thknks to all !

 

[KABUKI]

If you replace the ksu and upgrade the software and it starts happening again make absolutely sure to have an electrician come and proclaim your power is clean. Norstar
is an outstanding system but it doesn't like power problems of any kind. I once knew of a Norstar that was getting inteference from to large fax machines and would lose programming,rare but possible. Also make sure the Norstar has it's own electrical outlet with nothing else plugged into it. I've also witnessed a flash voicemail that shutdown when a certain customer's wife left him a voicemail the tone of her voice sent it into a shutdown strange but true I've been working on Norstar for 13 years and while it's a very good system, it's made by man not God
and it has it's weaknesses.