Think my system got toasted by the snowstorm ...

[mrdom]

Hi everyone:

I think my ACS7 processor is toasted. We had a power failure last evening as the result of the fabulous snowstorm that struck our area. The strange thing is that the system was connected to a APC/UPS. Upon powering up, the processor module lights green, but after direct-plugging a known working phone into each station jack, I've got nothing.

I've got a 012E module installed as well, and that seemes to be OK - the digital sets connected to it are working without a problem. It appears that the processor has lost all its programming, as the system phones display the default date and time. Would you say that this processor is officially dead?

I'm not sure what's going on with the messaging module. It appears to boot, but it's blinking amber. If the processor lost its programming, there are no extensions assigned to the VM. Could this be why its blinking amber, or could this be toasted too?

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[TouchToneTommy]

The VM will blink until the ports are in the hunt group, so if you've lost programming, that's the reason. Yes, your ACS is toast and needs repair or replacement.

 

[mrdom]

thanks, tommy, as always, for the post. great news about the vm - the programming isn't bad, but redoing all the greetings and aa's would have been horrible.

when the acs loses power, i'm assuming the batteries are intended for keeping the programming in memory? how long will the programming be retained when the acs loses power? the batteries weren't brand new, but had no warnings that they were going bad.

found out that a wire snapped - that probably sent a spike to the acs that the ups couldn't handle ... ?? there was a computer on that ups as well and that was ok. weird ...

i will most likely go for an r8 processor as that is the newest. anything i should be mindful of with the new release?

thanks again for the help.

 

[Dexman]

The batteries in 5x9 processors (R7 & R8) really serve no function other than to keep the replace batteries message off of the system display phones connected to x10 & x11.

The R7 processor was a snake-bitten release. One of the earliest problems was that the processor would lose programming if power was cut. Several patches were released. One of them included a work-around where the processor will automatically boot up off of either the programming stored in internal memory, or off of the programming found on an external PCMCIA.

Just for giggles, press "FEATURE 5 9" and let us know what software the R7 processor is running.

I "FEATURE 00

 

[mrdom]

Thanks for your post, Dex. I would get you the info if it would stay on long enough. After I took it out of the slot carrier and powered via cord, it's now blinking on and off - it must have really gotten fried.

I've got the R8 ACS now, and will send the R7 in for repair. I'm still trying to resolve an issue with one of our extensions in another building. All but one extension is working. Guess I'll have to buzz it out to see if I can find out what the issue is. Could the failure have wiped out the wiring that goes to this extension? They're on a phone surge arrestor blocks before going to phones/system. If everything else is working, I'm finding it hard to imagine it could be one of the arrestor blocks ...

I'm still at a loss as to why the R7 got toasted when it was plugged into a pretty hefty UPS unit with plenty of battery life. With other failures we've had, the system has run happily on the UPS battery while the main power is off. The only other thing I can think of is that I have a computer running for music on hold. Perhaps somehow a spike went through the computer and into the music plug which zapped the processor? I'm not an electrician by any means ...

Would you recommend another kind of setup in terms of protecting the system? The R7 ran happily for four years without any issues, so I'm hoping that this was just a freak accident and won't be repeated.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[Dexman]

The processor, indeed, appears to be toasted .

In-house wiring rarely goes bad. Direct-connecting a known working system phone to the port in question is the quickest way to tell if a problem is wiring or processor related.

I suppose it is still possible for a quick spike to get past filters. If a power supply simply fails (as they can & will do at some point) the electronics could take a hit.

Another angle to consider is grounding. A now inactive member of Tek-Tips discovered that, under certain circumstances, a processor could be subjected to damage if it is grounded to anything other than the electrical outlet that the system is plugged into. In brief.....the person kept getting called back to a customer's location because processors were failing. At one point, he noticed that the AC plug was warm and when he connected the ground wire to a replacement processor, he saw a spark. Turns out that there was a voltage differential between the AC outlet and the ground point (building steel I think). This caused tracings in the processors' power board to fail. The person now either does not connect to the ground screw, or, connects it to a grounding block that plugs into the AC power outlet.

For protection, I would use secondary protectors like the ones pictured at the following link:

http://www.metrolinedirect.com/sumovoanddal.html

I would also make sure that the UPS is in good shape and replace it if needed.

I "FEATURE 00