Tone Generators and Addressable Loops

[gadfly56]

We were doing some work recently and had to troubleshoot some ground faults on a Siemens MXL addressable panel. Wiring was a real mare's nest and just figuring out which wire was our patient was a real headache. I thought we'd just tone out the wires to trace 'em, but figured I'd call Tech Support for grins and giggles. Well, you'd think I was suggesting we club baby seals for fun the way Tech Support reacted. They'd "never heard" of someone toning out a loop for troubleshooting ! There was a lot of dark muttering about "voltage transients", "reflected waveforms", "EEPROM damage", and phases of the moon for all I know. The upshot was that no one at the other end of the phone knew if toning the wire would actually damage the addressable devices.

So, my question is this: Does anyone have actual experience, especially with Siemens MXL equipment, toning addressable loops with programmed devices attached? Were the Hounds of Hell unleashed or was it just another day at the job site?

 

[brennan]

A tone generator will not hurt the addressable devices. I have used it before on something like this. But if you disconnect the line the devices will be in trouble so you know where to look.

 

[lvz2fsh]

I second that......And its the best way in my opinion....Or you can just trip devices and find the zones thats way.

 

[lvz2fsh]

Yes you can use a toner. And i would start about mid way in the circuit and look both ways to try and isolate the fault. then once u find if its on the panel side or the eol side just go from device to device and you will find it....

 

[PMcCarty]

You can always test your toner on one device removed from the cuircuit to see if it will damage the device and then test the device with the programer or just remove the devices from the loop before testing.

The tone generator should not harm the devices, Time is money and a lot of techs don't have the time (to remove alot of devices) and just tone the circuits with the devices in place. Works great on speaker circuits, you can hear the tone in the speaker without the toner probe.

 

[quogueelectric]

At the risk of repeating myself the amprobe 2005 series is about 1200 bucks but it can safely be used on energized and deenergized network circuits.