Common Problems

The following common problems may be resolved with the accompanying solutions listed below. The most likely solutions below assume that the site was once operational. However, if problems arise during installation, the least likely solutions may be the cause.

Trains are not recorded.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective wheel detector(s)

2) Defective WDI Card (TDA-104)

3) Defective external presence detector (stuck on)

4) Defective battery charger (dead batteries)

5) Defective phone line (difficulty reporting trains)

6) Defective lightning arrestor

7) Bad wiring connection (Check connections from splice box all the way to APU-102.)

8) Acquisition.Operating parameters are set up incorrectly. (WheelDetectorGain, WheelDetectorThreshold, WheelDetectorSeparation, etc.)

9) Defective Solid State Disk (USSD Card-E series APU; Disk-On-Chip, P series APU Compact Flash PN (LPMTX with network) and L series APU); cannot write to disk.

10) Trains did not pass site. Verify trains actually passed by site.

There are missing cars in a train.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective wheel detector(s)

2) Defective external presence detector (dropping presence, chopping trains)

3) Cars were not actually on train.

Tags are not being read.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective or damaged antenna

2) Poor RF power at antenna. (Possible bad connector, coax, lightning arrestor, or RF Unit. Check for Low FWD PWR at antenna or unusually high Reflected Power.)

3) Defective RF Unit (Low RF Output Power out)

4) Defective AI1200 (Reader Logic Card in APU-102)

5) Defective COM4 or LX-COM Card (Cannot talk to Reader Logic Card.)

6) Acquisition.Reader parameters are set up wrong. (Reader1, Reader2, Reader3)

7) RF interference from external source.

Trains are not reporting to the host.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

Dial-up Reporting

1) Defective phone line

2) Defective modem

3) Modem parameters are set up incorrectly

4) Host Reporting parameters are set up incorrectly. (Host Phone Number, Site Information, Access File)

5) No long distance access from site

6) Host problem

7) Defective CPU card (bad com port for modem communications)

Network Reporting

1) Network connectivity failure

2) Network parameters are set up incorrectly

3) Host Reporting parameters (network) are set up incorrectly. (Host IP or URL, DNS Table file, Site Information, Access File, FTP INI file

4) Host problem

5) Defective Network Card or Network interface on CPU card.

I cannot dial into the APU-102 remotely.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective phone line

2) Defective modem

3) Defective CPU card

4) Modem parameters are set up incorrectly

5) APU has switched modem to Line 2. (TDA104, motherboard)

6) AC power has failed and batteries are now dead or LVD-2000 has disconnected loads

I cannot telnet into the APU-102 remotely

1) Network connectivity failure

2) Network parameters are set up incorrectly

3) Defective Network Card or Network interface on CPU card.

2) APU-102 is running in ROMSHELL mode

3) AC power has failed and batteries are now dead or LVD-2000 has disconnected loads

An antenna failure message appears on the Maintenance Report.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective or damaged antenna

2) Poor RF power at antenna. (Possible bad connector, coax, lightning arrestor, or RF Unit. Check for Low FWD PWR at antenna or unusually high Reflected Power.)

3) Defective RF Unit (Low RF Output Power out)

4) Defective AI1200 (Reader Logic Card in APU-102)

5) Defective COM4 or LX-COM Card (Cannot talk to Reader Logic Card.)

6) Acquisition.Reader parameters are set up wrong. (Reader1, Reader2, Reader3)

7) RF interference from external source

8) SysDiags.Antenna parameters are set up incorrectly

An antenna warning message appears on the Maintenance Report.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective or damaged antenna

2) Poor RF power at antenna. (Possible bad connector, coax, lightning arrestor, or RF Unit. Check for Low FWD PWR at antenna or unusually high Reflected Power.)

3) Defective RF Unit (Low RF Output Power out)

4) Acquisition.Reader parameters are set up wrong. (Reader1, Reader2, Reader3)

5) RF interference from external source.

6) SysDiags.Antenna parameters are set up incorrectly

7) Lightning Protection

A wheel detector failure message appears on the Maintenance Report.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) Defective or damaged wheel detector(s) including cable

2) Defective WD Interface (TDA-105)

3) Defective WDI Card (TDA-104)

3) Bad connection

4) Acquisition.Operating parameters are set up wrong. (Gain, Threshold, Spacing, “C” segment mode)

5) SysDiags parameters are set up incorrectly

6) Lightning Protection

An A/C power fail message appears on the Maintenance Report.

Typical Solutions (from most likely to least likely):

1) AC power has failed.

2) Tripped breaker on AC power fail transformer

3) Defective AC power fail transformer

4) Defective WDI card (TDA-104)

Flow Charts

The following troubleshooting flow charts are included in this chapter:

Chart 1:	Modem Diagnostic
Chart 1A:	Modem Diagnostic-CPU Test
Chart 2:	APU-102 does not record trains.
Chart 2A:	External Presence Loop Diagnostic
Chart 2B:	Wheel Detector Diagnostic
Chart 2C:	Lightning Arrestors Diagnostic
Chart 2D:	Solid State Disk Diagnostic
Chart 2E:	Old Code Diagnostic
Chart 3:	Mini Remote Support (MRS) /ROMSHELL Diagnostic
Chart 4:	Power Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 4A:	+5VDC Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 4A-1:	+5VDC Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 4B:	+12VDC Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 4B-1:	+12VDC Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 4C:	+12.5VDC Reader 1 Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 4D:	+12.5VDC Reader 2 Distribution Diagnostic
Chart 5:	CPU Card Diagnostic
Chart 5A:	CPU Card Diagnostic
Chart 5B:	CPU Card-Local Port Diagnostic
Chart 6:	Missing Tags Diagnostic
Chart 6A:	Reader Logic Board Diagnostic
Chart 6B:	RF Unit Diagnostic
Chart 6C:	Missing Tags-ITC Check Diagnostic
Chart 7:	COM Card Diagnostic
Chart 7C:	COM Card-Reader Ports Diagnostic
Chart 7C-1:	COM Card-Reader Ports Diagnostic