LED lights. What are they good for, and how to read them.

LEDs

What are they good for and how to read them?

This post applies directly to the VFlex control board, but does not include the Solar VFlex.

 

What is an LED anyways?

Light Emitting Diode

Why are they there?

Basically, each LED is monitoring a specific circuit on the operator. The way the LED is behaving will indicate the status of that circuit.

 What are they Good for?

The LEDs can be used to qualify an installation, or service, and is the first step in troubleshooting. They indicate the status of the board, operator, and what the board believes is the gate status.

In regards to troubleshooting, they are priceless and one of the most important tools available to you. In order to get the most from what the LEDs have to offer, you must first pay attention to them. Do not underestimate the wealth of information that they can provide.
 

How to use them:

Whether they are blinking, solid or not illuminated at all, they are telling you something. To decode the LEDs properly, you have to pay attention the other LEDs that are monitoring related circuits. For example:

The motor won't run when you give the board a command:

·         "AUX. PWR" illuminated solid

o   This is normal and means that the board has responded to your command and is currently providing power to the motor circuit. Motor should be running.

·         "Check Motor" illuminates solid a few seconds later,

o   This is NOT normal, but does confirm that there is power on the motor circuit. However, the circuit is incomplete. So the power doesn't make it across the motor. Motor can't run on an incomplete circuit.

Alone, either one of these LEDs tells you only part of the story. Together, they give you a broader picture of what's going on.

 What do the mean?

It is also important to understand how the LEDs SHOULD behave and when. For this reason, I will group them by related circuits and identify what to look for according to their status.

 

24V Power Supply Group

These LEDs monitor the low voltage power to, and through, the control board.

·         "POWER" monitors the incoming 24VAC to the VFlex board.

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
POWER	SOLID	Normal	Nothing wrong here.
	flashing	Problem	24VAC to the board is too low or missing.
	OFF	Big Problem	No power to the board or there's a short.
Battery Low	OFF	Normal	This is a good thing.
	SOLID	Problem	Batteries are low. Check charging voltage.
	flashing	Big Problem	Batteries critically low. See above.

·         "Battery Low" monitors the battery back-up power.

 

 

 

Motor Power Group

These LEDs monitor the motor circuitry for voltage and amps. There are three LEDs to look for here.

·         "Aux. Pwr" Indicates the board has responded to an input and is sending voltage to the motor circuitry.

·         "Check Motor" monitors the continuity of the motor circuit. It will also illuminate if the ODS has been tripped.

·         "ODS" is our Obstruction Detection Sensor. This monitors the amperage on the motor circuit.

 

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
Aux. Pwr	SOLID	Normal	If you wanted the motor to be running.
	OFF	Normal	If you don't expect the motor to be running.
Check Motor	OFF	Normal	This is good.
	SOLID	Problem	Check the motor fuse, breaker, brushes and if ODS has been tripped.
ODS	OFF	Normal	This is good.
	SOLID	Problem	Sudden or abrupt increase in motor current.
	flashing	Problem	Consistently high current from the motor.

 

 

"Siren" LED

When this LED is illuminated, one of the following issues requires immediate attention. A corresponding LED will also be illuminate and the Siren sounding.

·      If the "Battery Low" LED is also illuminated, the batteries are critically low. Press and release the "Diagnose" Button to scroll through the LCD messages.

·      If the "ODS" LED is also illuminated, an obstruction or overload event has been detected twice consecutively in the same direction of travel

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
Siren	OFF	Normal	This is good.
	SOLID	Problem	Check for low battery or ODS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Input Circuits Group

As mentioned in the previous blog post, these LEDs will indicate what input or command, from a connected device, is being provided to the board.

·         Each input terminal has a corresponding LED that will illuminate while the device is being triggered.

·         Normally, the device will only be triggered momentarily, subsequently causing the LED to illuminate momentarily or flash once.

·         The "Open" LED corresponds to several input terminals, "Open" "Fire" "Strike" and "Exit". However, all of these only provide an open input.

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
Input LEDs	OFF	Normal	Everything Aye OK, as long as you're not expecting anything to happen.
	SOLID	Problem	The board is actively receiving a command from a connected device.
Timer	OFF	Normal	The close timer is OFF or the gate is not at the open limit.
	SOLID	Normal	The gate is at the open limit open and the close timer is counting down.
	flashing	Problem	Opposing command is keeping gate open. Look at the  Input LEDs.

 

 




                                                               Limits Group

These LEDs monitor the limits circuitry and will indicate when the board believes the gate is at the desired limit position. They will also provide other valuable information, but the meaning of the LED status is depends on the the operator model type.

• Slide gate operator have digital limits

• Swing gate operators have mechanical limits

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
Open Limit	OFF	Normal	When not at the open limit position.
	SOLID	Normal	While at the open limit position.
	flashing	Problem	Open limit is not set, or has been cleared.
	flashing	Big Problem	Both, Staggering! Call Viking Tech Support
Close Limit	flashing	Problem	Close limit is not set, or has been cleared .
	SOLID	Normal	While at the close limit position.
	OFF	Normal	When not at the close limit position.

 

 

Magnetic Lock Relay LED

This LED ONLY indicates the status of the Magnetic Lock Relay, which also corresponds with the gate position.

·         It doesnt know or care if anything is connected to the Magnetic Lock Terminal Block or not.

·         The gate position it will illuminate at  is dependant on whether or not the "Sync" feature is activated. Typically when the gate is at any position other than the close limit.

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
Magnetic Lock Relay	SOLID	Normal	Continuity between C and N.C. terminals; typically when at the close limit.
	OFF	Normal	Continuity between C and N.O. terminals; typically when at the open limit.
	flashing	Big Problem	There is a short to the control board or the batteries extremely low.

 

 

Diagnose LED

This LED will indicate if there are any error "ERR" messages on the LCD Display.

·      The number of consecutive flashes indicates how many errors are currently detected.

·      Press and release the "Diagnose" Button to scroll through the LCD messages.

·      Error messages will be displayed first.

	STATUS	CONDITION	What to look for?
Diagnose	OFF	Normal	Nothing going on here.
	flashing	Problem	Check the messages on the LCD Display

 

 

 

LED	Status	Meaning
“Magnetic  Lock Relay”	OFF	At Closed Limit and Magnetic Lock Relay state is closed across “COM” & “N.C.”.  Gate should be at the Close Limit.
	SOLID	Not at Closed Limit and Magnetic Lock Relay state is closed across “COM” & “N.O.”. Gate should not be at the Close Limit
“Check Motor”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	The control board is sending power to the motor but the circuit is open.
“Battery Low”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Batteries are low. Check power supply to the operator.
	FLASHING	Batteries critically low. Check power supply to the operator.
“POWER”	SOLID	Normal Condition.
	FLASHING	Operator is running on batteries only.
	OFF	No power to control board.
“Radio”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the Radio terminal.
“UL”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the UL terminal.
“Re-Open”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the Re-Open terminal.
“ATG”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the ATG terminal.
“C Loop”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the C Loop terminal.
“Open”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control board is receiving an input from a device connected to any of the following input terminals: Exit, Fire, Strike or Open.
“STOP”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the Stop terminal.
“Close”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Control Board is receiving an input from a device connected to the Close terminal.
“Siren”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Second consecutive obstruction has been detected.
	FLASHING	Batteries are critically low.
“Aux. Pwr”	OFF	No voltage output on these terminals at the moment.
	SOLID	There is 24VDC output on these terminals at the moment.
“Diagnose”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	FLASHING	Errors have been detected; Check LCD Display for ERR messages.
“Close Limit”	OFF	Gate is not at the close limit position.
	SOLID	Gate is at the close limit position.
	FLASHING	Close limit position has been erased or not set.
“Open Limit”	OFF	Gate is not at the open limit position.
	SOLID	Gate is at the open limit position.
	FLASHING	Open limit position has been erased or not set .
“ODS”	OFF	Normal Condition.
	SOLID	Obstruction has been detected.
	FLASHING	Overload has been detected.
“Timer”	OFF	The close timer is turned OFF or gate is not at the open limit if the timer is turned ON.
	SOLID	Gate is at Open Limit, Timer is turned ON and counting down to close.
	FLASHING	Gate is at Open Limit, Timer is turned ON but is not timing out due to a conflicting command.