Specifications

Sicon-8 Technical Manual CircuitWerkes, Inc.
31
Handling Alarms:
About how the Sicon-8 handles alarms internally:
If an action alarm and a critical (dial-out) alarm occur
simultaneously, the Sicon-8 will not attempt to automatically
correct the action alarm condition but instead will initiate the
appropriate outbound call (if programmed to do so). The action
alarm is simply saved to the stack in that case. If two action
alarms occur simultaneously, the Sicon-8 will attempt to correct
the lowest numbered alarm first, then the higher number, if it still
exists. Also, if any alarm condition is actively happening at the
time of an attempted corrective action, even if the alarm has
been previously acknowledged, the Sicon-8 will not attempt to
take corrective action. You must disable alarm reporting for the
affected channel for the Sicon-8’s action handler to take effect.
Any new alarm, either action or critical, is placed on the new
stack for review at the next inbound call.
If a condition triggers an alarm, then returns to normal, followed by another failure, two alarms for the same channel will be
registered. Each time a potential alarm condition re-occurs, a new alarm event will be saved to the stack. If the additional
alarm occurs after the previous alarm has dialed out, then the “new” alarm will also trigger outbound dialing. If a critical
alarm occurs while the Sicon-8 is dialing for a different critical alarm, only the first alarm will call out. The additional alarm
or alarms will be placed on the stack, but will not add their numbers to the dialing queue.
When an out of tolerance condition triggers a warning alarm, the Sicon-8 will try three times to fix the condition (provided
no other alarms are also pending, as noted above). If, after the third try, the condition still exists, the warning alarm will be
placed on the new stack for review and the Sicon-8 will make no further attempts to correct the condition unless the
channel spontaneously returns to normal, then fails again. If no corrective action has been associated with the warning
alarm, then the event is simply put on the stack immediately.
Operating a relay, such as might be used to turn off a transmitter, also causes the Sicon-8 to take a set of reference
readings and ignore any condition that would otherwise be considered an alarm. It is impossible to create an active
alarm by operating a relay, unless there is a delayed reaction that exceeds the “reference delay” timer or “power on” timer.
When an alarm condition is detected by the Sicon-8 hardware, The meter or status input that triggered the condition will
change color and flash. Yellow is a non-critical alarm while red is a critical event. In addition, when an alarm happens, a
red dialog box will appear on your screen listing any current alarms. If you click on an alarm, you will access the alarm
stack manager where you can acknowledge or save any alarms. Occasionally, multiple instances of a single alarm can be
recorded, so it may be necessary to clear the alarms several times before they are completely removed when
acknowledging alarms singly. The “remove all” or “save all” functions will delete duplicates in one action.
TIP:
When setting low limit alarms, be aware that a zero input to the Sicon-8 can result in readings that fluctuate slightly
above and below zero. If you have your alarm set to trip at zero, the Sicon-8 may continually call you due to repeatedly
rising above the alarm threshold only to fluctuate back down again. We strongly suggest setting the alarms at some number
reasonably above zero but below any normal operating level.
Out of tolerance conditions will turn the metered channel
solid red or yellow. If a condition causes an actual new
alarm, the background will flash (if that feature is enabled).