Applies to: South-Tek units with the touchscreen controller — fire protection FPS-1650, FPS-3250, FPS-5000, FPS-10000, FPS-16500 and FPS-22500, and the same controller on the N2-GEN TS, CS and S series, the 02CPi and 04CPi, and HPCF units. Legacy fire protection models with the same touchscreen are covered once Tech Support confirms the controller for that serial number.
Does NOT apply to the FPS-500, FPS-900 and FPS-900-RS, which use a different controller — a small display driven by Next, Set and up-down buttons. None of the screens below exist on it. Do not attempt any step on that controller — open a support ticket instead.
Does NOT apply to the FPS-500, FPS-900 and FPS-900-RS, which use a different controller — a small display driven by Next, Set and up-down buttons. None of the screens below exist on it. Do not attempt any step on that controller — open a support ticket instead.
This article covers loading a program onto the controller from a micro SD card supplied by South-Tek Systems. It is the upload procedure only — what happens after the upload is a separate, longer job, and it is covered in its own article.
If your unit is not a fire protection model, that follow-on article still applies to you The article this one hands off to, FPS Series — PLC Fatal Error: Re-initialization and Parameter Restore, is titled and scoped for fire protection — but its re-initialization steps are the same on the N2-GEN TS, CS and S series, the 02CPi and 04CPi, and HPCF units. What differs by line is several of the factory settings. So use its steps, and do not use its values — open a support ticket and Tech Support will give you the values for your line.
Do not start without the factory settings spec sheet Loading a program resets the PLC, and the initialization that has to follow erases the controller's stored setup and cannot be undone — you will have to re-enter the unit's parameters from scratch. Those values are not on the machine and they are not in this article — they come on the factory settings spec sheet for your serial number. On fire protection units that sheet carries four items and they come together: the info-mode password, the unlock calculation, the factory access code and the sensor calibration values — if any one of the four is missing, do not start. On the other lines the equivalent values come from South-Tek Systems Service for your serial number; have them in hand before you start, not afterwards. There is no way back without them. Open a South-Tek Systems Service ticket for this unit first and work through the job with it open.
On a fire protection system, this takes the riser's supervision down Nothing supervises the riser while the controller is down, and any automatic air bypass is operated by that same controller. On a fire protection unit this is an impairment and has to be handled as one — notification, points on test, tagging and authorization before you begin. On a fire protection unit, do not start until you have worked through the impairment steps in FPS Series — PLC Fatal Error: Re-initialization and Parameter Restore, which sets them out in full. The impairment has to cover this upload as well as the re-initialization that follows it — declare it for the whole job, not for one part of it.
Before you start
- Confirm the unit's parameters are on file. Contact South-Tek Systems Service with the model and serial number before you touch anything.
- Have the settings for this serial number in hand before you start. On a fire protection unit that means the factory settings spec sheet and all four items that come with it — the info-mode password, the unlock calculation, the factory access code and the sensor calibration values — and if any one of the four is missing, do not start. On the other lines, get the equivalent values from South-Tek Systems Service first. The initialization that follows the upload erases the controller and there is no way back without them.
- Have the micro SD card supplied by South-Tek for this unit. The program on it is specific to the machine — this is not a generic card.
- Open a South-Tek Systems Service ticket for this unit and keep it open through the job.
Loading the program
- Insert the micro SD card into the PLC until it locks into place. The micro SD port is on the top right side of the PLC as you look at the controller screen.
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Enter Info Mode. Press and hold a blank area of the touchscreen — not one of the on-screen buttons — until INFO MODE appears, then tap Enter INFO Mode. The controller prompts for a password: enter the info-mode password from the factory settings spec sheet for this serial number and press Enter.
Entering Info Mode, then the password prompt -
Open the SD menu. Tap SD. On the screen that follows, select Application and press Upload to PLC.
SD menu, then Upload to PLC - Check the Application screen before you select anything. It should list exactly one program. If there are no programs displaying, or more than one, stop — do not select anything and do not go on to the next step. Contact South-Tek Systems Service.
- Select the program and send it. On the Application screen, select the program and press Send File.
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Confirm the prompt. The controller shows a confirmation prompt. Press Yes only if it is safe to reset the PLC and everything under Before you start is in hand — and on a fire protection unit, only once the outage has been authorized under the impairment steps above.
The confirmation prompt before the upload resets the controller
After the upload
The screen may show a fatal error until the PLC is initialized.
Stop here if anything about the upload did not go as described This article cannot tell you whether the program loaded correctly, and the initialization that comes next erases the controller and cannot be undone. If the Application screen did not show exactly one program, if the upload did not complete, or if anything else did not match the steps above, stop before initializing and contact South-Tek Systems Service with what you saw.
Initializing the controller and putting the unit's settings back is a longer procedure than this one, and it includes running the unit monitored before it can be released. Work through FPS Series — PLC Fatal Error: Re-initialization and Parameter Restore from that point rather than from memory — it carries the steps in order and the checks between them.
That article gives the fire protection values The re-initialization steps are the same on the fire protection touchscreen models, the N2-GEN TS, CS and S series, the 02CPi and 04CPi, and HPCF units, but several factory settings differ by line. If this unit is not a fire protection model, do not use the values in that article — open a support ticket and Tech Support will give you the values for your line.
Related articles
- FPS Series — PLC Fatal Error: Re-initialization and Parameter Restore
- Controller Status Codes — Run, Standby, Filter Alarm & BlastOff (FPS-500, FPS-900, BeerBlast 3KPH & 7KPH) (the other controller — none of the screens above exist on it)
- Resetting the Filter Alarm — Legacy Panasonic Controllers
- Contact Us
Need help? Useful to have ready: the model and serial number, whether you hold the factory settings spec sheet for that serial, and what the Application screen is showing. South-Tek Systems Service — Phone: (910) 415-1880 · Open a support ticket at support@southteksystems911.zendesk.com or through the Help Center.