Basic troubleshooting - VDL200

VDL200 User Guide
Document code
M212938EN
Revision
A
Language
English
Product
VDL200
Document type
User guide

If you have already installed the VDL200 but the data logger is flashing a red status LED and displaying error messages, or not connecting to the monitoring system as expected, perform this procedure to resolve the most common causes of problems.

If you need more help, contact Vaisala technical support at helpdesk@vaisala.com.

  1. Check the battery icon on the home screen and take corrective action if necessary.

    • means the backup batteries have not been inserted, they are inserted incorrectly, or the battery isolation tab that prevents battery drain during storage has not been removed.

    • means the batteries are empty.

    • means the battery charge is low.

  2. Verify that the VDL200 is connected to the network with a network cable, and that Power over Ethernet (PoE) is supplied by the connection.

    Check the power icon on the home screen:

    • means PoE is connected.

    • means PoE is not connected. This causes the VDL200 to disable network interface to conserve battery power. It also activates many separate error messages as VDL200 cannot communicate with the monitoring system or the time servers.

  3. If necessary, enable PoE from the network switch or connect a PoE power source between the network and the data logger.
  4. After you have verified that PoE power is connected, check that the device has an IP address.
    1. Touch the left button to open the device information screens.
    2. If there are active errors, the Errors screen opens first. In that case, touch the right button to switch to the Data logger screen.
    3. Locate the IP address and verify that it is valid for your network.

      If the VDL200 has been configured to acquire the IP address using DHCP and the IP address reads 0.0.0.0 on the Data logger screen, that means the VDL200 has not managed to join the network.

  5. If necessary, contact your local IT support to resolve the connection issue.

    Depending on how the network is configured, you may need to supply your IT support with the MAC address of the VDL200 so that it can be allowed to the network. The MAC address is shown on the Data logger screen.

  6. Check if there are still active errors, and continue to the next step if there are.
  7. If the error Monitoring system connection problem is active:
    1. The address of the target monitoring system may be configured incorrect or not at all. Use the Insight software to check Monitoring system address configuration. See Configuring settings using Insight software.

      TCP port 8883 is the default port for this connection, and it does not have to be included in the address configuration. If the monitoring system has been configured to use a different port for connecting to VDL200 devices, add it to the Monitoring system address by adding a colon ":" and the port number.

    2. If address is correct, the cause of the error is likely there is a network routing problem or a firewall is blocking the network port for this connection. Contact your local IT support to resolve the issue.
  8. If System time not available or Time synchronization problem errors are active:

    Similarly to the monitoring system, the VDL200 must be configured with the addresses of the time servers it uses. The default time servers are configured by default, but VDL200 must have access to the Internet to use those. You may have your own time server in the local network that must be used.

    1. Use Insight software to check the NTP address configuration. See Configuring settings using Insight software.
      By default, there are four numbered pool.ntp.org servers listed (for example, 0.pool.ntp.org).

      If you have replaced a default server with a local time server, make sure its address is written correctly. If the address of the local time server is a hostname (for example, myntpserver), make sure it is registered with the DNS server the VDL200 is using. Instead of the hostname, you can also try to provide a fully qualified domain name (for example myntpserver.corporate.net) or the actual IP address of the server.

    2. If the time server configuration is correct, the cause of the error may be a network routing problem.
      The most typical case is an isolated network with no access to Internet, which means the default time servers are not reachable. In an isolated network, you must provide a local NTP server or VDL200 cannot be used.
    3. It is also possible that a firewall may be blocking UDP port 123 that is needed for the NTP protocol to function.

      Typically this happens on the edge of the network. Both inbound and outbound connections must be allowed. Contact your local IT support to resolve the issue.

      If you have set up a local NTP server, make sure the firewall on the server itself is not blocking the NTP connections.

    4. Depending on your geographical location, the default time servers may be unreachable even if the access point has Internet access and the firewalls of your local network are not blocking the NTP connections.
      In that case, you should reconfigure the time server list to use country-specific servers. For example, you could use 0.ch.pool.ntp.org if the access point is installed in Switzerland. For lists of available server addresses, see www.ntppool.org.