Power Failure; Loss Of Real Time; Reading The A3 Alpha Meter/Collector - Elster A3 ALPHA Product Manual

A3 ALPHA Meter/Collector
Product Guide
Reading the A3 ALPHA
Meter/Collector
6

Power Failure

When there is a power failure, the A3 ALPHA meter initiates a shutdown and
stores the A3 ALPHA meter billing data and status information in EEPROM. All
billing data information stored in the ILC1 option board is stored in battery-
backed RAM. The A3 ALPHA meter's real-time clock and the data stored in the
ILC1 option board are maintained by the super capacitor and battery during a
power failure.
If both the super capacitor and battery fail, all RAM in the meter and in the ILC1
will be lost. Upon subsequent power restoration, an error code is generated for
both the A3 ALPHA meter and the ILC1 option board.
For information on A3 ALPHA meter error codes, see the A3 ALPHA
■
Meter Technical Manual (TM42-2190).
For information on ILC1 option board error codes, see "ILC1 Option
■
Board Error Codes" on page 8.

Loss of Real Time

Within the network, the REX meters obtain real time from time signals sent by
the collector. The ILC1 option board does not have its own real time clock;
instead, it obtains the time directly from the A3 ALPHA meter. There are two
ways the ILC1 option board can lose time from the A3 ALPHA meter:
A3 ALPHA meter has lost its timekeeping capability
■
the ILC1 option board cannot communicate with the A3 ALPHA meter
■
If the ILC1 option board loses time, the REX meters in the network will continue
to keep real time and date for up to 32 days or until the REX meter has a power
outage. The REX meters will then revert to relative timekeeping and store all
TOU energy data in the default rate.
The A3 ALPHA meter LCD will indicate the ILC1 option board's loss of real time
by displaying an error code (see "ILC1 Option Board Error Codes" on page 8 for
more information).
The A3 ALPHA meter/collector can be read in the following ways:
visually using the LCD
■
■ optically or remotely using Metercat support software
remotely via the ITM3 option board using MAS
■
For more details on the information that can be viewed on the LCD, see "Display
List Items" on page 7.
For more details on reading the A3 ALPHA meter/collector optically, see the
Metercat documentation and online Help.
For more details on reading the A3 ALPHA meter/collector remotely, see the
MAS documentation and online Help.
July 2004