Set Up Prolon
Home | Installation Guide | Get Started>VAV&RTU | Developer Resources | BEMOSS™ Team | FAQ
BEMOSS™ 3.5 works with Prolon VAV controller VC1000/2000 and RTU M1000/2000 via Modbus TCP communication through the Prolon Network controller NC-SCHED/NC2000. The network controller NC-SCHED/NC2000 works as a gateway for Modbus RS-485 serial to Modbus TCP communication. BEMOSS™ communicates via Modbus TCP and addresses each Modbus device in the RS-485 network by their Modbus addresses (slave IDs). NC-SCHED/NC2000 is therefore needed for controlling VC1000/2000 or M1000/2000 or both together. So, the Prolon setup requires: (a) NC-SCHED/NC2000, (b) VC1000/2000 or M1000/2000 as required, (c) a 24V AC power adapter, (d) Ethernet cables.
References:
-
Company Website: http://www.prolon.net/
-
Prolon NC2000 Hardware Guide: http://www.prolon.net/uploads/NC2000%20-%20Hardware%20Guide.pdf
-
Prolon VC2000 Hardware Guide: http://www.prolon.net/uploads/VAV%20Hardware%20Guide%20VC2000%20v.6.1.pdf
-
Prolon M2000 Hardware Guide: http://www.prolon.net/uploads/Rooftop%20Hardware%20Guide%20M2000%20v.6.1.pdf
-
Prolon Focus Software Guide: http://www.prolon.net/uploads/Focus%20User%20Guide.pdf
This wiki guide assumes that the electrical and mechanical parts of the hardware configuration have been set-up. This means that RTU controller M1000/2000 has been connected with the Rooftop unit and other necessary sensors and the VAV controller VC1000/2000 has been mechanically connected with VAV flaps and also electrically connected with additional sensors as needed. For further details, please refer to the hardware guides of VC1000/2000 and M1000/2000. This wiki guide only focuses on the communication and configuration part.
Step 1: Please make sure the following wired connections are properly made:
-
The power input connections for all NC-SCHED/NC2000, VC1000/2000 and M1000/2000 units have been made from output of a 24 VAC power adapter.
-
Two-wire RS-485 connections have been made between the NC-SCHED/NC2000 unit and other VC1000/2000 and M1000/2000 controllers. Please make sure that the +/- wires are properly connected. If high number of units are connected in the same RS-485 network, please follow the hardware guide to connect terminating resistors as required.
Step 2: Connect the ethernet port of the NC-SCHED/NC2000 with your building network by an ethernet cable with RJ45 connectors.
If all hardware connections are correct, please go to the configuration steps for the next course of action.
- For properly configuring the Prolon devices, the Prolon Focus software is required. You can download the Prolon Focus software from their website: http://www.prolon.net/product/10-focus-software.html
Follow the instructions on the Prolon website to download and install Prolon Focus software on your computer.
- Next step is to connect this computer to the Prolon NC-SCHED/NC2000. Before doing this, it has to be made sure that the computer ethernet network is properly configured.
If you are setting up the Prolon system for the first time, it will most possibly have the default network configuration. If not, you can follow the NC-SCHED/NC2000 guide to set it to default IP address.
According to the guide, the default IP address of NC-SCHED/NC2000 is: 192.168.1.99. So, the computer needs to be configured on the same subnet. Go to Local Area Connection Properties of your computer's ethernet network controller and go to IPv4 properties. Set an IP address and subnet mask to put it in the same subnet as the NC-SCHED/NC2000:
-
Now connect your computer to the NC-SCHED/NC2000 via an ethernet cable.
-
Next, open the Focus software and follow the Focus software guide to discover the Prolon Modbus devices on the network.
-
Check if all the Prolon devices have unique Modbus addresses. The address for M1000/2000 can be set by the DIP switches on the device. For other devices, Focus software can be used to configure or change addresses. If a device does not have a valid network address, the yellow status light on the device will be ON. In that case, please follow the hardware guide and Focus software guide to properly configure a network address for the device.
-
At this point, the Modbus RS-485 network has been properly configured with unique network addresses for all Prolon devices and their data can be viewed on the Focus software. Now, this setup needs to be connected to the same local area network as BEMOSS. There are two options:
i) If you want the NC-SCHED/NC2000 to get an IP address via DHCP from the network router (where BEMOSS is connected), you can use the Focus software to configure NC-SCHED/NC2000 to get DHCP address instead of static IP address.
ii) If you have configured an assigned IP address for the Prolon NC-SCHED/NC2000 in your network, then you can set that IP address and proper subnet mask on NC-SCHED/NC2000 via Focus software.
In any case, after this reconfiguration of IP address, you may not be able to connect to Prolon devices directly from your computer, as your computer still has the initial IP setup you had made. So, now you can disconnect the ethernet cable from your computer and connect the NC-SCHED/NC2000 to your router/building network by an ethernet cable.
- Now, connect your computer (that has Focus software) with your router/building network with proper configuration of IP addresses. Once, your computer and the Prolon setup are both in the same subnet (via your router/building network) you should again be able to use the Focus software to discover and get data from your Prolon devices. This is just to test that the network configurations are correct.
Congratulations! Now you have successfully set up your Prolon devices to connect to your local network. If BEMOSS™ is connected to the same network, it can now access the Prolon devices.