Honeywell Panel Bus Driver

Overview

Covers the XF and CLIOP module families: analog and digital inputs, analog, relay, and floating outputs, in single-type and mixed modules, from a handful of points to several hundred. Each module is addressed by the switch on its own front, and discovery finds it from there. Channels are configured from Niagara, not merely read. Analog inputs take a thermistor curve or a voltage range, digital inputs can be normally open or closed or counted, and outputs can be reversed. Floating actuators get their full parameter set, including open and close runtimes, end switches, power-up and daily synchronisation, and weekly valve exercising. Every output carries a safety position, applied by the module itself if communication is lost, so plant behaviour during a fault is a decision rather than an accident. Modules are hot-pluggable and several carry manual override switches for commissioning. Needs an RS-485 port, so it runs on a JACE. Licensing is perpetual, bound to the Host ID.

List of FAQs

Does this talk to a Honeywell controller, or replace it? It replaces it. Panel Bus is the I/O bus that sits below a Honeywell controller, not a way into one. The Excel, ComfortPoint, LION, or EAGLE controller comes out and a Niagara host takes its place, driving the same I/O modules. If instead you want to leave the Honeywell system running and read data out of it, this is the wrong product, so tell us what the site has and we will point you at the right one. Which controllers does it replace? Panels built around Excel 800, Excel Web II, ComfortPoint Open Plant, LION, EAGLE, and EAGLEHAWK. What matters is the I/O modules in the panel rather than the controller model, so if the modules are Panel Bus the retrofit works. Do I have to rewire the field devices? No, and that is the whole point of the exercise. The I/O modules stay in the panel with every sensor and actuator still landed on their terminals. You change the controller and the cable to the modules, not the field wiring, which is where the cost and the risk in a retrofit normally sit. Which I/O modules are supported? The XF and CLIOP families, covering analog inputs, digital inputs, analog outputs, relay outputs, and floating three-position outputs, as single-function modules and as mixed modules. If you have a module list from the panel, send it and we will confirm before you order. What hardware do I need on the Niagara side? A Niagara host with an RS-485 port, which in practice means a JACE. Other Niagara-compatible controllers with a serial port work too, such as Cylon Integra, Johnson Controls FX, Distech EC-BOS, and iSMA-B-MAC36NL. A Windows Supervisor has no serial port, so it needs a serial-to-Ethernet gateway together with our Virtual Serial Port driver.