Installation Procedure

Items Required for Installation

The following items are required in order to properly install the Accutrak™ system:

  1. An Accutrak™ enclosure.
  2. Sufficient shielded wire with either AWG 22 or AWG 24 stranded conductors to reach from the location chosen for the Accutrak™ enclosure to the devices to be monitored. We recommend using AWG 24 for wire lengths of less than fifty (50) feet and AWG 22 for longer runs. The number of conductors in the shielded wire depends on the number of data points in near vicinity to each other. Appendix B contains designations for appropriate Belden cable.
  3. Conduit or EMT as required by local electric codes. Since most wiring will be 24 VAC, neither conduit nor EMT is probably required. However, it is a good idea to protect the wire where it is exposed to traffic. It goes without saying that any wiring exposed to customers must be protected by conduit or inside the block walls to prevent vandalism.
  4. Sufficient THHN AWG 18 (or larger if required by local electric codes,) wire of colors black and white to connect 115 VAC power to the system.
  5. Sufficient THHN AWG 6 green or green with yellow striping wire to connect the grounding lug on the Accutrak™ panel to an earth ground. This ground is not primarily for the purpose of electrical safety although it will meet that need. The primary purpose of this ground is to insure noise immunity to the computer located inside Accutrak™. Therefore, the building ground will seldom be adequate. This ground wire should be connected to either a copper water main or else to a grounding rod driven into the ground below the normal water level. If connection is made to a water main, ensure that the copper pipe is buffed with emery paper to a bright finish and that the connector is tightened securely to the wire and to the pipe.
  6. A telephone connection and a sufficient length of telephone wire to reach from the service entrance to the enclosure.

 

Planning the Installation

The installation will be easier and the operation of the equipment will be better if time is taken to plan before beginning the work.

Planning Steps:

  1. Decide what functions you will monitor in your car wash. System Layout Sheets are provided for your use.
  2. When filling out the System Layout Sheet, it is wise to use a pencil or make several copies of the sheets before beginning. Much of the equipment in a typical car wash is duplicated ... some of it many times over. Software setup can be considerably easier if a logical plan is followed. In addition, the owner of multiple locations would be wise to make each location as identical as possible.
  3. Due care should be taken during the planning to ensure that the commons connected together on each input card are compatible with each other and will allow operation of the Accutrak™ system. (See the Theory of Operation)
  4. Plan the wiring to each function selected above. We recommend using shielded cable with AWG 24 conductors for cables of less than fifty feet and AWG 22 for longer runs. Recommended Cables
  5. After the System Layout Sheet is filled out, we recommend using the Input Description Sheets for more detailed information. Be sure to retain these sheets for use when setting up the Accutrak™ software back in the office.

 

Unpacking the Equipment

Unpack the Accutrak™ system. We have packed the system carefully at the factory to ensure its arrival in working order. However, occasionally the rigors of travel do damage the unit. If this occurs, please contact us so that we can assist you with filing a claim with UPS. (Unfortunately, we are unable legally to file this claim for you although we would like to do so. If you do receive a damaged unit, we do ask for your patience so that we may get you a new unit as quickly as possible.)

 

Enclosure Installation

Location:

Accutrak™ main enclosure should be located at approximately eye level near the bay equipment in the equipment room in order to keep wiring runs short and to make servicing the equipment convenient. Keep the enclosure separated from high voltage wiring to the pumps and other equipment. A good rule of thumb is to maintain 12 inches of clearance from all non Accutrak™ wiring. The location must be dry. The Accutrak™ enclosure is rated NEMA 12, drip proof, but it cannot protect the computer from a constant stream of water. The location should also be chosen with the direction of the conduit runs into the enclosure in mind. All penetrations for wiring must be made below the rack. It is strongly suggested that all penetrations be made in the bottom of theAccutrak™ enclosure. This will keep moisture from running down conduit and into the enclosure. It will also keep electrical noise away from the computer.

Procedure:

Mount the enclosure in the chosen location using four 1/4 - 20 bolts or lag screws. Make a penetration or penetrations for wiring paying attention to the discussion in the preceding paragraph. Keep all penetrations through the enclosure below the wire way inside the enclosure.

IMPORTANT: COVER THE RACK WHEN DRILLING OR OTHERWISE MAKING METAL CHIPS. BOLTRONICS CORPORATION WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR DAMAGE RESULTING FROM POOR INSTALLATION TECHNIQUES!

 

Power Wiring

Location:

Do not use wire larger than AWG 18 to connect to the terminal strips on the input cards. If larger wire size must be used for some reason, then the customer must provide terminal strips in the enclosure to allow a transition to AWG 18 or smaller wire.

Except for terminal strips and the modem supplied by Boltronics Corporation, no equipment is to be located inside the Accutrak™enclosure. Also the Accutrak™ enclosure must not be used for a junction box for any other purpose. Current flowing for other equipment can seriously interfere with the Accutrak™ 's ability to monitor the car wash.

Wiring should be splice free from the device to be monitored to the input card. If a connection must be made, please refrain from using wire nuts. These are usually inadequate with smaller sizes of wire in signal applications. This caution is particularly important when wiring coin acceptors and other high speed, low voltage applications. The current required to operate inputs is less than 10 milli-amperes. Thus there will be very little voltage drop even over substantial distances.

Wiring to the terminal strips on the input cards is most easily accomplished by pulling the card out of its socket on the back plane about one inch. This allows a screwdriver to be inserted into the terminal screw holes easily. Only one card at a time should be so removed. The cards are removed from their sockets by lifting gently on plastic ejector on the top edge of the card. When the card breaks loose, grasp the card by the bottom as well and pull slowly until the card is out enough to wire.

When returning the card to its socket, be careful that the card is lined up correctly. Do not force the card against the socket if it is not lined up. Doing so will bend the pins in the socket and render the card useless.

Keep wiring neat inside the Accutrak™ enclosure. Although some slack in the wiring is desired, try to keep it to manageable proportions. Excessive wire inside the enclosure will make maintenance difficult.

Do NOT use the Accutrak™ enclosure as a junction box for any other wiring. Doing so will void the warranty and may make the system perform erratically.

When all of the wiring is complete, place the included modem in the enclosure on the bottom. Connect the modem power cube to the 115 VAC receptacle located inside the enclosure for this purpose. Connect the telephone wire from the service entrance into the connection marked "line." If a voice telephone is desired at the location, it can be connected into the modem connection marked "phone." Please remember that when the telephone is being used for voice communications, it cannot be used for Accutrak™ purposes.

Do not apply power to the system until all wiring has been completed and has been inspected for accuracy.

Any 115 VAC voltage on a 24 VAC input card will destroy the 24 VAC card.

Also make sure all cards are firmly seated before applying power. Cards may have come unseated during transportation and handling during installation.

The unit must be wired to a 115 VAC power source capable of supplying two amps continuously. Your Accutrak™ is equipped with voltage regulation and line noise filtering devices to ensure trouble free operation with commercial power lines which conform to NEMA standards. However, there must not be any voltage variations outside the range of 103.5VAC to 126.5VAC. If your power company cannot or will not provide power within this range, you will need to supply power conditioning equipment such as that made by Superior Electric Company to accomplish this. If you need help in this area contact us for assistance. We can provide such power conditioning equipment at reasonable cost if required.

A switch or circuit breaker should be installed in the power line to Accutrak™ to allow the unit to be de-energized whenever a card is changed. In any case do not remove or install cards in the rack with power applied. Doing so may result in loss of the card.

Connect a AWG 6 green wire directly from the grounding lug in the Accutrak™ enclosure to an earth ground. (See the comments on grounding on page xx before doing this.)

Initial Test:

After the power wiring has been verified and all cards are firmly seated, turn on the power. The top light on the CPU card will illuminate and the red light on the input card in Slot 1 will began a series of flashes. After the initial set of flashes, the red light on the first input card will go out for about 15 seconds. Then it will illuminate and remain on. At this time, all input cards should have both this red light and a green light illuminated as well. If this occurs, your system is operating correctly.

After this test is completed, turn off power to Accutrak™ while the field wiring is installed. (As the field wiring is installed, it is okay to turn on power to check different sections as wiring to them is completed

Field Device Wiring:

It is recommended that wiring to field devices use shielded cable as recommended in Appendix A. The shield must be connected to earth ground on only one end and it must be cut and taped to prevent accidental grounding at the other end. It is preferable to have the shield grounded at the source, (not the Accutrak™ end.) However, if the Accutrak™ end must be grounded, connect the shield to the ground connection on the panel. All shields to be so connected may be twisted together and inserted in the ground connector.

The wiring to field devices should be kept away from power wiring. A good rule of thumb is to keep signal wires at least one foot away from 115VAC lines, two feet away from 208 or 230VAC lines and four feet away from 460VAC lines. When power lines must be crossed, do so at a right angle. This practice will minimize noise problems.

Appendix B contains drawings showing the connections required for certain coin acceptors, bill changers and other devices that have been used successfully by our customers. If you have an item that is not in this list, please call us for assistance. We may wish to borrow your device for a short period of time in order to connect it in our laboratory.

Be careful when connecting commons to Accutrak™. While Accutrak™ will rarely be harmed, you may cause your equipment to cease functioning properly. If this happens, you can nearly always restore your equipment to proper operation by disconnecting the common to Accutrak™.

During installation of the field devices it is frequently useful to have a portable computer available on site in order to see that Accutrak™ is properly monitoring the field device. For example, when connecting coin acceptors, it is always a good idea to drop some coins in each and see that Accutrak™ counts them properly. If it does not, then your wiring needs to be modified. (If you continue to have problems, please call us for assistance.)