Operating hours counter

The operating hours counter determines the switch-on time of a group or single device. A group or single device is switched on for the operating hours counter if the brightness value is greater than "0", i. e. when the lamp is lit up. The operating hours counter can either be configured as a second counter or alternatively as an hour counter.

• Second counter
  The gateway adds the determined switch-on time for a group or single device to the second. The totalled operating seconds are added in a 4-byte counter and stored permanently in the gateway. The current meter reading can be transmitted cyclically to the KNX by the "Operating hours counter - Counter reading - Status" communication object or when there is a change in an interval value in accordance with DPT 13.100.
• Hour counter
  The gateway adds up the determined switch-on time for a group or single device to full operating hours to the minute. The totalled operating hours are added in a 2-byte counter and stored permanently in the device. The current meter reading can be transmitted cyclically to the KNX by the "Operating hours counter - Counter reading - Status" communication object or when there is a change in an interval value in accordance with DPT 7.007.

In the delivery state, all values of the gateway are set to "0". If the operating hours counter is not enabled in the configuration of a group or single device, no operating hours or operating seconds are counted. Once the operating hours counter is enabled in the ETS, however, the operating hours or operating seconds will be determined and added up by the ETS immediately after commissioning the gateway. If an operating hours counter is subsequently disabled again in the parameters and the gateway is programmed with this disabling function, all operating hours or seconds previously counted for the group or the single device concerned are deleted. When enabled again, the meter reading of the operating hours counter is always set to "0".

The operating hour values (full hours) or operating seconds stored in the device are not lost in the event of a bus/mains voltage failure or due to an ETS programming operation. On the hour counter: Any summed up operating minutes (full hour not yet reached) will be rejected in this case, however.

After the bus or mains voltage returns or after an ETS programming operation, the gateway updates the communication object "Operating hours counter - Counter reading" for each group and single device and actively transmits the object value to the KNX. The object value can also be read out at any time with the read flag set.

Activating the operating hours counter

Disabling of the operating hours counter and subsequent programming with the ETS resets the counter status to "0".

Setting the counter type

The operating hours counter can optionally be configured as an up-counter or down-counter. Depending on this type of counter, a limit or start value can be set optionally, whereby, for example, the operating time of a lamp can be monitored by restricting the counter range.

Up-counter:
After activating the operating hours counter by enabling in the ETS or by restarting, the operating hours are counted starting at "0". A maximum of 65,535 hours or 2147483647 can be counted (corresponds to approx. 66 years) before the meter stops and signals a meter operation by means of the object "Operating hours counter - Counter elapsed - Status".
A limit value can be optionally set in the ETS or specified via the communication object "Operating hours counter - Signal value". In this case, the counter operation is signalled to the KNX via the "Operating hours counter - Counter reading elapsed - Status" object if the signal value is reached, but the counter continues counting - if it is not restarted - up to the maximum value and then stops. Only a restart initiates a new counting operation.

Down-counter:
After enabling the operating hours counter in the ETS, the counter reading is set to "0" and the gateway signals a counter operation for the group concerned or the single device after the programming operation or after the bus voltage returns via the object "Operating hours counter - Counter reading elapsed - Status". Only after a restart is the down-counter set to the maximum value of 65,535 hours or 2147483647 seconds (corresponds to approx. 66 years) and the counter operation is started.
Optionally, a start value can be set in the ETS or specified by means of the communication object "Start value for operating hours counter". If a start value is set, the down-counter is initialised with this value instead of the maximum value after a restart. The meter then counts the start value downwards by the hour. When the down-counter reaches the value "0", the counter operation is signalled to the KNX via the object "Operating hours counter - Counter reading elapsed - Status" and counting is stopped. Only a restart initiates a new counting operation.

The value of the communication object "Operating hours counter - Counter reading elapsed - Status" is permanently stored internally in the device. When switching on the bus/mains voltage or after an ETS programming operation, the object is initialised with the most recently saved value. If, in this case, an operating hours counter is identified as elapsed, i. e. if the object value is set to "ON", an additional telegram is actively transmitted to the KNX as soon as the configured transmit delay has elapsed after the bus/mains voltage returns. If the counter has not yet elapsed ("OFF" object value), no telegram is transmitted after the bus/mains voltage returns or after an ETS programming operation.

If a signal value or start value is specified by the communication object, the values received via the object are not accepted as valid and permanently stored internally in the device until the operating hours counter is restarted. On switching on the supply voltage or after an ETS programming operation, the object is initialised with the most recently saved value. The values received are lost in the event of a mains voltage failure or due to an ETS programming operation if no counter restart was executed beforehand. For this reason, when specifying a new signal or start value, it is advisable always to restart the counter afterwards as well. A standard value of 65,535 hours or 2147483647 seconds is predefined provided that no signal value or start value has been received yet via the object. The values received and stored via the object are reset to the standard value if the operating hours counter is disabled in the parameters of the ETS and an ETS programming operation is being performed.

If a signal value or start value is specified by the object: If the signal or value or start value is specified with "0", the gateway will ignore a counter restart in order to avoid an undesired reset (e.g. in construction site mode -> operating hours already counted in manual operation).

If the counting direction of an operating hours counter is reversed by reconfiguration in the ETS, the counter should always be restarted after programming the gateway so that the counter is reinitialised.

Restarting the operating hours counter

The meter reading of the operating hours can be reset at any time by the communication object "Operating hours counter - Reset". The polarity of the reset telegram is predefined: "1" = Restart / "0" = No reaction.
In the up-counter the meter is initialised with the value "0" after a restart and in the down-counter initialised with the start value. If no start value was configured or predefined by the object, the start value is preset to 65535 hours or 2147483647 seconds.

During every counter restart, the initialised meter reading is transmitted actively to the KNX. After a restart, the signal of a counter operation is also reset. At the same time, an "OFF" telegram is transmitted to the KNX via the object "Operating hours counter - Counter reading elapsed - Status". In addition, the signal or start value is initialised.

If a new signal or start value was specified via the communication object, the counter should always be restarted afterwards too. Otherwise, the values received will be lost in the case of a bus voltage failure or by an ETS programming operation.

Setting the transmission behaviour

The current value of the operating hours counter is continuously tracked in the communication object "Operating hours counter – Meter reading - Status". The content of the object is transmitted to the KNX when there is a change by the set count interval or cyclically active. The object value can also be read out at any time (set read flag).

After the bus/mains voltage returns or an ETS programming operation, the counter reading is always immediately transmitted automatically.