How do you restart a PGXL remotely after a power outage?

James Eastham Jr

My new PGXL was online and working fine by remote. Power went out during storm. Now Its MIA after power restored. App working fine but does not see PGXL. My 6700 came back online easily. Suggestions?

ctate243

having a remote 220v power toggle is strongly recommended with remote operation.  looks like a visit to the remote may be necessary.  Its best to have remote power toggles for everything. and I mean.. everything.

David-N5PSM

The remote power switching is very Good Advice.

---also---Consider installing remote cameras when possible.  You do not have to leave them on,  but they are good to insure that all is safe at the remote

Warren-K6WKW

Chris, I have an external DPDT relay in series with the 220 line to the PGXL at a remote site. I switch it off when not in use. I can't imagine why your PGXL didn't come back when power was restored, since mine effectively sees a power outage every time I turn it off with the relay (sometimes several times a day). I've never had any sort of hang on power restore. One would think either your PGXL didn't pass it's POST or there is a network problem. Can you reset the network remotely to try restoring function that way? I have to agree that a visit to the remote site does seem in order. If you have a neighbor in the area where the remote is located you might have the neighbor cycle some circuit breakers for you instead of making a trip. That worked for me when the ISP forced an unexpected change of my internet IP address and nothing would connect at first.  Waarren - K6WKW

Watts - K4QJZ

I too have my system setup for remote for almost a year with many power outages. The only issue I have run into, early on, I forgot to set the IP address to a fixed one. Once when power went out it changed address and thus confused the application side of the software as it was on a system with an UPS and continued to look for the previous address. When you can, check that the address is fixed vs DHCP. Very reliable unit! Watts K4QJZ

James Eastham Jr

I’m guessing DHCP is the culprit. Headed home in 2 days and will assign a fixed address to the PGXL.

Any recommendations on a 220-240 remote switch? I do use remote switchs for my PC and the 6700.

Thanks

Jim NX3Z

David-N5PSM

I am going to use a 60A Mercury Wetted power relay.  May seem like overkill but I have one on hand and know it's rock solid. (MDI Mercury Relays- 260NO-120A-18)

ps: I would never buy a new Mercury relay. (bad for earth) but re-using surplus ones and making sure that they get disposed of correctly is good.
73 de N5PSM

Also a 40A Solid state relay is a great option as you can drive it with 12Vdc.

Warren-K6WKW

I use a Sonoff Pro which is WiFi controlled; contains 4 individual SPDT relays.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0793NYYPZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
One of the relays has 110V wired through it to a DPDT relay which feeds down to the amp.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C78PHS2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Both mount on an aluminum rail
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FT485S0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I can wire the amp to the normally on or normally off contacts on the DPDT relay. Currently I have the 220 wired through the normally off contacts to keep it protected from voltage problems while not being used.

The other three Sonoff relays control the radio on/off function, a normally off 110 extension cord (used as a fan-out plug), and a normally on extension cord which goes to the Astron supply. The rationale for the Astron control came about with this last S/W update where it was suggested to break power to the Flex after loading the new version. I couldn't do that before but I can now!  The Sonoff can be controlled from anywhere there is internet, and it's all neatly tucked into a box. Warren - K6WKW

Asher - K0AU

DLI makes a 240V rated remote switch. https://dlidirect.com/products/universal-input-voltage-pdu

Just installed one to control power on a PG-XL. Cabling is easy with an IEC C13-C14 patch

KF4HR

James - just curious.  When did you receive your PG-XL and what was your order date?

James Eastham Jr

It was a long wait. I think I ordered in Sept of 2017. Got it about a month ago. I had been told I would be waiting until end of this year so perhaps they are moving along faster.

KF4HR

That's good to hear.  Thanks.

John WA7UAR

Hello all, I am posting to this thread about an alternative universal power distribution unit (PDU) that I came across while researching for a remote power switch for my PGXL. Does anyone have knowledge about the RPCM company in Russia?

https://rpcm.pro/en

And here is an English-translated video of one of their products that I am considering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=439&v=ueyW5MSBxvQ&feature=emb_logo

Bert

I operate my station remotely at least 50% of the time so reliability is a prime concern. My power to my entire station is controlled remotely via a WIFI switch (with a backup). I use a remote switch (40A Contactor with a 120v coil) to turn the 220V power off and on to my PG XL using the station "master" WIFI controlled plug and it normally works great. However, on two occasions, I when powering up the station, the PGXL failed to power on and I had to manually turned the amp off and back on using the power toggle switch in the back of the amp. When I did that, the amp powered right up with no problem. Unfortunately, I didn't try to do a power cycle using the WIFI switch to see if turning the power off and on again via the wifi switch would bring it back up (but I will next time if it happens again). I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem and, secondarily, wondering if the power toggle switch in the PGXL has an internal breaker built into it that is reset when toggling off and on?

Butch

Bert - I have experienced that same problem with my PG-XL. In my case, the way I have my equipment arranged it's difficult to reach the PG-XL rear mount on/off switch. (And yes, I am aware the PG-XL draws very little current when left on in the standby mode, but when I leave home I want the Amp turned completely off).

What I initially did was use a 240vac 40amp relay with a 120vac coil and wired this relay into an Insteon 120vac Wall module so I could control my Amp on by voice via an Insteon Hub and Alexa device. This arrangement worked but unfortunately about 20-30% of the time my PG-XL would activate via this relay, the PG-XL display would be blank so it wasn't coming on properly.

Since the PG-XL's on/off switch always brought the Amp up normally I assumed the remote relay must be creating an energy spike when the relay contacts 'make' causing the PG-XL to react negatively upon boot up.

What I did to solve the problem is to insert a 240vac surge protector across the remote relay contacts. This solved the PG-XL's remote boot up problem and now my PG-XL boots up normally via the relay every time. See attached diagram and photo:

IMG_6383.JPG

.

240VAC REMOTE SWITCH 2.pdf

(Caution: While this is a simple build, but obviously dangerous voltages are involved so anyone attempting this should exercise appropriate safety precautions. If you are lacking experience with working with high voltage circuitry, I suggest finding a qualified individual with the necessary experience.)

Butch KF4HR

Bert

Thanks Butch - thanks for the post! I had the same suspicion that it might be contact bounce or something like that since the contactor that I am using is a three pole, 40 amp Packard (looks like the same switch you are using) - typically used in large AC units, etc. so they are probably not too concerned about filtering. It happened again yesterday after my post and so that gave me the opportunity to see what happened if I power cycled via my wifi switch again. It came up fine after the retry so it looks like if it were to fail, a retry works. I like your idea, however and think I'll give that a try.

Be

Mike-VA3MW

I had thought I commented on this, but I guess I didn't.

My remote PGXL 240AC line is controlled by 12V DPDT P&B 15A relay. They use these all the time in factories. For the past 2 years, I have turned the 240AC off a few hundred times without issue, mostly when there is bad weather in the area. It always works. I do a lot of testing of firmware on this PGXL, so it is up and down a lot.

Not once have I had an issue where it did not come back online on the network. The only thing I could see would be a DHCP issue on the network, which happens with some routers (not all routers are equal sadly). I have heard this from time to time with some PGXL owners, but it is a very small group that seems to have an issue like this and that seems to indicate something with the DHCP server/client communication. Something like the DHCP server takes too long to respond to a DHCP request (I am just speculating), but if I had to debug it, I would go here first. If yours fails, we would want to know more about your network.

I think my PGXL has a DHCP reservation or it is the only thing I have the IP address hardcoded. I can't remember at the moment.

73

Butch

Bert - When using the 240vac-40A relay I'd estimate my PG-XL would not boot up properly about 30 to 40% of the time, but once I added that surge suppressor across the relay contacts I haven't had a single problem since (nearly a year now).

By the way, I'm having the same issue when applying 12-15vdc remotely to my TG-XL, so I'm working on the same fix in hopes it solves this problem too, but with a 12vdc surge suppressor.

Butch KF4HR