Document Number: FD-400

Survalent SCADA
Fault Data Recorder
User’s Guide
____________________________________________

February 21, 2008

This manual describes the functionality and data entry requirements for the Fault
Data Recorder option in both Windows and VMS SCADA.

Survalent Technology Corporation

Mississauga, Ontario
Copyright © 2006 – 2008 Survalent Technology Corporation
All rights reserved

Survalent SCADA Fault Data Recorder User’s Guide

Survalent Technology Corporation

2600 Argentia Road
Mississauga, Ontario
L5N 5V4

TEL (905) 826-5000

FAX (905) 826-7144

The software described in this document is furnished under

license, and may only be used or copied in accordance with
the terms of such license.

The content of this manual has been carefully checked for accuracy. However, if you find
any errors, please notify Survalent Technology Corporation.
 Revisions

Date Description
January 31, 2006 Initial version.

June 21, 2006 Add description of VMS version.

January 28, 2008 Added support for SEL-2032 for Windows SCADA.

Fault Data Recorder User’s Guide Revisions

Windows SCADA
 Contents

1 Introduction 1-1

1.1 Other Documentation...................................................................................................................... 1-2

2 Operation 2-1

2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2-1

2.2 Automatic Upload........................................................................................................................... 2-2
2.3 Manual Upload ............................................................................................................................... 2-2
2.4 Operation Log................................................................................................................................. 2-3
2.5 SOE Report..................................................................................................................................... 2-3

3 Database Editor 3-1

3.1 Fault Recorder Editor for Windows ............................................................................................... 3-1

3.2 Fault Recorder Editor for VMS ...................................................................................................... 3-8

4 Monitoring the Fault Data Recorder 4-1

Fault Data Recorder User’s Guide Contents i

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 1 Introduction

This document describes the operation and database of the Fault Data Recorder option for Windows and
VMS SCADA.

Fault Data Recorder is an optional component of your SCADA system. It requires a separate license and
must be enabled as a Licensed Feature. Contact the Survalent Technology support or sales departments
for assistance in licensing this feature.

Chapter 2 describes the operation of the Fault Data Recorder program.

Chapter 3 describes the database used by the Fault Data Recorder program.

Chapter 4 demonstrates the use of the ScanMon utility to monitor the operation of the Fault Data
Recorder program.

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1.1 Other Documentation
This manual assumes a working knowledge of the SCADA system as well as the SCADA Explorer or
Qwindows database editing interface. If you require additional background information on SCADA
database editing, please refer to the documents listed in Table 1-1 or Table 1-2.

Table 1-1 Windows Database Editing Guides

Document
Number Document Name
DB-400 Database Editing Overview
DB-401 Point Database Editing Guide
DB-402 Alarm Database Editing Guide
DB-403 Automation Database Editing Guide
DB-404 Historical Database Editing Guide
DB-405 Report Database Editing Guide

Table 1-2 VMS Database Editing Guides

Document
Number Document Name
DB-900 Point Database Editing Guide
DB-901 Alarm Database Editing Guide
DB-902 Calculation Database Editing Guide
DB-903 Historical Database Editing Guide
DB-904 Report Database Editing Guide

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 2 Operation

This chapter describes the operation of the Fault Data Recorder program, and provides an overview of
the database.

2.1 Introduction
The Fault Data Recorder program is an application that you can use to upload and record fault data from
SEL relays. The application consists of a Fault Recorder editor and an executive program. The editor
allows you to identify fault data points as well as other points and parameters that are involved in the
process of retrieving the fault data. The executive program does the actual retrieval (i.e. detection,
uploading and storage) in cooperation with the scan task.

In an SEL relay, fault information (such as fault current, fault type etc) is queued and stored in a buffer
inside the relay. When commanded, the relay dequeues and transfers fault data to a group of data points
called Relay Summary Event Data.

A relay status point (the fault indicator point, as this will be called hereafter) indicates the readiness of the
fault event queue. The value of this status point becomes 1 if there is at least one set of unread fault data
in the queue. To read the fault data, the master station sends a control command to a specific binary
output point of the relay. This causes the relay to dequeue the oldest fault event and load the fault data

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into a set of analog points. These analog points are reported to the master station in the usual way (by
exception, for example, if the communication protocol is DNP). After processing the received fault data
values, the master station then checks the fault indicator point again, which will still be “on” if the queue
contains more unread fault event data. The master station continues this process until all the fault event
data is read, whereupon the fault indicator point goes to the “off” state.

The executive program of the Fault Data Recorder can be configured to operate in either Automatic
Upload mode or in Manual Upload mode. These are described in the next two sections.

2.2 Automatic Upload

In Automatic Upload mode, the executive program of the Fault Data Recorder continuously monitors the
status of the fault indicator point of the relay. When the point goes to state 1, the executive program
issues a Pulse-ON control to a special de-queue control point. This causes the relay to dequeue the
oldest fault data and transfer it to a set of analog points.

After successful checkback of the dequeue control, the executive program executes a delay for a user-
configurable period of time, waiting for the analog points containing the fault data to be read into the
master station’s analog point database (this is done by the scan task). It’s important that this delay time
be configured to be long enough to allow the analog points to be read and stored before being processed
by the executive program.

The application program then processes the fault event data from the point database:
• Reformats fault types and timestamps into text points
• Submits fault data to SOE data recording
• Formats and submits operations log messages that show the fault values

Both the SOE data and the operations messages are timestamped using the 48-bit fault timestamp from
the relay.

The above process repeats automatically until all fault event data is read.

To read a LIFO, which is available in the DNPE option of a SEL 351R relay, a Pulse-Off control is needed
for the de-queue control.

2.3 Manual Upload

In Manual Upload mode, a special pseudo-status point has to be defined. When you manually set the
value of this status point to 1, a manual upload command is
sent to the Fault Data Recorder executive program. The Fill the Task Activation field of
manual-upload status point must be defined with a Task manual-upload status point with the
Activation field value of “FREC”. executive- program mailbox name
of “FREC”.
When the executive program receives a manual upload
command, it checks the status of the fault indicator point of
the relay. If the status is 1, the program issues a de-queue control to the relay. It then processes the fault
data in the same manner as for automatic upload mode, including executing the same delay that is
described above.

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After processing the fault data, the executive program removes the manually set condition on the manual
upload point and returns the point to state 0.

If the value of the fault indicator point is 0 when the executive program receives a manual upload
command, the command is ignored and the manual upload status point is simply reset to 0 with a normal
condition code.

Each manual upload command causes one set of fault event data to be retrieved and processed. If the
status of the fault indicator point is still 1 after an upload, it indicates that there are more events in the
queue. You have to issue one manual upload command for each fault event that you wish to retrieve.

2.4 Operation Log

By checking a checkbox in the editor, you can tell the fault data recorder program to report fault data to
the operations log. The fault data message in the operations log is a one-line message with the following
format:

“Fault Date and Time” Fault at “Device Name” Type: “Fault Type”
Loc: “Location” Amp: ”Fault Current” Freq: “Fault Frequency”
Group: “Fault Group” Shot: “# of Recloser Shots”

where items in quotations are replaced by actual values.

An example of an operation report (for Windows SCADA) showing fault data from an SEL 351R relay is
shown in Figure 2-1.

2.5 SOE Report

By checking another checkbox in the editor, you can tell the fault data recorder program to submit fault
data to the SOE database. You need a license for Event Data Recording in order to use this option.

The recorded SOE data can be reported and viewed using the SOE viewer. The timestamp of each
analog fault value is the time of occurrence of the fault and comes from the 48-bit timestamp value that
the SEL relay reported.

An example of an SOE report (for Windows SCADA) showing fault data from an SEL 351R relay is shown
in Figure 2-2.

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Figure 2-1 Operations Report Showing Fault Data from SEL 351R Relay (Windows)

Fault Data Recorder User’s Guide Operation 2-4

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Figure 2-2 SOE Report Showing Fault Data from SEL 351R Relay (Windows)

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 3 Database Editor

This chapter describes how to edit the database for the Fault Data Recorder program.

3.1 Fault Recorder Editor for Windows

In Windows SCADA, the database for the Fault Data Recorder program is edited using the SCADA
Explorer, in the Applications branch of the database editing tree. Clicking on the Fault Recorder item in
the Applications branch activates the editor.

Each record in this editor defines points and parameters for one relay. Depending on whether the
SCADA system communicates directly with a SEL-351 relay or with various devices attached to a SEL-

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2032 data concentrator, a slightly different edit page is displayed, as shown in Figure 3-1a and Figure 3-
1b respectively. The data fields contained in both edit pages are described in alphabetical order below.
Figure 3-1a Fault Data Recorder Editor for Windows – SEL-351

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Figure 3-2b Fault Data Recorder Editor for Windows – SEL-2032

Automatic Upload

This checkbox enables automatic upload mode. If checked, the Fault Data Recorder program
automatically detects and retrieves fault data. See section 2.2, Automatic Upload, for a description of
automatic-upload mode.

If you leave this checkbox unchecked, you have to use the Manual Upload point to tell the fault data
recorder program to retrieve the fault data. See section 2.3, Manual Upload, for details.

Cancel

This button cancels the current edit and dismisses any changes you made since the last time you
clicked on the OK button.

Control Delay

This field is a time delay, in seconds, following a successful de-queue control after which the
application processes the fault data. This delay is to allow the DNP scan task time to read the
transcribed fault data and store it in the database.

De-queue Control

This is a mandatory control point. It’s used to cause the relay to de-queue the oldest fault event and
transcribe the fault data into a set of analog points for transmission to the master station. The fault

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 data recorder program waits for the Control Delay (see above) time before continuing to process the
new fault data.

Device ID

This is the record number. It’s assigned automatically by the system when the record is created.
You cannot change this value.

Device Name

This is the name of the device (relay). It may consist of up to 16 characters. No two devices in this
file should have the same name.

Description

This field contains a descriptive text string for the device. This description string appears in displays
(e.g. in the Fault Recorder list), so its length should be kept reasonable. However, up to 128
characters are permitted.

Device Type

This is a pop-up menu of supported device types. The list of supported device types consists of the
following:

• SEL-351
• SEL-2032

Device Sub Type

This is a pop-up menu of supported devices that may be attached to a SEL-2032 data concentrator.
The menu contains the following device types:

• SEL-351
• SEL-501
• SEL-587
• SEL-387
• SEL-651

This field appears only if you select SEL-2032 as the Device Type (see Device Type above). This
field is not presently used by the fault data recorder program because, in this application, the SEL-
2032 treats all devices the same. It is included only for documentation purposes, and to support
possible future changes where distinctions may become significant.

Fault Indicator

This is a mandatory status point whose value indicates whether unread fault data is available in the
relay. If the point is in state 1, the relay contains unread fault data in its queue. If the point is in state
0, there is no unread fault data in the relay’s queue. The fault data recorder program must issue a
de-queue control (see above) in order to cause the relay to de-queue the next oldest fault event.

Fault Type (Analog)

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 This is an optional analog point that contains the numeric fault type code of the most recently
retrieved fault event.

Fault Type (Text)

This is an optional text point into which is written a text string representation of the fault type. If the
Fault Type (Analog) point above is not defined, the application does not write the text point.

Lists of the fault type strings that correspond to the numeric fault type codes received from the SEL-
351 and SEL-2032 devices are shown in Table 3-1a and Table 3-1b .

Fault Location

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault location value (distance from relay to fault) for
the most recently retrieved fault event.

Fault Current

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault current value for the most recently retrieved
fault event.

Fault Frequency

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault frequency value for the most recently retrieved
fault event.

This field applies to the SEL-351 device type only.

Fault Setting Group

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault settings group that was in effect at the time of
the fault.

This field applies to the SEL-351 device type only.

Fault Time (High)

This is an optional analog point that contains the high 16 bits of the fault time.

This field applies to the SEL-351 device type only.

Fault Time (Middle)

This is an optional analog point that contains the middle 16 bits of the fault time.

This field applies to the SEL-351 device type only.

Fault Time (Low)

This is an optional analog point that contains the low 16 bits of the fault time.

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 This field applies to the SEL-351 device type only.

Fault Date

This is an optional analog point that contains the date of the fault. The actual day, month and year are
packed into this point as follows:

Date = Day + (Month X 40) + [(Year-2000) X 550)]

This field applies to the SEL-2032 device type only.

Fault Hour

This is an optional analog point that contains the hour of the fault time.

This field applies to SEL-2032 device only.

Fault Minute

This is an optional analog point that contains the minutes of the fault time.

This field applies to SEL-2032 device only.

Fault Second

This is an optional analog point that contains the seconds of the fault time.

This field applies to SEL-2032 device only.

Fault Millisecond

This is an optional analog point that contains the milliseconds of the fault time.

This field applies to SEL-2032 device only.

Fault Time (text)

This is an optional text point into which is written the fault time. If the various fault time analog points
(e.g. Fault Time (High) etc for SEL-351 and Fault Date etc for SEL-2032) above are not defined, the
application does not write this text point.

Manual Upload

This is an optional status point used to manually upload the fault data. If you manually set the value
of this point to 1, a manual upload process will be activated.

If you use this point, it must be defined with a Task Activation value of FRec.

Operation Log

If checked, this checkbox specifies that you want the retrieved fault data to be logged in the
operations messages file (where they can be reported and viewed in WorldView’s oprsum display).

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OK Button

This button is used to save the current record. The fault data recorder program will immediately use
the updated record.

Recloser Shot Counter

This is an optional analog point that contains the recloser shot count.

SOE

If checked, this checkbox specifies that you want the retrieved fault data to be submitted to the SOE
data recording file. You cannot use this option if your system is not licensed for Event Data
Recording (which includes SOE).

Table 3-1a Fault Types in SEL351R Relay

Fault Code Text String Fault Code Text String

0x100 TC/Ind 0x200 PC/Ind

0x103 TC/AB 0x203 PC/AB
0x105 TC/CA 0x205 PC/CA
0x106 TC/BC 0x206 PC/BC
0x107 TC/ABC 0x207 PC/ABC
0x109 TC/AG 0x209 PC/AG
0x10A TC/BG 0x20A PC/BG
0x10B TC/ABG 0x20B PC/ABG
0x10C TC/CG 0x20C PC/CG
0x10D TC/CAG 0x20D PC/CAG
0x10E TC/BCG 0x20E PC/BCG

0x400 T/Ind 0x800 ER/Ind

0x403 T/AB 0x803 ER/AB
0x405 T/CA 0x805 ER/CA
0x406 T/BC 0x806 ER/BC
0x407 T/ABC 0x807 ER/ABC
0x409 T/AG 0x809 ER/AG
0x40A T/BG 0x80A ER/BG
0x40B T/ABG 0x80B ER/ABG
0x40C T/CG 0x80C ER/CG
0x40D T/CAG 0x80D ER/CAG
0x40E T/BCG 0x80E ER/BCG

Table 3-2b Fault Types in SEL-2032 Device

Sub Type Fault Code Text String Sub Type Fault Code Text String

SEL-351 136 AG SEL-351 249 BC T

SEL-351 137 BG SEL-351 248 CA T
SEL-351 138 CG SEL-351 202 ABG

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SEL-351 252 AG T SEL-351 318 ABG T
SEL-351 253 BG T SEL-351 204 BCG
SEL-351 254 CG T SEL-351 320 BCG T
SEL-351 198 ABC SEL-351 203 CAG
SEL-351 314 ABC T SEL-351 386 CAG T
SEL-351 131 AB SEL-351 403 TRIP
SEL-351 132 CA SEL-351 151 ER
SEL-351 133 BC SEL-351 310 TRIG
SEL-351 247 AB T SEL-351 393 PULSE

SEL-501 380 FAULT SEL-501 297 1OUT

SEL-501 241 EXT SEL-501 298 2OUT

SEL-857 295 TRP1 SEL-857 297 TRP3

SEL-857 296 TRP2 SEL-857 228 MER

SEL-387 368 TRIP1 SEL-387 277 CLS3

SEL-387 369 TRIP2 SEL-387 278 CLS4
SEL-387 370 TRIP3 SEL-387 151 ER
SEL-387 371 TRIP4 SEL-387 393 PULSE
SEL-387 275 CLS1 SEL-387 310 TRIG
SEL-387 276 CLS2

3.2 Fault Recorder Editor for VMS

In VMS SCADA, the database for the Fault Data Recorder program is edited using the FLTREC editor of
the Qwindows interface.

Each record in this editor defines points and parameters for one relay. The editor display is shown in
Figure 3-3. The data fields are described below.

DEVICE #

This is the page (record) number. You cannot change this value. If you type a page number into the
page number field in brackets and press Enter, the editor will display that page.

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Figure 3-3 Fault Data Recorder Editor for VMS

NAME

This is the name of the device (relay). It may consist of up to 20 characters. No two devices in this
file should have the same name.

DESCRIPTION

This field contains a descriptive text string for the device. This description string can be up to 50
characters in length.

DEVICE TYPE

This is a menu of supported device types. The list of supported device types presently consists of
just the following:

• SEL

This means SEL-351. The VMS version of the fault data recorder program does not support retrieval
of fault data from devices via the SEL-2032 data concentrator.

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OPERATION LOG

If set to Y, this field specifies that you want the retrieved fault data to be logged in the operations
messages file (where they can be reported and viewed in WorldView’s oprsum display).

SOE

If set to Y, this field specifies that you want the retrieved fault data to be submitted to the SOE data
recording file. You cannot use this option if your system is not licensed for Event Data Recording
(which includes SOE).

FAULT INDICATOR

This is a mandatory status point whose value indicates whether unread fault data is available in the
relay. If the point is in state 1, the relay contains unread fault data. If the point is in state 0, there is
no unread fault data in the relay.

DE-QUEUE CONTROL

This is a mandatory control point that, for an SEL relay, causes the relay to de-queue the oldest fault
event and transcribe the fault data into a set of analog points for transmission to the master station.

DELAY AFTER CONTROL

This is a time delay, in seconds, following a successful de-queue control after which the application
processes the fault data. This delay is to allow the scan task time to read the transcribed fault data
and store it in the database.

FAULT TYPE (ANALOG)

This is an optional analog point that contains the numeric fault type code of the most recently
retrieved fault event.

FAULT TYPE (TEXT)

This is an optional text point into which is written a text string representation of the fault type. If the
Fault Type (Analog) point above is not defined, the application does not write the text point.

A list of the fault type strings that correspond to the numeric fault type codes received from the relay
is shown in Table 3-1.

FAULT LOCATION

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault location value (distance from relay to fault) for
the most recently retrieved fault event.

FAULT CURRENT

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault current value for the most recently retrieved
fault event.

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FAULT FREQUENCY

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault frequency value for the most recently retrieved
fault event.

FAULT SETTING GROUP

This is an optional analog point that contains the fault settings group that was in effect at the time of
the fault.

RECLOSER SHOT COUNTER

This is an optional analog point that contains the recloser shot count.

FAULT TIME (HIGH)

This is an optional analog point that contains the high 16 bits of the fault time.

FAULT TIME (MIDDLE)

This is an optional analog point that contains the middle 16 bits of the fault time.

FAULT TIME (LOW)

This is an optional analog point that contains the low 16 bits of the fault time.

FAULT TIME (TEXT)

This is an optional text point into which is written the fault time. If the Fault Time (High), Fault Time
(Middle) and Fault Time (Low) points above are not defined, the application does not write this text
point.

MANUAL UPLOAD

This is an optional status point used to manually upload the fault data. If you manually set the value
of this point to 1, a manual upload process will be activated.

If you use this point, it must be defined with a Task Activation value of FREC.

AUTOMATIC UPLOAD

This field enables automatic upload mode. If set to Y, the Fault Data Recorder program automatically
detects and retrieves fault data. See section 2.2, Automatic Upload, for a description of automatic-
upload mode.

If you leave this field set to N, you have to use the Manual Upload point to tell the fault data recorder
program to retrieve the fault data. See section 2.3, Manual Upload, for details.

After entering the desired data, press STORE (F10) to save the record. The executive program will
immediately use the updated record.

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Clicking on the RE-CALCULATE FAULT DATA target in the header allows you to instruct the executive
program to re-process the fault data. This does not cause another de-queue control to be issued. It just
causes the fault type and timestamp text points to be re-evaluated and the operations log and SOE data
to be re-submitted. The purpose of this is to allow you to recover from a case where for some reason, the
fault data took longer than the specified delay time to arrive from the relay.

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 4 Monitoring the Fault Data Recorder

Your SCADA system includes a client program called ScanMon that allows you to monitor various
programs in the system. ScanMon is discussed in detail in:

¾ Survalent SCADA System Manager’s Guide for Windows (document number SM-400)
¾ Survalent for VMS Master Station System Manager’s Guide (document number SM-900)

Once ScanMon is connected to the fault data recorder program, it will log the actions taken by the
program. You can use the information shown in the log to better understand the behavior of the program,
and to troubleshoot the actions it takes.

To monitor the fault data recorder program, start ScanMon and connect to the SCADA Master computer.
Refer to the SM-400 or SM-900 manual if you don’t know how to do this.

In the task name field of the Windows dialog (see Figure 4-1) or VMS command line, enter the name
“FREC” (case is not important, “frec” will serve just as well).

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Figure 4-1 “Start Logging” Dialog for Windows

For Windows SCADA , select how much information you wish to log, by selecting an item from the Log
Type drop-down list. Do not enter anything in the RTU Address field (it will be ignored).

For VMS, enter 0 for the RTU number and 1 or 0 for the function (1 to turn on logging, 0 to turn it off).

An example of typical ScanMon output from the fault data recorder is shown below. The program displays
a “Watching” message approximately every minute to indicate that it’s alive and watching for fault events.
When a de-queue control is sent in order to upload fault summary data, it’s logged with an identification of
the appropriate record ID.

Figure 4-2 ScanMon Output for Fault Recorder

14242416 *******************************************
14242417 Logging of FRec started 12:39:06 Monday, January 16, 2006
14242418 *******************************************
14242419 12:39:06.640 Logging Started
14242420 12:39:48.468 Watching
14242421 12:40:48.468 Watching
14242422 12:41:48.468 Watching
14242423 12:42:48.468 Watching
14242424 12:43:48.468 Watching
14242425 12:44:48.468 Watching
14242426 12:45:48.468 Watching
14242427 12:46:48.468 Watching
14242428 12:47:01.484 Sent Dequeue control On to Recorder (ID=1)
14242429 12:47:48.468 Watching
14242430 12:48:48.468 Watching
14242431 12:49:48.468 Watching
14242432 12:50:48.468 Watching
14242433 12:51:48.468 Watching
14242434 12:52:48.468 Watching
14242435 12:53:48.468 Watching
14242436 12:54:09.500 Sent Dequeue control On to Recorder (ID=1)
14242437 12:54:48.468 Watching
14242438 12:55:48.468 Watching

Note: The program can only log to the destination specified by the most recent ScanMon request. For
example, if you start a ScanMon of the fault data recorder at your computer, and then someone
else starts a ScanMon of the fault data recorder at another computer, the output to your window
will stop.

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