ION9000 NTP only updating time on reboot

[Rich_Lannaghan]

Having a bit of an issue with ION9000 NTP

I have a Windows server on the network functioning as an NTP server which is all setup fine, however the ION9000 will only update its time against the NTP server on meter reboot.

I have checked the clock module and everything looks OK to the manual, the time sync interval is set to 60.

Am i missing something ?

[Charles_Murison]

Hello Rich,

First question I would ask if how do you know that the meter is not updating? There is an Event Logging Threshold setting which could suggest meter will only write to log if time different is above x. 

Are you able to provide screenshots showing NTP time and meter time?

Would also be good to include what version of firmware you have.

[Rich_Lannaghan]

Charles, Hi

How do i know its not updating ? Because its not updating 😉

We have a reliable time source in our lab, all our PLC's, network switches, HMI's are syncing to it just fine, the ION9000 takes the time when it boots, then it just sits there not updating even if we offset the time source by hours, even though its setup to sync every 60 seconds, the setup assistant in ION setup the last successful update as when it was booted and sync count as zero

How does the Event Logging Threshold link into this, where is that info ?

Meter has latest firmware in it

Something isn't working or sure, not sure why or what

Cheers

[Yut]

Time sync interval does not mean that time will be changed every 60. Time change occur only when the clock time is differed from reference source like NTP server. Please see event log if there are two events Time is about to be changed and Time has been changed the priority number I think is 30 if there is this kind of event means there was time changed.

In Ethernet setting be sure to allow or enable NTP protocol.

[Rich_Lannaghan]

As i say, it updates when it reboots so i know the time source is correct and the meter is capable of reading the time from the source, so its obviously setup correctly,

But no matter what we do with the time source it won't update, the only event in the event log is Handle: 0x0, NTP Time Sync failed

What exactly the point of the time sync interval then if it doesn't mean anything ?

[Charles_Murison]

Hello Rich, rather than changing the source time, have you considered changing the meter time? Another question would be how small of a difference was seen on the meter when the time was adjusted? I could be wrong with NTP, but with some of the other methods, if the source time is too different from the meter time the meter will not sync. I do not remember exact cutoffs. If a meter's clock has drifted from the source by a significant amount, this may suggest investigation is needed and a sync would cover up the issue.

With NTP, the event cutoff is such that the time about to change/time change events are not logged to the meter's event log unless the difference in time between meter and source is above the setting.

The more information I am getting about this the more likely we will need to get a technical support case started with some kind of packet capture (like wireshark) between clock source and meter as well as meter event logs, details about times specific things happen like meter start up, clock time change etc.

[Rich_Lannaghan]

Charles, no that didn't occur to me but as the NTP server is the one that will be the master i expect the meter to check the server at a period anyway,  but i will give it a try non the less

I ran a Wireshark yesterday for an hour, i didn't see the meter reach out on NTP at all, i could see all our other devices checking it.

What exactly is the NTP sync period for if this isn't used ?

[Charles_Murison · Accepted solution]

Hello Rich,

Would you be able to start a technical support case? I'd like to have this behavior tracked and this forum is not the place to do that. If you get the case number, you can private message me the number.

Charles