MAC36NL - BACnet - No time synchronization over the BACnet protocol

Issue

Despite setting up time synchronization over the BACnet protocol from a Supervisor / another Niagara controller / from another controller manufacturer / BMS, the MAC36NL does not synchronize its clock to the time broadcast over the network.

The MAC36NL settings are correctly configured in the source host:

Logs in the Wireshark program confirm that the frame has been sent.

Possible causes and solutions

Time synchronization over BACnet switched off

By default, the BACnet time synchronization option is switched off in Niagara.

Solution

To switch on the BACnet time synchronization, do the following in the station:

• go to the Config->Drivers->BacnetNetwork->BacnetComm->Server and open the AX Slotsheet view,

• on the list, find the timeSynchAllowed slot with the hidden flag,

• right-click the slot and select the Config Flags option from the context menu; in the pop-up window, uncheck the hidden flag,

• go to the AX Property Sheet view in the same location, check if the timeSynchAllowed slot is visible;

• set its value to true.

The above actions allow the MAC36NL controller to synchronize time after receiving a BACnet time synchronization frame.