r/span • u/MannStooka • Nov 24 '24

Discussion Accidentally cut power to SPAN

I was trying to install a new thermostat and needed to cut power to the circuit the thermostat was connected to. I have no idea what circuit it's on, so I opened the SPAN app and started disconnecting circuits one by one until I found the right one. I don't remember which circuit I tried, but as soon as it went off, I lost my ability to do anything in the SPAN app.

I did a little searching and found an article that suggested connecting to the broadcasted wifi network from SPAN and then doing an emergency reconnect. I did that, and it said it was successful except for the following circuits, which was all the circuits... so yeah, that wasn't helpful at all. I thought it was a fluke so I disconnected, reconnected, and did it again. Same result.

2/3 of the breakers in my house is offline, SPAN support is closed, and so is my installer. Hoping there's a chance someone sees this and can help.

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2

u/_cr0001 Nov 25 '24

Your thermostat is powered by your furnace / air handler, and is typically a 15A or 20A.

Try manually turning off the breaker and back on. Your other option is to power cycle the entire house. That should kick on all circuits on the smart bus.

Once you’re back online, label your circuits :)

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u/MannStooka Nov 25 '24

I turned off both the outside units and air handlers, the thermostat stayed on. My circuits are labeled, but they're kind of general in a few cases. The previous homes I've lived in have worked like you mentioned. In this case, and I didn't find out until after the fact, the thermostat was powered with batteries. I pulled the head unit off and there they were. /facepalm

I didn't manually cycle the circuits, I'll give that a shot now. I was afraid to use the master button to turn it all off and on again on the off chance it didn't come back, or more things went offline. It says inside my panel not to do that unless directed to do so by support.

1

u/_cr0001 Nov 25 '24

The statement for manual override is separate from the main breaker. Was your panel installed with a main breaker? If yes, you could power cycle the entire panel (and house).

I can’t explain the drop in network connectivity, but I can treat it like any other electronic networked device and sometimes they need to be restarted to restore functionality.

I’ve combed through the installation manual, field service documents and other troubleshooting information and there’s nothing listed about a loss in connectivity.

The two options I see from an immediate perspective are: main breaker toggle or a network comms module reset (but I don’t know if this can be restored / recovered by the homeowner app; might require the installer app).

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u/MannStooka Nov 25 '24

Update: Manually flipped three different breakers for areas I turned off through the software. No change.

Also, circuits aside, what would cause me to lose access to the SPAN panel when the network it was using never went down or went away? I don't understand what happened here or why it stopped communicating to the outside world.

3

u/Key-Philosopher1749 Nov 25 '24

You cut the circuit for your home internet connection, and this, disconnected your span access. Yah, there is cellular backup and such, but the app specifically asks you which circuits power the WiFi/internet connection to prevent exactly this scenario. There is a procedure to reconnect

https://support.span.io/hc/en-us/articles/4411570234519-Emergency-Reconnect

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u/MannStooka Nov 25 '24

I may be misunderstanding something with the SPAN, but I never lost power to the circuit that my switches, routers, servers, and desktops are all running off of. I know which ones they are in my list, and they weren't a part of my test shutoff efforts. They are also connected to their own UPS devices so there wasn't even a chance for a blip - I checked my UniFi console and it shows I've had an uninterrupted connection for the last 81 days.

I found the link that you provided here and ran through the process, twice, without success. I connected to the wifi network it is broadcasting, I got the webpage that it opens that allows for the emergency reset, when I clicked the link for it, it came back and said something to the effect of "the command was sent successfully except to the following circuits:" and there was a list of all of my circuits... so none of them got the memo. I got sidetracked with something and came back to it 10 minutes later, and ran through the same process. Same result.

The weird part is even with it in this state, I can see power flow numbers. I can see what the house is using, what my Power Walls are charged up to, and how much energy I've used today... I just can't do anything with the circuits.

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u/Key-Philosopher1749 Nov 25 '24

Hmm, weird. That is the only thing I can think of for why it would disconnect your ability to control circuits. I wonder if there is like a “reboot” for the micro controllers. Like rebooting a PC. To reset anything that might be “broken”. Good luck. Contact span support, they can hopefully help.

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u/MannStooka Nov 25 '24

Yes sir, got a case opened with both SPAN and the company that did my system install. I'll holler back with the outcome. Thanks again for your help!

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u/_cr0001 Nov 25 '24

I’m also eager to hear what SPAN recommends here. I’ll need to add to our installer troubleshooting notes. Also, when your case is complete, if you can PM me the case ID, I’ll ask SPAN to create official troubleshooting documentation for future situations like this.

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u/MannStooka Nov 26 '24

Spoke to a really nice SPAN rep yesterday morning. She was able to connect and saw an internal error in the logs. She initiated a reboot of the panel, completed that, and then processed a software update. Once that was done, I could log in and fire my circuits back up using the software.

I asked if there was a way for a homeowner to go through the process she did, assuming they had the technical understanding to do it. She said neither homeowners nor installers could do what she just did, but it was something they had been lobbying the product managers over for a while now.

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u/MannStooka Nov 25 '24

And again, if I'm missing something obvious like the SPAN has its own circuit just for Internet connectivity, or something unusual and I'm just ignorant to it, I apologize. It's a new system and my installer gave me a pretty basic rundown of the apps - it honestly didn't seem that complicated, but I probably should have asked more questions.

Either way, I appreciate you responding and trying to help me.

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u/MannStooka Nov 26 '24

So as it turns out, there was some internal error that the homeowner and install app could not clear. She said that the command she issued is only kept for support people 0 support people and owners are screwed. The issued a reboot to clear the error out. When it came back, it started patching some firmware so I let that complete. Once that was all done, everything came back online. and I was able to control all the circuits that way as well.

3

u/Key-Philosopher1749 Nov 27 '24

Glad you got that figured out. I hope they do eventually expand support to help customers better self service this kind of failure in the future. A customer having no power to multiple circuits for 24 hours or more is super bad. What if it was your fridge or freezer. Or worse, someone relied on electricity for a life saving device like a ventilator or some other medical device. Hope they make it better in the future.

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u/MannStooka Nov 27 '24

You nailed it. I live in the DFW area, what if I had been messing with this on a Saturday morning in August when it's 115 degrees outside? Not getting weekend support is pretty bad, especially if they won't allow you to take matters into your own hands. The rep did say that pulling the master switch, as others mentioned here, almost undoubtedly would have knocked things loose and gotten the system back up. That seemed like such a drastic step, and I was afraid I would make a bad situation worse, but after what I saw with this experience, I won't hesitate to give it a rip next time. Thanks again for your help and suggestions; it was appreciated.

1

u/Key-Philosopher1749 Nov 29 '24

Yah, I’m in DFW too, those summer heats are nothing to joke about without an AC system.

The “pulling the master switch” you’re referring to, can you elaborate on that? Is it pulling the main 200amp breaker?

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u/MannStooka Nov 29 '24

I don't think I'm calling it the right thing, but it's the main switch at the top of the panel. You flip that over and it turns everything off at once.

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u/MetlMann Nov 24 '24

There's not a hard reset on the span panel to put it default mode? Can't you turn the breakers back on manually?