VAR FAQs
What is Scout VAR?
VAR is the Anti-reactive Monitor for CIRCUTOR capacitor banks, an intelligent system for detecting anomalies in capacitor bank operation to facilitate maintenance, and it monitors the phi cos of our installation to try to avoid penalties in the bill.
What notifications for cos phi will be given by the VAR?
VAR monitors the cos phi and will give us alarms when the cos phi falls below the target for 4 consecutive days, or when it detects 3 consecutive weekly cos phi drops (even if above the target cos phi), which will help us to avoid the penalty in the electricity bill at the end of the month.
The cos phi alarm is also activated when 3 weekly cos phi drops occur, thus detecting a negative trend.
Can I change the target cos phi?
The target cos phi of the VAR is defined as the value of cos phi below which the installation must not fall below. By default, this is set to 0.95, but it can be modified in the Configuration section. CIRCUTOR recommends adjusting this value to the limit of the current legislation to avoid penalties (for example, in Spain, the target phi is 0.95)
What is the step error alarm?
The step error alarm detects that a capacitor bank step enters and does not provide capacitive current to the installation. It indicates that the step is broken, and it is recommended that the meter, capacitor and/or its protections are checked.
What is the excessive switching alarm?
The excessive switching alarm detects step "pendulum" effects, i.e. a capacitor is repeatedly connected and disconnected in a loop. It can indicate that the step is broken, and it is recommended that the meter and relay is reviewed, as well as the auxiliary voltage levels of the capacitor bank, or that some adjustment parameters of the regulator such as the C/K (Capacitive Response) or the connection or reclosing system times be reviewed.
How often does the VAR send capacitor bank status reports and what information does it provide?
The VAR system sends an email every Monday containing a report with the cos phi of the previous week, as well as a summary of active alerts.
How to enable or disable it sending alerts and reports?
By default, the user will receive all alerts and reports provided by the VAR by e-mail. From the subscribers section, if we do not want to receive these notifications, we can disable them, and we can also add subscribers who will receive these alerts in their email. If we disable notifications by e-mail, all alerts will always remain available in Scout.
How do I resolve a loss of communications?
If communications are lost, it is recommended that the installation's Wi-Fi network is reviewed, ensuring that the name or password has not changed and that the signal to the capacitor bank is correct.
If our Wi-Fi network is in good condition, it is recommended that the power supply from the capacitor bank is switched off and then re-powered it to regain communication.
Reset the Wi-Fi router if the above does not solve the problem.
If the problem persists, call CIRCUTOR Technical Assistance Service.
I cannot change the target cos phi.
Make sure to enter the target phi cos with a "." full stop, and not with a comma, ","