Why do System Events stop working after a "Circuit Breaker" event occurred?

So a 'Circuit Breaker' event occurred and your DPS or Rex triggered event rule is no longer working. You might be asking yourself "What happened, why are event rules for this trigger not working, how do I get the rules working again, and how do I keep this from happening again?" This article will go into these questions regarding the 'Circuit Breaker' event.

What is the 'Circuit Breaker' feature?

'Circuit Breaker' is a feature of event reporting on ProdataKey introduced in 2021. This feature can reduce the severity of issues caused by failing or incorrectly configured peripherals, such as Door Position Sensors (DPS) or Request to Exit (REX) devices. If a DPS or REX device repeatedly sends events back to the PDK system over a period of time (40 of a certain input in 30 seconds), the system will automatically trigger a 'Circuit Breaker' event. This will cause the system to ignore that input for thirty minutes. The 'Circuit Breaker' event occurs to prevent a backlog of Event rule processing from the flood of reported events.

What is a 'Circuit Breaker' event?

What causes a 'Circuit Breaker' event can vary. so I will outline some potential causes below.

DPS: If a DPS on a door is not mounted properly, the door is not closing properly and rattles, or the DPS/wiring is failing, this can cause a rapid series of events which will trigger a 'Circuit Breaker' event.

REX: If the Latch time/Time to Reset/Hold Time on a REX device is not configured properly, foreign objects being detected by the REX device causing false triggers, or an intermittent connection is causing false events to occur, this can cause a 'Circuit Breaker' event to trigger.

So a 'Circuit Breaker' event occurred, how do I get my event rules to work?

Once a 'Circuit Breaker' event has occurred, the ProdataKey system will suppress any further input events for thirty minutes. After the thirty minute period has passed, the Circuit Breaker event will clear and shown in the logs. If the same condition that resulted in the initial Circuit Breaker event are still occurring, this will cause another Circuit Breaker event to occur. 

Alternatively, a PDK.io user (with Manager or higher permissions) can end a Circuit Breaker event earlier than designed. This can be done in the States window, by clicking on the Circuit Breaker icon next to the door. If the initial Circuit Breaker condition is still occurring, the Circuit Breaker event will trigger again.

How do I resolve a Circuit Breaker event and keep it from happening again?

The first thing to understand about a Circuit Breaker event being triggered is that it means there is an issue occurring that needs to be resolved for the safety/security of the end-user, the dealer, and the ProdataKey hardware. Once you have determined the cause of the Circuit Breaker event, you can take the appropriate steps outlined, but not limited to, below:

• If the cause is failing hardware (DPS or REX), replacing the hardware will resolve the issue. 
• If the cause is incorrectly configured REX hardware, the most common cause is that the reset time for the REX being set too low. By default, most REX devices are factory-configured for a reset time of 0.5 seconds, which can easily cause a Circuit Breaker event. By setting the reset time of the REX as close to the time specified in the System Event rule, you can ensure that the lock hardware remains unlocked in synch with the REX device.
• If the cause is a wiring issue, you will need to resolve the break or short in the wiring to stop the Circuit Breaker event from occurring.