DALI Emergency Reporting

Emergency group driver properties

The DALI emergency testing feature allows users to test emergency drivers and report on the status of the emergency drivers on the DALI network. This feature puts the emergency drivers into a test mode to confirm they operate correctly on battery power.

There are two ways to access the Emergency Testing editor:

  • Select the top entry in the System/Building tree, then click the Emergency Testing tab.

  • From the toolbar, select Tools > sb icon emergency testing editor Emergency Testing.

This editor includes the following functions:

  • Manage emergency fixtures

  • Start emergency tests

  • Query emergency test results

  • Test central battery systems (see Central Battery System Testing)

  • Generate emergency test reports

CBS testing is also able to run emergency tests on standard DALI drivers.

Routine network testing and reporting on a commissioned system is usually performed by System Manager. However, some emergency drivers include an automatic emergency self-test function that can interfere with SM testing. In this case we recommend setting Group Driver Properties > Automatic Test Properties > Functional test and Duration test to Disabled.

Click the sb icon save   Save to Driver(s) button to write these settings to the drivers for each emergency test group.

sb emergency testing auto disabled
System Builder and System Manager both have the capacity to run emergency tests. When triggered from System Builder, results are not stored in the System Manager database. We recommend using SB for initial testing, then SM for all regular maintenance testing after commissioning.

Right-click an emergency driver to open the context menu:

sb emergency driver context menu

Group Driver Properties

Click the sb icon save   Save to Driver(s) button after making any changes to these properties.

These settings are not written to the drivers when selecting Save all modified devices or Save to device.
Automatic Test Properties
Property Description

Functional Test

Enable/Disable the emergency driver functional test (disable for systems with System Manager)

Functional Test Initial time

Schedule the date and time for the next functional test.

Functional Test Interval (Days)

Enter the test interval in days before the next functional test

Duration Test

Enable/Disable the emergency driver duration test (disable for systems with System Manage

Duration Test Initial time

Schedule the date and time for the next duration test.

Duration Test Interval (Weeks)

Enter the test interval in weeks before the next functional test.
PoE Automatic Test Properties are not relevant for DALI emergency drivers.
Driver Properties
Property Description

Prolong Time (Minutes)

The delay after restoration of mains supply before ending emergency operation (switching from battery power back to mains). DALI standard is zero minutes.

Test Execution Timeout (Days)

The emergency test is terminated if the test is not completed within this period.

Managing emergency drivers

System Builder automatically detects emergency drivers on the DALI network after enumeration. DALI emergency drivers can be detected at any time after enumeration by clicking the sb icon driver query type Query Driver Types icon in the Outputs editor.

Drivers are organized into groups. You can sb icon new folder Add, sb icon copy Copy, sb icon rename Rename, and sb icon delete Delete emergency driver groups as needed.

Newly detected emergency drivers are placed in the sb icon folder Default Emergency Group. You can then drag them into different groups so that emergency drivers located next to each other can be tested separately.

sb emergency groups
Duration testing drains each driver’s batteries, so it is important to stagger the test schedules for groups of adjacent drivers. This ensures that each area still has illumination even if a real emergency occurs shortly after a duration test.
Add emergency driver to a group:

  1. You can either:

    1. Click and drag emergency drivers from one group to another.

    or

    1. Select the destination group and click sb icon emergency add driver Add Driver to open the Add Driver To Group window.

    2. Expand the controller tree and select one or more drivers.

    3. Click the < and > buttons to move drivers into and out of the selected emergency group.

      Moving a driver out of the group adds it back to the sb icon folder Default Emergency Group.

  2. Click the OK button to confirm your changes and close the window.

sb emergency add drivers to group

If you have emergency drivers assigned to a fixture icon, you can add these to an emergency group from the floor plan.

Add emergency driver to a group from the floor plan:

  1. In the floor plan window, right-click the driver and select the required group from the sb icon emergency groups Emergency Groups submenu.

    sb floor plan emergency fixture context menu

  2. If a fixture or channel is in an emergency group, the mouseover tooltip displays the group name and the most recent functional and duration test status.

    sb floor plan emergency fixture tooltip

Testing emergency drivers

Emergency drivers are tested to check the driver is operating normally under battery power. Emergency driver testing can be performed on an individual driver or emergency driver group.

There are two types of emergency tests:

  • Functional Test - The system is placed into emergency mode for a short time to see if the drivers switch to battery power and that the battery switches the lights ON.

  • Duration Test - The system is placed into emergency mode for a longer period of time (as defined by the driver manufacturer), to see if the drivers switch to battery power and that the battery can maintain the lights ON. The duration test is run for a minimum of 90 minutes.

In many countries, emergency lighting standards specify that there should be a first emergency test after installation where the battery is duration tested for an extended time. When running a query for a first test, the user can select the sb icon checkbox tick First test time checkbox and set the duration time in minutes required to pass a first test. SB takes this value into consideration when evaluating if the driver has passed or failed the test.
Test emergency drivers:

  1. In the Emergency Testing editor, select the emergency group to test.

  2. Select Functional Test or Duration Test.

  3. If applicable, for the duration test, select sb icon checkbox tick First test time and enter the test duration in minutes.

  4. If applicable, select sb icon checkbox tick Automatically query results and sb icon checkbox tick Only query results at end of test.

  5. If applicable, select sb icon checkbox tick Test only previously failed drivers.

  6. Click the sb icon task event start   Start button.

    sb emergency testing options

  7. Click the sb icon task stop   Stop button to stop the test.

  8. The sb icon log info   Query Results button shows the tests results in the editor next to each emergency driver.

Emergency test data columns:

  • Name

  • Successful Functional Test

  • Functional Test

  • Successful Duration Test

  • Duration Test

  • Query Functional Test

  • Last Functional Test

  • Query Duration Test

  • Last Duration Test

  • Status

  • Functional Battery Level (%)

  • Firmware version

  • Duration Battery Level (%)

  • Runtime Failure

Reporting on emergency tests

The Reports section provides access to emergency test results and history.

sb emergency reports
Show Reports:

  1. Click the sb icon report   Show Report button to open the Emergency Report window.

  2. Click the Driver Group dropdown list and select an emergency group.

  3. Click the Filter by dropdown list and select:

    • All Tests

    • Succeeded Tests

    • Failed Tests

  4. Select the Show Column checkboxes that you want to display on your report.

  5. Click the Generate Report button. The report is displayed in the lower part of the window.

    sb emergency report window
Show emergency test history:

  1. Select the required emergency group or driver.

  2. Click the sb icon clock   Show History button to open the Emergency History window.

  3. Select Show history for:

    • Selected (emergency group name)

    • All Drivers

  4. Select the type of report from the drop-down list:

    • All Functional and Duration History

    • All Functional History

    • All Duration History

    • Functional Results Only

    • Duration Results Only

  5. Select the Start Date (Today, Last Week, Last Month, or a specified date) and End Date (Now or a specified date).

  6. Click the Generate Report button. The report is displayed in the lower part of the window.

    sb emergency history window
sb emergency history clear
Clear history:

  1. Click the sb icon log clear   Clear History button to display the Clear Emergency History window.

  2. You can select to clear all history or clear history before a certain time period or between specified dates.

  3. Click the Clear button.

  4. Set Automatic History Cleanup with one of the following options:

    • Never automatically remove

    • Always automatically remove

    • Automatically remove specified time after the selected number of days.

  5. Click the Close button.

Emergency Driver Actions

The Actions section queries driver details and battery level.

sb emergency actions
Show emergency driver details:

  1. Select an emergency driver.

  2. Click the sb emergency query driver details   Query Driver Details button to display the Emergency Details window.

    sb emergency details window
Show emergency driver battery level:

  1. Select an emergency group or driver.

  2. Click the sb emergency query battery level   Query Battery Level button to populate the Functional Battery Level (%) and Duration Battery Level (%) columns for each driver.

    sb emergency testing battery levels