IHC Term from 1997

[bobclarke]

Hello,

I am an old industrial plc programmer.
I am trying to help a friend who has a house with a very old IHC contol ssystem.
The system has become very unstable and we need to update it.
Many of the modules are no longer available for replacement.

It was sold here in Norway branded as 'Thorsman'.
This system has a controller with a 9 bin port.
There are 18 I/O modules throughout the house.
There is almost no documentation here however I do have a printed
text file dated 1997.
an example line from the program:
     Funksjonslinje for inngang 1.
     >: OnU001 FolU002 
     <: END 

This line is readable but I don't know where the physical input 001 is.
There are no visable adress dip switches on the modules so I have no
 idea where these adresses are placed.

I need some documentation/manual to guide me through decoding the system
 such that I can make a symbol table and document 'what is here now'.
No doubt I'm missing something as I don't see this correlation in the
 software I downloaded either.

[Astronaut]

13 hours ago, bobclarke said:

I am trying to help a friend who has a house with a very old IHC contol ssystem.

Assuming the controller is a LK TermIHC controller it works electrically like the later IHC controllers. It supports 128 digital inputs and 128 digital outputs. Each input module has 16 inputs and is connected to the controller with 0V, 24V and a dataline. The dataline for input module 1 is connected to input line 1 on the controller (top right part). The output modules each have 8 outputs and are connected at the bottom of the controller the same way. Line 1 on input module 1 becomes input 1.01. The terminal an input or output module is connected to determines its number. There are no DIP switches for anything.

The input and output modules have not changed since the first controller (though there is probably some exotic modules that are no longer supported). Thus it is possible to replace the old controller with a new IHC Visual 3 controller. It is also possible to replace faulty input and output modules. The controller will however need to be reprogrammed as the TermIHC controller uses a completely different programming model. I have no clue as to how the TermIHC controller is programmed and that knowledge seems in short supply on this site.

To my knowledge the IHC system is no longer sold or supported outside Denmark. However the components may be purchased in Denmark. I have attached documentation found on the internet - unfortunately it is in Danish.

 

document.pdf

[bobclarke]

Thank You!

Just what I was hoping for, the manual will hopefully solve most of our information problems.

I understand you to say that the placement order of the 18 modules on the bus will determine the I/O address.

The 1st module is I 0 to I 8  and Q 9  to Q 16, the second module I 17 to I 25 and Q 26 to Q 32?

Yes it would appear that IHC has outlived its technological lifetime.

We're looking to replace it with something new but still makeing use of the wired approach and with the option for some wifi additions.

Please respond in Danish if its quicker, reading it is ok for me but an attempt to write  would have you die laughing.

Bob

 

 

[Henning Pedersen]

Det kan være et stort, og tidskrævende detektivarbejde, at finde alle de anvendte ind- og udgange på så gammel en IHC controller. Men når I alligevel skal opgraderer til en IHC Visual 3, har jeg en meget let og smart måde at gøre det på.

 

Se video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/192tcypnBHOpL0HLy1aSetW9wDAmsATGe/view?usp=sharing

 

Videoen er på Dansk, håber det går.

[bobclarke]

yes that is an Interesting and usefull tool.

after seeing the IHC vers 1 'sail into the sunset' I have to seriously think about using

 the vers 3 for the upgrade.

after all It came out in 2012 and is now nearly 10 years old.

address decoding is a case of me 'not seeing the forest because of the trees'.

I was looking to intensly to find the addressing mechanism and didn't get the network 'star'

 configuration using the actual port as the base adress point.

Bob

 

[Astronaut]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:01 AM, bobclarke said:

 the vers 3 for the upgrade.

after all It came out in 2012 and is now nearly 10 years old.

Actually the newest controller is from 2018. It (now) runs stable and has a nice API so that it may be accessed over the network. I expect to keep my controller for the next 15-20 years and just update the frontend software (home assistant, openhab, IHC captain).

 

I suspect sooner rather than later we will need to build a proxy for the controller so that it is not exposed to the internet or other devices on the local network. That will be needed when Schneider no longer updates the software. However, that is doable and should give the controller a very long lifespan. BTW the same problem exist with any network enabled device and devices that requires cloud especially.

[bobclarke]

Hi, actualy we also have problems with the modules are no longer available for sale outside of Denmark. We had a friend on vacation there pickup one a while ago but that was just luck. I'm not convinced it is a viable system for the future.

[Astronaut]

15 hours ago, bobclarke said:

I'm not convinced it is a viable system for the future.

I am pretty sure IHC has no grand future ahead of it where it will grow significantly or where new and exiting features will appear. And the topology with a smart controller and smart modules located centrally and dumb switches and outlets distributed around the house is definitely not the way of the future.

But in Denmark the base should be large enough for Schneider to provide sell hardware for the next many years. In fact, the protocol between the input and output modules is so simple that it would be relatively easy for someone to build 3rd party input and output modules. The nice thing about the controller is that it is very stable and easy to program. If there is one thing nobody wants, then it is to come home and be unable to turn on the lights due to a software bug. All the other "smart" systems out there seem to provide significantly less flexibility and/or is not too stable.

Anyway, best of luck with your system.

[bobclarke]

Wish I had a crystal ball, every technology goes through these stages before a leader and standard is decided apon.

As the house is already been done 20 years ago with wired technology and the components all work (switches lights and external things) it seems unreasonabe and expensive to throw them away and buy new wireless units. The brand we are looking at now uses wired technology but allows access to wireless also.

Its called Loxone from Austria, seems to be well constructed and  gaining market acceptance. It gives us a possibility to replace the I/O modules with simular types and use much of the excisting infrastructure.

I hope I'm not wrong on this.