A commercial facilities team needed leak-monitoring data from a Franklin Fuel Systems EVO 550 tank gauge exposed to a BACnet/IP building management system. Chipkin QuickServer turned the tank gauge’s Modbus RTU interface into a working BACnet handoff the field team could confirm on site.
This was a focused integration project with a clear objective: surface fuel-system status and alarm information inside the building automation environment instead of keeping it isolated at the tank gauge. The challenge was making sure the gateway, the device interface, and the selected points all lined up cleanly enough for field deployment.
At a Glance
- Industry: Commercial fuel monitoring / building automation
- Customer: Commercial facilities and startup team
- Facility type: Fuel management installation
- Client role: Startup, testing, and controls stakeholders
- Project scale: Leak-monitoring and fuel-gauge status points exposed to the BAS
- Protocols: From: Modbus RTU → To: BACnet/IP
- Chipkin product: Chipkin QuickServer FS-QS-2010
- Project start: January 2023
Franklin EVO 550 tank gauge → Modbus RTU → Chipkin QuickServer → BACnet/IP → BMS
Franklin EVO 550 to BACnet/IP Challenge
The upstream/server side was a Franklin Fuel Systems EVO 550 automatic tank gauge using a Modbus RTU interface. The downstream/client side needed those values on a BACnet/IP building management system. That made the project a practical fuel-monitoring integration rather than a generic protocol-conversion demo.
The work centered on two field realities. First, the team had to identify the exact points that mattered on the EVO 550 so the gateway would expose useful leak-monitoring and status information instead of a broad, unfiltered register list. Second, the installed serial interface had to be aligned to the actual device communication path used on site. Fuel-system projects often look simple until the serial details and register selection have to be proven in the field.
Because the tank gauge documentation and access details were specialized, the integration also required close coordination with the customer’s startup and test team instead of assuming the BAS team alone would have every device-specific answer ready at the start.
Why Chipkin
This was a strong fit for Chipkin because the project needed more than a gateway box. It needed a team that could help interpret the tank-gauge documentation, narrow the point list to the data that mattered, and then get the serial-to-BACnet handoff working at the installation level.
Chipkin QuickServer provided the conversion path, and Chipkin support added value by helping the customer move from raw device documentation toward a field-ready deployment that exposed the right points to the BAS.
The Solution
Chipkin configured Chipkin QuickServer to read the Franklin EVO 550 over Modbus RTU and serve the selected data over BACnet/IP. The implementation focused on the customer’s chosen fuel monitoring and alarm points rather than trying to mirror the entire device without context.
Chipkin also helped align the deployment to the correct serial interface behavior on the field device, which is often the step that determines whether a tank-gauge integration becomes a routine startup or a prolonged site exercise. Once the gateway settings and selected points matched the installation, the field team was able to validate the BACnet side successfully.
The result was a cleaner fuel-monitoring handoff into the BAS and a configuration the customer could reuse at the installed device without having to redesign the overall monitoring approach.
Fuel Monitoring Results
The project delivered a working Modbus RTU to BACnet/IP handoff for commercial fuel monitoring.
Project proof points:
- The Franklin EVO 550 interface was successfully exposed to the BAS through QuickServer.
- Leak and status monitoring points were selected from the tank-gauge documentation and mapped for BACnet consumption.
- The serial deployment path was validated at the installed device instead of remaining an unproven lab assumption.
- The field team confirmed the working system after on-site verification.
The customer’s final confirmation was direct and usable:
“It’s all good. It’s working. Thank you.”
— Field technician, commercial facilities team
Have a Similar Fuel-Gauge-to-BACnet Project?
Need to expose tank-gauge or leak-monitoring data from Modbus RTU devices to a BACnet/IP BMS? Chipkin can help with QuickServer mapping, device-specific point selection, and field-ready commissioning support. Tell us about your project.