A building automation integrator needed two QuickServers to bring McQuay self-contained air-conditioning unit data onto a BACnet/IP network. Chipkin helped move the installation past zero-value diagnostics and support the final Level 1 device architecture that made the project work.
This was a practical HVAC integration job, not a lab-only demonstration. The customer had to bring dozens of McQuay units into a BACnet/IP environment, prove the data path in the field, and recover quickly when the first site tests showed online devices but useless zero-value data arrays. The eventual success depended on turning those diagnostics into a stable, repeatable integration pattern and a better understanding of the McQuay communication hierarchy.
At a Glance
- Industry: HVAC / building automation
- Customer: Building automation integrator
- Facility type: Multi-unit air-conditioning monitoring project
- Client role: Controls integrator exposing McQuay unit data to a BACnet/IP network
- Project scale: 23 self-contained air-conditioning units across two QuickServers
- Protocols: From: McQuay MicroTech Open Protocol → To: BACnet/IP
- Chipkin product: Chipkin QuickServer / FieldServer
- Project start: January 2024
McQuay OPM100A and SCUs → McQuay MicroTech Open Protocol → Chipkin QuickServer → BACnet/IP → Siemens PXC100-E96.A / BMS
McQuay to BACnet/IP Challenge
The upstream/server side used McQuay MicroTech Open Protocol over serial communication. The downstream/client side needed those points on a BACnet/IP network. The job covered 23 self-contained air-conditioning units across two QuickServers, so the goal was not merely to prove one device. It was to establish a repeatable field pattern the integrator could use across both trunks.
The immediate field problem was severe but familiar: the devices appeared online, yet the actual data arrays stayed at zero or produced values that made no operational sense. That kind of failure is hard because it looks close to success. The wiring might be up, the device might answer, and the gateway might still expose the wrong thing to the downstream BACnet side.
Even then, the project was not fully done. Once the data arrays began to populate, the customer still had to resolve addressing, scaling, and a deeper architecture issue: communication had to take place with a Level 1 McQuay device. Without that topology rule, a field team could still have a gateway that seemed healthy but never reached the units correctly.
Why Chipkin
This was a good fit for Chipkin because the hard part sat at the boundary between protocol behavior and field commissioning. Chipkin QuickServer provided the conversion platform, but the useful support came from reviewing diagnostics quickly, aligning the gateway behavior to the installed McQuay hierarchy, and staying engaged while the customer validated the final point behavior.
The value here was not just that a gateway existed. It was that Chipkin helped move the job from all the data arrays are still showing zeros to a configuration that the customer could finish and confirm. That is the difference between a product shipment and a working integration.
The Solution
Chipkin collected the McQuay documents, photos, communication parameters, device counts, and BACnet settings needed to assemble the working integration. During field installation, the customer sent diagnostics showing that the units were online but the values were not useful. Chipkin reviewed those diagnostics, checked the password and node information, and helped move the project from zero-value troubleshooting into a mapping and scaling problem that could actually be solved.
The final closure came when the customer confirmed the correct topology rule from the McQuay documentation and their field work. The project needed communication through a Level 1 device, either the OPM or a reconfigured unit. Once that was understood, the customer finalized the configuration and reported that the FieldServer was properly configured and communicating with the SCUs.
SCU Monitoring Results
The project delivered a working McQuay MicroTech Open Protocol to BACnet/IP handoff for a multi-unit HVAC monitoring job.
Project proof points:
- 23 SCUs were brought under a repeatable two-gateway integration pattern.
- The data path was validated in the field and moved the system from zero-value troubleshooting to live data-array population.
- The Level 1 device requirement was confirmed and documented in the final field workflow.
- The customer supplied the final working configuration and later provided a public testimonial.
That testimonial is unusually strong and specific for a support-driven case study:
“We want to thank Chipkin for providing a product that was the perfect solution for our needs. Our customer now has a means of monitoring and controlling their units on our BACnet network, and they have been pleased with the performance of the system. We expect to be using this product again for subsequent projects.”
— Building automation integrator
Have a Similar McQuay or BACnet/IP Project?
Need to bring proprietary HVAC data onto a BACnet/IP network without replacing the existing unit controls? Chipkin can help with QuickServer configuration and field troubleshooting that gets the data path working before commissioning time runs out. Tell us about your project.