Troubleshooting Guide

Common issues and solutions for the Flows platform.

Meter Communication Issues

Meter Not Responding

Symptoms:

• No recent data in meter_shadows
• Commands timeout
• Health status shows "unhealthy"

Diagnosis:

-- Check last communication
SELECT 
    mr.serial,
    ms.health,
    ms.updated_at,
    ms.csq,
    EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM (NOW() - ms.updated_at))/60 as minutes_offline
FROM flows.meter_registry mr
JOIN flows.meter_shadows ms ON mr.id = ms.id
WHERE mr.serial = 'EML2137580826';

-- Check recent events
SELECT timestamp, event_type, details
FROM flows.meter_event_log
WHERE meter_id = '{{meter_id}}'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC
LIMIT 10;

Solutions:

1. Check network connectivity (CSQ > 10)
2. Restart mediator server
3. Verify meter IP address is correct
4. Check meter power supply
5. Review firewall rules

Low Signal Quality

Symptoms:

• CSQ consistently below 10
• Intermittent communication
• Frequent timeouts

Diagnosis:

-- Signal quality history
SELECT 
    DATE_TRUNC('hour', timestamp) as hour,
    AVG(csq) as avg_csq,
    MIN(csq) as min_csq,
    MAX(csq) as max_csq
FROM flows.meter_csq
WHERE meter_id = '{{meter_id}}'
  AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '24 hours'
GROUP BY hour
ORDER BY hour DESC;

Solutions:

1. Check antenna connection
2. Consider signal booster
3. Relocate meter if possible
4. Switch to wired connection
5. Contact network provider

Data Collection Problems

Missing Interval Data

Symptoms:

• Gaps in register_interval_hh
• Incomplete daily aggregates
• Billing calculation errors

Diagnosis:

-- Find missing intervals
WITH expected AS (
    SELECT generate_series(
        DATE_TRUNC('day', NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days'),
        DATE_TRUNC('day', NOW()),
        INTERVAL '30 minutes'
    ) as timestamp
),
actual AS (
    SELECT timestamp 
    FROM flows.register_interval_hh
    WHERE register_id = '{{register_id}}'
      AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days'
)
SELECT e.timestamp as missing_timestamp
FROM expected e
LEFT JOIN actual a ON e.timestamp = a.timestamp
WHERE a.timestamp IS NULL
ORDER BY e.timestamp;

Solutions:

1. Trigger manual meter read
2. Check meter clock synchronization
3. Verify register configuration
4. Run data backfill job
5. Check for meter resets

Abnormal Consumption Values

Symptoms:

• Sudden spikes in readings
• Negative consumption values
• Unrealistic usage patterns

Diagnosis:

-- Detect anomalies
WITH consumption AS (
    SELECT 
        timestamp,
        import_interval,
        LAG(import_interval) OVER (ORDER BY timestamp) as prev_interval,
        AVG(import_interval) OVER (ORDER BY timestamp 
            ROWS BETWEEN 48 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) as avg_48
    FROM flows.register_import
    WHERE register_id = '{{register_id}}'
      AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days'
)
SELECT 
    timestamp,
    import_interval,
    prev_interval,
    avg_48,
    CASE 
        WHEN import_interval > avg_48 * 3 THEN 'SPIKE'
        WHEN import_interval < 0 THEN 'NEGATIVE'
        ELSE 'OK'
    END as status
FROM consumption
WHERE import_interval > avg_48 * 3 
   OR import_interval < 0
ORDER BY timestamp DESC;

Solutions:

1. Check for meter tampering
2. Verify register direction settings
3. Look for power quality issues
4. Validate meter firmware version
5. Recalibrate meter if needed

Tariff Update Issues

Tariff Not Activating

Symptoms:

• Future tariff past activation date
• Active tariff not updated
• Billing using wrong rates

Diagnosis:

-- Check tariff status
SELECT 
    serial,
    active_unit_rate_a,
    future_unit_rate_a,
    future_activation_datetime,
    NOW() > future_activation_datetime as should_be_active
FROM flows.meter_shadows_tariffs
WHERE id = '{{meter_id}}';

-- Check meter clock
SELECT 
    mr.serial,
    ms.clock_time_diff_seconds,
    mr.daylight_savings_correction_enabled
FROM flows.meter_registry mr
JOIN flows.meter_shadows ms ON mr.id = ms.id
WHERE mr.id = '{{meter_id}}';

Solutions:

1. Sync meter clock
2. Re-send future tariff
3. Check DST settings
4. Manually trigger activation
5. Verify meter firmware supports tariff updates

Tariff Sync Failures

Symptoms:

• Tariff push commands fail
• Inconsistent tariff data
• Meters reverting to default rates

Diagnosis:

# Check mediator logs
mediators logs EML2137580826 --lines 100

# Test tariff read
emop tariffs_active_read EML2137580826
emop tariffs_future_read EML2137580826

Solutions:

1. Check meter memory capacity
2. Verify tariff data format
3. Update meter firmware
4. Clear meter tariff memory
5. Use smaller tariff update batches

Prepayment Issues

Balance Not Updating

Symptoms:

• Token accepted but balance unchanged
• Balance stuck at specific value
• Emergency credit not activating

Diagnosis:

-- Balance history
SELECT 
    timestamp,
    balance,
    emergency_credit,
    balance - LAG(balance) OVER (ORDER BY timestamp) as change
FROM flows.meter_prepay_balance
WHERE meter_id = '{{meter_id}}'
  AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '24 hours'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC;

-- Check recent tokens
SELECT 
    timestamp,
    event_type,
    details->>'token' as token,
    details->>'amount' as amount
FROM flows.meter_event_log
WHERE meter_id = '{{meter_id}}'
  AND event_type LIKE '%token%'
  AND timestamp > NOW() - INTERVAL '7 days'
ORDER BY timestamp DESC;

Solutions:

1. Verify token generation algorithm
2. Check meter token counter
3. Clear meter token memory
4. Reset meter prepayment module
5. Manually adjust balance via API

Emergency Credit Problems

Symptoms:

• Emergency credit not available
• Wrong emergency credit amount
• Auto-disconnect despite credit

Diagnosis:

-- Check emergency credit config
SELECT 
    serial,
    active_emergency_credit,
    active_ecredit_availability,
    balance,
    emergency_credit
FROM flows.meter_shadows_tariffs mst
JOIN flows.meter_shadows ms ON mst.id = ms.id
WHERE mst.id = '{{meter_id}}';

Solutions:

1. Verify tariff emergency credit settings
2. Check meter configuration flags
3. Review debt recovery settings
4. Update meter firmware
5. Manually override emergency credit

Performance Issues

Slow Queries

Symptoms:

• API timeouts
• Dashboard loading slowly
• Report generation failures

Diagnosis:

-- Check query performance
EXPLAIN ANALYZE
SELECT /* your slow query here */;

-- Find slow queries
SELECT 
    mean_exec_time,
    calls,
    query
FROM pg_stat_statements
WHERE mean_exec_time > 1000  -- queries over 1 second
ORDER BY mean_exec_time DESC
LIMIT 10;

Solutions:

1. Add appropriate indexes
2. Use time bounds on queries
3. Leverage aggregation views
4. Increase connection pool size
5. Optimize query structure

Database Storage Issues

Symptoms:

• Disk space warnings
• Compression not working
• Backup failures

Diagnosis:

-- Check table sizes
SELECT 
    schemaname,
    tablename,
    pg_size_pretty(pg_total_relation_size(schemaname||'.'||tablename)) as size
FROM pg_tables
WHERE schemaname = 'flows'
ORDER BY pg_total_relation_size(schemaname||'.'||tablename) DESC;

-- Check compression status
SELECT * FROM timescaledb_information.hypertable_compression_stats;

Solutions:

1. Enable compression policies
2. Adjust retention policies
3. Archive old data
4. Add more storage
5. Optimize chunk sizes

System Health Checks

Daily Health Report

-- System overview
WITH meter_stats AS (
    SELECT 
        COUNT(*) as total_meters,
        COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE health = 'healthy') as healthy_meters,
        COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE updated_at > NOW() - INTERVAL '1 hour') as recently_updated
    FROM flows.meter_shadows
),
data_stats AS (
    SELECT 
        COUNT(*) as readings_today,
        COUNT(DISTINCT register_id) as active_registers
    FROM flows.register_import
    WHERE timestamp > CURRENT_DATE
),
alert_stats AS (
    SELECT 
        COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE balance < 5) as low_balance_count,
        COUNT(*) FILTER (WHERE csq < 10) as low_signal_count
    FROM flows.meter_shadows
)
SELECT * FROM meter_stats, data_stats, alert_stats;

Getting Help

Support Channels

1. Technical Support: support@simtricity.com
2. API Status: https://status.simtricity.com
3. Documentation: https://docs.simtricity.com
4. GitHub Issues: https://github.com/cepro/simt-emlite/issues

Information to Provide

When reporting issues, include:

• Meter serial number
• Timestamp of issue
• Error messages
• Relevant log entries
• Steps to reproduce
• Expected vs actual behavior

Emergency Procedures

For critical issues:

1. Check system status page
2. Review recent deployments
3. Contact on-call engineer
4. Escalate to management if needed