Portal says "Timeout - check reader/machine" - Card Reader is Reporting it's offline

Issue:

One or more of the card readers are reporting a "Timeout - check reader/machine" error on the Laundro Portal.

You may also see readers showing the error message "Check if machine exists. Remove this row if not.:

If all card readers are reporting as offline, you'll see the following version of the same Timeout error "Timeout - check VAC":

These are all versions of the exact same issue, the card reader(s) reporting this error are currently operating in an offline mode, and will be unable to report any transaction data to the Laundro Portal, as they are currently unable to connect to VAC01's wireless Zigbee network.

Note: If ALL readers are showing a Timeout error ("Timeout - check VAC")

first check to make sure that VAC01 is online and does NOT have a WNC error.

If VAC01 is offline, or if VAC01 has a WNC error, this will cause all card readers to report as offline.
(Note: WNC errors on VACs, that are NOT reporting as VAC01, will NOT cause this issue).

Only continue with this troubleshooting steps if VAC01 is reporting as online
and if VAC01 does NOT show a WNC error in the VAC status on the Laundro Portal:

If VAC01 is Offline, follow the troubleshooting in this VAC Offline article.
If VAC01 is showing a WNC error, follow troubleshooting steps in this WNC error article.

Explanation:

Card reader timeout errors mean that the specific reader is currently operating in an offline mode.

The reader may still be working correctly at the location, so customers can still start machines with Laundry Cards, and the reader will still deduct the value off the laundry cards correctly;
however, while the reader is reporting as offline, it will be unable to send/receive any communications to/from the Laundro Portal.

Reasons for this, from most common to least common, are:

1. The laundry machine is not powered ON (in most cases the laundry machine provides power to the reader)
   
2. The reader has an error message that prevents it from connecting to VAC01's wireless network.
3. The reader with this number was removed or renumbered.
   e.g. Reader is for Washer 2, but the reader display currently shows it as a different Washer #.
   
4. The reader has experienced some critical hardware failure (error message will be shown when reader is first booting up)
5. There's interference from a local Wifi network on the 2.4Ghz wireless channels used by the readers
   
6. The reader was activated using an activation card from a different store location

In order to figure out the cause of this error, as the message states, you will need to check the reader/machine on-site.

Solution:

If the reader was powered OFF, restoring power to the reader is usually all that is required to clear this error message.

However, if the reader is powered ON, and you are still seeing this message, there are a few things you need to check on the physical reader's display.

 1) Check the reader's display for any error messages

1. If the reader is displaying an error message, you'll want to diagnose that error first, before looking into the timeout issue.
   See article about reader error codes/messages to find information on any error messages you may be seeing on the reader's display.
   
   
2. If the reader's display looks normal (no error messages present), check the bottom right hand side of the display for a verticle curser (" | ") on one of the reader's scrolling display messages. It will look like this if present:

Note: In the above picture, the reader is displaying show's a vertical curser (" | ") but it is also displaying the error message "NOT ACTIVATED".

This is a common message that means the reader has de-activated itself. Simple place this location's Activation Card onto the reader to re-activate it.

If you see this vertical curser on the reader's display, it confirms that this reader is not connected to VAC01's wireless network.

Whether the vertical curser is present or not, you'll need to power cycle the machine (unplug power for 3 seconds, then plug power back in), and watch the reader's screen as the reader boots back up.

All readers will preform several self-tests during their initial start up.

These self-test results can go by fairly quickly, so it is recommend that you take a video of the screen, so that you can re-watch, and pause, the video to read all the self-test messages.

There are 2 messages you'll want to lookout for:

 2) Is the reader activated to the correct Location ID

The first message will display the Location ID that the reader is currently activated for:

You'll want to confirm that this location ID matches the location ID of your store.

You can find your store's location ID by logging on to the Laundro Portal.

If you have a VAC equipped with a touch screen, you can also get your location ID by placing a management card into the VAC card holder, and checking the top left hand corner of the VAC screen:

  

If the location ID does not match, you will need to factory reset this reader to get it back into a de-activated state.

Then you can use this specifical location's activation card to re-activate this reader to the correct store Location ID:

 3) does the reader pass the Wireless Test

If the location ID matches, the next self-test message you want to check for is the results from the Wireless Test.

During the wireless test, we expect the result to say "Good Signal!":

If you see any message other than "Good Signal!", or your reader does not display any wireless test results during it's self-tests, please send the video of your readers self-tests to our support team for analysis.

Below we've included pictures that show what a typical working reader's self test messages will look like when the reader is powering ON.

These messages will be specific to your store location, and to the type of machine it's connected to, but a working reader should run through the following self test messages:

If the location ID is correct for your store, and the reader shows "Good Signal!" during it's self-test, but the reader is still not connecting to the VAC's wireless network, please get in touch with our technical support team, and let them know about the self-test messages you saw on this reader (it's recommended that you send a video of ALL the self-tests, so our team can look through all the messages, as it may not be clear which message indicates an error with).

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