Simplex 4010 SFIO board: Dating and Revisions to hardware and software

Hi!

I’ve always been interested in Simplex products, and among my collection consisting of a 2001, 4001, 4004, 4005, sit two 4010s.

These 4010 legacy panels are both in pretty much mint condition, complete with their front doors and dress panels.

I am curious though about some of the hardware and software changes that were made during the 4010 production run, from the late 90s to 2014 when the 4010 was in end of production, and how to date the SFIO boards. The tag inside has the WD date which I assume means wiring diagram.

My first 4010 I believe to be from the late 90s, as the color of the “4010” stripe on the door is slightly more tan colored than later 4010s with a darker grey color. The three relays near the IDNet polling circuit are yellow which I believe is an older board. This 4010 is running an older software rev.

My other 4010, I believe is newer from the mid 2000s. It’s running a newer software rev, and the three relays on it are black. I’ve noticed the newer SFIOs appear to all use smaller, white relays which are surface mounted to the PCB. These seem to be the most common examples to find.

I am curious as well about various software. What changes were made through different revisions, and what improvements or issues did they solve? I’ve heard before that early 4010s were issue-prone, but I’ve never experienced any issues with my 4010 that I assume is an older built unit.

My first and what I assume to be older 4010 with yellow relays is running rev 2.02 job rev 84 dated '22.

My 2nd 4010 with black relays is running 4.02 with job rev 18 dated 2005.

I want to make a similar post for the 4005 hardware and software history and revisions as well.

There were many revisions of the 4010 Executive (but nowhere near as many as the 4100 series).

Revisions (incomplete) included:

Executive Revision Release Year
1.01 1998
1.02 1999
2.01 1999
2.02 2000
2.02.05 2001
3.01 2002
3.02 2002
3.02.05 2002
3.02.06 2003
3.03 2003
3.03.01 2003

I am definitely missing a few, and there are more after this. The latest I know of is 4.02.01 released in 2011 but there’s a good probability that later revs exist.

Major bug fixes from across the firmware revisions included:

Intermittent troubles (battery charger, detector, IDNet channel fail, and others)
SmartSync devices having problems operating
Fixes to networking (crashing other nodes on the network, issues with cross-network acknowledge, issues reporting status, panel sending random garbage events across the network, issues reporting phantom troubles)
Issues clearing troubles on system reset (there were a lot)
Adding support for 4009 IDNet NAC panels
Issues with Walk Test (there were also a lot)
Panel’s clock randomly slowing down

They also fixed A LOT of crashes. These panels are notorious for just randomly crashing and rebooting, even after all the fixes.

It should also be noted that any 4010 panels with firmware revisions lower than 2.05 were required to undergo immediate upgrade in a November 2000 service bulletin (up to 2.05 or greater). Firmware revision 2.05.01 also was required to be phased out of all systems, as per a March 2001 service bulletin.

Archive Revision 4_Compatibility_EN_USpdf.pdf (255.3 KB)