Using Service Mode for Repairs

Overview

Service mode is the controlled exception for maintenance: it lets a machine run specifically because a normal pre-start would (correctly) fail — testing a repair without falsifying a checklist. It's distinct from the operator's emergency bypass: bypass is the quick, bounded escape hatch for moving a failed machine; service mode is the deliberate, open-ended state for the person actually doing the repair work.

Turning service mode on

1. 1

   Open the equipment's Device section and connect to the Interlock — the live status panel shows the device's current lock state and firmware, a useful health check in itself.

2. 2
   Tap Service Mode, and enter a reason — "Testing seatbelt repair before handback".
3. 3

   Tap Enable. The Interlock's LED turns solid amber, and the machine can now be started with no valid pre-start on record.

The entry is signed with your identity and role, recorded on the device itself and in the platform's service-mode ledger — every service-mode session names a person and a reason.

How service mode behaves

Three properties define it, and all three are deliberate:

• It survives power cycles. A machine mid-repair can be battery-disconnected, worked on for days, and reconnected — it comes back up still in service mode. A maintenance window is never silently ended by a power interruption.
• It never times out. Service mode lasts until someone explicitly ends it. No timer re-arms the interlock while a technician might still be under the machine — ending the state is a human decision, exactly like starting it.
• It's set at the machine, not from the office. The command travels over Bluetooth from the phone of the person standing there. There is no remote service mode — consistent with the platform-wide rule that nothing locks or unlocks a machine remotely.

While in service mode the machine accumulates runtime like any running state, so meter-based service intervals stay honest.

Turning it off

From the same screen, Disable Service Mode. The LED returns to solid red — locked, because there's still no valid pre-start on record.

Service mode vs bypass

Same amber, different lifetimes. Service mode and the in-app bypass are both logged against the person; the 10-second button hold is recorded on the device only and never reaches the platform.

Edge cases

• Licence scoping — the service-mode option appears only for machines in groups you hold a Supervisor or Technician licence for, and the app re-checks your licence at the moment of signing. No crash on other machines; the action simply isn't offered.
• Offline — deliberately unavailable. A queued "enter service mode" replayed hours later would open a machine's interlock at a moment nobody chose, so the command is only ever issued live. If you have no coverage, the change waits.
• A machine left in service mode can still start (that's the point), but it's withheld from compliance enforcement — reviewing long-running service-mode sessions is good hygiene, and the ledger makes them easy to find.
• Tag-only machines have no interlock and therefore no service mode — there's nothing to hold open.

Troubleshooting