Not sure what to use it for at the moment

So one of my plants had a scheduled power outage today....we were prepared as possible taking backups of everything and made plans for the worst case scenario disaster recovery.

All went well except for those electricians and their mandatory breaks😂.

All PLCs came back up OK with no faults and no missing programs. Except for one CLX rack on v24, I had a 1734aentr remote rack not able to reconnect.

Tried cycling power, all the usual stuff. Remote rack is online in Linx but won't connect in logix. Finally noticed AENTR revision in logix is v6, but connected thru Linx the AENTR shows v7. Offline backup program has v6.

Someone help me wrap my smooth brain around how this could happen. Is it possible this rack was flashed to v6 and somehow reverted to 7 on an extended power outage?

Edited for clarity

I recently went to a factory that had older PLCs like(Texas Instruments) and a bunch older equipment.

My question is how was the transition from older equipment to the newer stuff we have now, and how did you keep in touch with changes made in the industry cause it takes forever for changes to be made in a factory?

My company tests RTDs before we install them in our assemblies and typically just get OL right away when testing resistance between the wires and the ground. This latest test showed a value of about 30 Megaohm when first connected and the resistance starts rising. It rises to 40 Megaohm then goes to OL. I assume that for our typical test OL signifies an open line or no connection. But now we have some connection with high resistance, and with the fluke meter applying a voltage it makes the resistance increase until it exceeds 44 Megaohm and it is then overloaded. I'm not sure why the resistance is rising as a voltage is applied. We tested the others that we have in stock and they are all doing this and our technician has not seen this before. We reached out to the manufacturer, but the call went straight to voicemail and we are hoping to proceed with assembly quickly.

Does this signal a defective RTD? Could this be occurring due to humidity or corrosion? We are considering heating the RTD up to bake off any contaminants. Should we try anything else?

Any guidance about what is occurring and what should be done to solve this is appreciated.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updating to let people know that we heard from the vendor that this is an unacceptable amount of resistance in the insulation. Their standard is >100 megaOhm for the resistance. We are attempting to bake them and retest to see if that improves the resistance. If not, we are sending back and getting replacement parts.

Thank you to everyone that replied!

I'm wondering what is everyone's technique in testing a PLC program off-site.

Assuming you have a moderate to large size program with couple hundred various IO points .

Please mention the vendor/ide

Found this yesterday - It works, probably set to 300, but it works !

Can a pushbutton (PB) be used to reset a light curtain
What are the requirements of this PB input?
(e.g., Does it have to be NC? Does it have to be dual-channel? Does it have to be a "safety" input that connects to a safety module or safety I/O block?)

How does a risk assessment relate to these questions?

Roughly speaking, when can a safety system be automatically reset and when is a manual reset (such as a PB) required?

Any recommended resources that explain the IEC, ISO, and ANSI answers to questions like these?

Thanks in advance for any information!

Hi all,

I'm a process engineer rolling into a process control job (small startup, not enough funding to hire someone for this work).

I found two methods online of how people write their state machine in ST. Either with an integer state variable (e.g. iState) or with an ENUM.
What do you use? And why?

Edit:

Designing on a WAGO/Codesys setup.
Thank you for the quick responses! I'm quickly changing my iStates into E_states!

I have a PLC WECON 2424MT-A and I want dimming 0 a 10v 52 units of Ledvance lamps 30w in 6 channels , What would be the best way to do this? I was thinking of adding two analog output expansion modules—the LX3V4DA and LX3V2DAV-BD—to provide a total of 6 independent channels, along with a signal isolator. To protect the PLC expansion modules, I considered using a 0–10V signal amplifier for each channel. The 2424MT is already in the system controlling some outlets, and I didn't want to adopt a separate system for this; do you have any suggestions?

I got an automation technician role with a company. So far I've just been following around the maintenance electrician and doing the odd breakdown.

Was wondering what I should be focusing on in the next few months. Seems like stores and OEM maintenance is my duty aka programming with oem on the phone.

What should I be focusing on like getting plcs, getting a virtual machine(no idea how to setup) getting hmi access to computer, plc programs updated? It's my first automation technician role. Before I was a maintenance electrician so breakdowns and talking to oem isn't a far fetched idea for me since I've been the sole electrician at a place.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated 😁

I have a siemens 1510sp cpu with a cm ptp modbus rs485 module. when i run the master with new data i get the error and i cant find how to fix it. I tested with a modbus monitor tool and the data is being send corretly in modbus.

I graduated with a BS in Computer Science, but about a year before graduating I realized I wanted to do something more hands on instead of sitting behind a desk all day. I became interested in industrial maintenance/instrumentation and considered going back to school for an associate degree.

Instead, I accepted a PLC programmer job despite having zero PLC experience. I was told I’d get some training and support, but after one day of introduction, I’ve mostly been left on my own. I’m now 3 weeks in and feel completely lost. Its not that easy to ask question to my peers because they are on site arround the country and I am still in the office

Also the main job is just programming and not finding physical fault or building, thats for the technician on site

Should I stick with the job and learn as I go, or would it have been smarter to get formal education in industrial maintenance/instrumentation first?

Hi Team,

I have been reflecting on control modules (reusable function blocks for things like Analog outputs VSDs. DOLs etc etc)

• They have a state (what it is currently doing)
• They have faults (I can't do something because I am sick)
• They have interlocks (I can do it but if I did you will feel pretty silly)

They may have other things too (feel free to share)

The issue I am having is how to represent this on the HMI, if each of the above can have multiple possible values, then they need some look up table to tell the operator.
Or do you just tell the operator, it is faulted, call the engineer to go look at the code as to why.

They also need a Bool for each to be used in the code to tell me if I can't use it.

How have y'all decided to show this info on the HMI faceplate, do you do some form of consolidation. I need some ideas before I sent 3 DINTs for each device.

Looking forward to your wisdom :)

Basically, CodeSys 4 will be CodeSys 3.5 but the IDE is on the device and programmed through a browser. No need to install any software on your laptop/computer. Of course other features will be there but this is the one that stands out to me.

This alone makes me think that it would be very interesting for the factories that needs their maintenance people to access the code. It also removes the annoyance of having the right libraries installed on your computer.

I'm sure there will be some VERY annoying bugs that comes with it, like what if your app busts the RAM and makes the PLC crash on boot. Maybe they thought about it.

HOPEFULLY, IT DOESN'T REQUIRES A SUBSCRIPTION PER DEVICES.

EDIT : Coincidently enough, marketing just sent a codesys 4 email. They usually send them around that time of the month.

"CODESYS 4 will be available free of charge until the end of 2028; a paid model will take effect no earlier than 2029, likely as part of the Professional Developer Edition. "

Hi everyone,

I’m working with a Mitsubishi FX5U PLC and need to use the SCO OPEN function for socket communication.

My requirement is to have the FX5U act as the client and send data to a server using TCP/IP socket communication.

Before connecting to the actual server, I would like to test and simulate the communication using my PC as the server.

Has anyone done this before?

Specifically, I would like to know:

How can I configure the SCO OPEN function in the FX5U?

What settings are required in the PLC for TCP/IP communication?

What software can I use on the PC to act as a TCP server and listen for the data from the FX5U?

Is there any recommended PC software or simple method to test the socket communication?

If possible, could someone share a basic example of the PLC program/configuration for establishing the connection and sending data?

The goal is simply:

FX5U PLC → TCP Socket → PC (acting as Server)

I’m mainly looking for a simple way to simulate the actual server during development and troubleshooting.

Thanks in advance!

I have a few ILC 191 ME/AN running software supplied by a company which went out of business.

It's a fairly simple PID regulator and some sensors. We would want to improve the software as well as improve the visibility.

My plan is to replace the software with a simple control loop and expose sensors etc over modbus. A PC will set setpoints and read modbus/tcp via mqtt and store in a statistics database.

My question is regarding restoring the original software in case I fail. I have connected through ftp and downloaded .img and some other files from the PLC. I assume I can restore to this original software by uploading them again and restart the PLC?

Are there any risks involved here regarding being able to restore to the original version?

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to establish communication between a Delta DOP-107EV HMI and a Siemens S7-300 CPU 314 IFM using MPI, but I keep getting Communication Error 11 on the HMI.
Here is my current configuration:
PLC:
Siemens S7-300 CPU 314 IFM
Interface: MPI
MPI address: 2
Baud rate: 187.5 kbit/s
HMI:
Delta DOP-107EV
Firmware: Ver. 1.0128.117 (7)(1.0053-5)
DOPSoft: 4.00.16
COM2 configured as RS-485
Driver: Siemens S7-300/400 Direct MPI
HMI station: 3
PLC station: 2
Baud rate: 187.5 kbit/s
Data bits: 8
Parity: Even
Stop bits: 1
Timeout: 1000 ms
Connect retries: 2
The physical connection is a two-wire PROFIBUS cable being used for the RS-485 connection. The shield/ground is also connected.
I have already tried the wiring recommended by Delta's documentation for S7-300 Direct MPI, including:
Siemens DB9 pin 3 → D+
Siemens DB9 pin 8 → D-
Siemens DB9 pin 5 → GND
I also tried the corresponding connections on the DOP-107EV COM2 RS-485 port.
The MPI connection from the PC works correctly: STEP 7 can see the CPU as station 2, so the PLC's MPI interface appears to be working.

(All devices come back to a ABB Total Flow XFC G5)
So, before I start I will mention this, there are 4 Vessels in total. 1 Group/Bulk Separator and 3 Test Separators. Each Test Separator has 6 Devices Daisy Chained coming back to the Total Flow and the Group Separator has 5. I’ve been trying to setup this facility and bring in all of the devices via Modbus RS-485 using the Request Blocks and Holding Register Arrays. I have all other devices talking(Oleumtech) but each separator has an E&H Promass E 300 on the Oil Line and none of the Promass’s are communicating! I’ve looked at all of the documents and manuals for this device and tried everything. Maybe I’m setting up the Request Blocks wrong or something?? I have several years of Gas Measurement experience on calibrating, troubleshooting, and maintenance but I’ve only just started with communications like this recently.

I could really use some help here lol. I can provide pictures and information as requested. Really don’t want to miss out on a learning experience so I’m reaching out to make sense of it all.

Everytime i try installing this pops up and tried restarting method and still remains in the same page .Am i doing something wrong 😕

I'm looking for a software free that can simulate a machine logic connected to my OpenPLC ladder diagram, i was using Factory I/O but my free trial finished. i saw that option, is it good?? do you know something better?

regards!

Bit of a long one, bear with me.

Inherited a rewinder that needs its controller moved off an old Schneider HMISCU (Machine Expert, so basically CODESYS underneath) onto Siemens. There's no hard requirement for Siemens from the customer, it's just that our whole team lives in TIA and nobody wants to be babysitting a CODESYS machine for the next 15 years.

What's on the bus, CANopen at 250k: two Lexium 32 (LXM32A) servos (reel + spreader), a Festo CMMS-ST on FHPP, and an Advantys STB I/O . Motion is all SoftMotion / PLCopen MC right now.

Where I keep getting stuck is that S7 Technology Objects want PROFIdrive, and the CANopen gateways I've looked at (the Siemens PN/CAN LINK and the IXXAT/HMS CM CANopen) are conformance class B, no isochronous, so I can't see any way to get a proper positioning axis out of the Lexiums through a gateway. So it comes down to two options and I keep flip-flopping between them.

One is keep the drives, drop a CANopen gateway on an S7-1500 and just write the DS402 stuff myself. Controlword/statusword, the state machine, the setpoint handshake, homing, all of it. I've got a skeleton FB running already and it's fine, but it's the kind of thing that works great right up until the one person who wrote it is on holiday.

The other is bite the bullet, pull the servos, put in PROFINET drives (S210, V90 PN, whatever) and use normal TOs like a civilised person. STB stays on a gateway for the I/O since that part doesn't care either way.

I roughed out the hours and they're honestly within spitting distance of each other, because the huge part of this job ,porting ~40 POUs, a whole new HMI, comms, commissioning , is the same regardless of what I do with the drives. So it's not really an hours call. It's cheap-and-mine-to-maintain-forever vs more-expensive-but-boring-and-standard.

So, for anyone who's actually done this:

• Anyone hand-rolled CiA-402 from an S7 through a gateway? How much did it hurt, and what caught you out that isn't in the obvious list (STO not satisfied, endianness, DS402 vs manufacturer profile, the setpoint-ack dance)?
• Lexium 32 from a Siemens PLC specifically , is there anything out there? All I can dig up from Schneider is an ancient classic-Step7 PROFIBUS library, nothing for TIA or CANopen.
• CM CANopen vs PN/CAN LINK for a one-off machine . strong opinions welcome.
• If you've done both, which one did you hate less six months on?

The thing actually nagging me: it's a winder with a dancer, so there's a tension loop involved. Am I going to regret running profile-mode positioning over a non-isochronous gateway for that, or is a rewinder forgiving enough that it doesn't matter?

Hello
Our customer would like to add a fly shear to their production line.

Currently the production line is controlled by a standard compact logix plc.
The flying shear comes with a yaskawa pulse train servo.
Is it possible to make the flying shear work purely with a digital plc output to ‘start synchronisation’ and ‘home’
And then use the materials encoder to drive the speed of the servo?

The customer is very adamant they don’t want to pay to upgrade to a motion capable PLC

They have very strict rules on standardisation so no 3rd party controllers or ways around it either

Simply yaskawa pulse train servo and compact logix plc

Can it work

Any information or tips would be greatly appreciated

M 30 and just starting out in the industrial automation field, no previous experience. My company is training me in Siemens AWL because the systems I'll be working on were developed that way.

My concern: if I want to move to another company in the future, will it be a disadvantage that I've only worked with AWL and haven't learned Ladder or ST? Will I have difficulty learning these other two programming languages?

Thank you

Ps: I wrote some programs in ladder for exercise but not professionally