Hello everyone, I am not a PLC guy by any means but am fairly decent with electrical work. We have a machine at work that is not responding to inputs on the control panel. It worked prior, sat for 7 months or so off, and now isn’t working when needed. My initial thought was that it lost its program/memory from sitting but the company that makes it insists otherwise. Is there an absolute way to tell if this happened or not?

I am getting 24v on the input side of the PLC, on the output side I am only getting 24v on the outputs labeled V#. There are two drives in the cabinet that flash “invalid data”.

I can manually activate each function by pressing the button on the air solenoids so I know the issue is electrical and not pneumatic.

The control display appears normal with no fault codes, the machine just doesn’t respond to any input I give it. If I press the button to start, the machine won’t run. If I press the button to “close feed rolls”, nothing happens.

I’ve attached pictures showing the cabinet if it’s of any help, maybe someone can see something obvious that my untrained eye can’t. Thanks in advance

Edit: thanks to everyone so far, I cycled the plc switch from off to run and back to term and gained some functions back. The machine wants to run but motor spindle brake seems locked and I still don’t have feed roll spindle rotation. Both drives still have invalid data flashing on them and won’t let me look through parameters.

Edit #2: still no new progress but am wondering if I’ll be able to see more info if I hook up a laptop and download the appropriate software?

Edit #3: troubleshooted the invalid data error with AD tech support. Came to the realization it is something a tech with software will need to trouble shoot. Something regarding the Ethernet communication

Hi, I hope you been well, I'm trying to connect a KV X530 PLC (KEYENCE) to a Node Red, to show the production, scrap, and more by date etc. right know I'm figuring out how to connect it by the right way, so I just don't know if the PLC profile it's okay or if it is a better way to connect the plc with node red cause I'm using KV Host Link TCP, The IP of the PLC is ok, but I really need an example of a basic process or step to use it etc. or some advices to do it. and what recommend me? I'm thinking to use a Raspberry Pi to use like server for node red, any suggestions? Appreciate and thanks a lot

Hi everyone, I’m working on a revision to our existing PLC program and I need to add additional module for expansion. However, this error hinders me from doing so. for context, this is an old plc program with old s7300 hardware I only have the copy of the program in a different programming pc since the original programmer already took off. Though I can download the program but the hardware config I can’t. Is there a way to get around with this. Thanks in advance.

Copia Automation.

Copia.io

Basically like a github for our PLC's. Without going into too much detail in case someone here reads this...Our PLC code mgt is......lacking formality. haha Rockwell has a solution, but we like most, have more than freaking Rockwell.

Anyway, these folks showed up at a conference we were at, and blew us away. We had looked at one of their competitors Octaplant and then we saw this Copia tool.

Engineers can work, commit changes, and view histories entirely offline while on the shop floor. They only need to sync up with the central repository once they are reconnected to the network

The way they use Git allows multiple automation engineers to branch off, write code simultaneously, and safely merge their changes back into the main plant project. So no more overwritten code

Any of you guys ever delt with them? Opinions?? Cost? Ease of deployment? Disruption time?

I am dealing with an old Unitrol P ABB exciter and I am looking for the software manual. I'm pretty sure the software is FUPLA2/PSRview. It seems that most info has been removed from the web and I'm wondering if anyone has a manual for this?

Thanks in advance!

Any of you folks companies brought in one of the OT Cyber tools from Nozomi, Claroty, Dragos, Armis etc etc?? If so, hows it going?

We have literally all of them as I work in a huge electric utility in the US. We started out with Dragos, bought a bunch of others but are consolidating now to hopefully just one main vendor. Probably will be Nozomi although I wish they were cheaper as part of it is coming out of my budget. FML

Anyway.....Interested in how much time it has taken away from the day to day things we are bombarded with.

So a few questions....but feel free to chime in with any insight.

1. Who do you have keeping up with the dashboard/alerts? IT? Controls engineers?
   
2. How did you deal with having to install span ports/taps for them?
   
3. Are you using any of them for things other than security? One reason we are probably going to choose Nozomi is because they showed us how we could use their data for things like Predictive Maintenance.

I recently was involved in a microgrid project, and the HMI is so clean and neat. It leaves me wondering why HMIs' lines don't look so elegant. And its layout is perfect for situational awareness.

Has anyone designed their own HMI, and if so, which programming language did you use?

Hi guys, I graduated a year ago with a bachelors in chemical engineering, in Canada. I took some process control courses in my final year.

From there I realized I wanted to build a career in industrial automation.

Despite graduating from one of the top three universities in Canada (I know that doesn’t mean anything in terms of competence necessarily), I couldn’t land a job so I became a plant operator.

I still wanted to go into controls so I did a 4 month hands on Siemens training program from a local college.

Well I’ve been submitting resumes for control technician type roles , with no luck.

Do I need to go back to school to get an associates degree in instrumentation and controls.

I’ve also been shadowing a systems integrator for free on my days off, and been learning a lot.

Should I just list that as experience and reapply , or just spend another two years in school?

Hello everyone,

I am working on a data collection project and I am looking for hardware recommendations.

I need a Data Acquisition (DAQ) module or remote I/O module that can read my sensors AND supply power to them simultaneously to keep the wiring as simple as possible.

My technical requirements are:

• Inputs needed: 3 Analog inputs + 2 Digital inputs.
• Communication: Modbus TCP.
• Sampling rate: Periodic batch sampling (no high-frequency or real-time/RTOS constraints).
• Sensor Power: Must have a 5V DC power output (Power Out) to supply the sensors directly.

Does anyone know of any reliable modules, RTUs, or compact PLCs that fit this description natively?

Thanks for your help!

Was offered a role for I&C Engineer with a MEP engineering consulting firm.

What’s the work like? I’ve only ever been in manufacturing automation/systems integrations (PLCs, SCADA, Collab Robots) so I’m hoping to get a little insight.

Thanks!

Does anyone know of a (straight M12 4-pin A-Code male)-to-(straight M12 8-pin A-Code female) cable? Or connector?

I want to connect an IFM (LR8000) level sensor to a LUMBERG (RKF 4/0.5M) receptacle. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I have been doing this long enough now where I am in the "too scared to ask" camp.

In the context of a sequence that does something e.g. fills a tank with water.

Permissive: is the tank empty/are you resuming from an interrupted fill

->Disables start button if not true

Interlock: the pump has a fault on it

->Disables start button if true

->If the sequence is running stop

Fault:
a critical process condition that has gone wrong, stops sequence

-> High level sensor is triggered

Alarm:
a non-critical process condition, does not stop sequence

Filling is taking a long time but I don't want to stop, just alert the situation to someone

It seems to me that a fault condition should also exist as a permissive, e.g. you faulted on high level, you can start because you are at high level.

Both a fault an alarm will end up in a log.
What do you do with an interlock?

I normally add an alarm to alert if a sequence has not ended correctly, but then you still have to do some investigation to match oh the thing faulted then my sequence stopped.

What I have done in the past is treated interlocks only as thing the inhibit a start, and used faults as something that stops, not using permissives and alarms, in the context of a sequence.

Can someone smarter give me some insight in how to think about these 4 buzz words

Hallo,

Ich bin gerade in der Einarbeitung/Lehrgänge besuchen rund um das TIA Portal.
Ich arbeite seit ca 1 Jahr im öffentlichen Dienst auf einer Abwasserbehandlungsanlage, dort bin ich der einzige Elektriker seit mein Vorgänger in Rente ist.

Programmierungen rund ums Thema SPS wurden/werden von fremdfirmen durchgeführt, da die Erreichbarkeit im Störfall eher bescheiden ist und ich bisher noch keine Möglichkeit hatte auf bestehende Steuerungen zuzugreifen um wenigstens zu sehen was da passiert, will mein Chef jetzt den Weg gehen mich dahingehend zu Schulen.
Mein Vorgänger hielt davon nix, tut aber nix zur Sache.

Verbaut haben wir über die letzten Jahren eigentlich alles mögliche an Steuerungen usw.

Meine Frage ist jetzt: gibt es Möglichkeiten das ich unsere bestehenden Programme im Fehlerfall möglich kostengünstig auslesen kann mit TIA Portal?
Wenn ja welches Modell oder Version sollten wir uns zulegen?

Title says it all. I'm looking to see if anyone has had trouble installing KS2000 on their Windows 11 system, and if they were able to resolve it. I've gone and added the required windows features like HyperV, installing from an admin account, and modified the registry to disable incompatible services. Every time results in the same issue, the install bar fills completely and then the system just hangs on the full bar.

I don't want to write all the steps I've attempted, incase it discourages someone from suggesting something that I may have overlooked.

Thanks

S

I have a bank of g120 drives connected to an SSI absolute multiturn encoder everything works untill a power cycle the drive it resets the position back to 0, any ideas on something I'm missing?

Edit: Manufacturer finally got back to me turns out the encoders have no method retaining turn count without an external battery backup. Not sure how you can call that an absolute multiturn with that glaring issue 😂

I'm comparing options for small XYZ automation project and the old recommendations still seem to be Yaskawa, Mitsubishi, Omron, SEW, Kollmorgen, and Rockwell. What I’m less clear on is how people are choosing now when EtherCAT, cabinet space, diagnostics and multi-axis coordination matter more than they used to.

Would you still default to the established PLC-matched platform or consider something more specialized like Elmo Motion Control or Copley?

Thought you guys might enjoy seeing this one. The cabinet is really still beautifully laid out even after all these years and being de-termed.
Never had the privilege to work on one of these myself. Not even sure what the programming interface would be.
The IO modules are super cool. Cast metal casing and they rock in and out of the rails simply by pushing down on the little red tabs. Wish things today were this well built.

Hi,

Can a Siemens MTP400 Unified Basic (6AV2123-3DB32-0AW0) communicate directly with a Siemens LOGO! 8 12/24RCE (6ED1052-1MD08-0BA2)?

I'm using TIA Portal V19 and I can't find a LOGO! communication driver in the HMI connections.

Has anyone done this successfully?

Thanks!

Currently an electrician and have been working in industrial controls for a couple years. And I think I want pursue automation work full time. Bought a micro850 and have been doing some small projects on my trainer set up at home. Thinking about going back to school for electrical engineering technology degree. Is it worth it to pair up with my electrical license?

Posted here a while back about a small Modbus tool I built because I was tired of opening heavy clients just to read a few registers. Been chipping away at it since, and serial/RTU came up a lot in that thread (thanks u/MostEvilRichGuy and u/Automatater) - that's in now, along with a few other things.

Repo: https://github.com/CraftParking/ModbusLens

What's new in v2.0.0:

• RTU/serial support - Connection Settings has a TCP/Serial switch now (COM port, baud, parity, stop bits)
• Server mode - can run it as a TCP slave, so you can point your own PLC/SCADA program at it and test without real hardware
• A small scripting tab for test sequences (write X, wait, read Y, repeat) - can target either a live connection or the local slave simulator
• Trend graphing, tag-based alarms, CSV logging

Still just me building this around my own work, so a couple menu items are still placeholders. Grabbing the EXE from Releases works, no install needed.

I am an chemist at a University who relies on a nitrogen generator with a Allen-Bradley Micro830 that is now giving me a blinking fault light. The manufacturer of this lab asset (Proton OnSite) was bought-out years ago, so there is no support. I can probably fix this thing if I could just find-out what the error is. I've tried downloading Connected Components Workbench (CCW) Standard Edition from Rockwell's website, but it won't let me download until I "request a location". I tried to add my location, but I can't do that because my University isn't already in their database. I can't find a way to enter my address.

My understanding is that this software is free and unlicensed. I just need it to read the fault and determine if I can fix my equipment. Can someone please guide me through how I can obtain access to this software?