ZedIDave

What version of RSLogix was the progam saved under? I get the same message if the program you are trying to open the file with is older incompatible version. The hardware or instruction set that may not be supported with the older version. I opened the file with ver 8.10 and had no problem. I have not used these instructions so I would not be able to answer the question.

Does anyone have any experience changing jobs on a Cognex Micro 1020 camera? The PLC is a Micrologix 1400 communicating to the camera via Ethernet. I have the PLC communicating to the camera. I am able to transfer the Instance Attributes for Offline Reason, Inspect Status Register and Online through the MSG instructions. I cannot change jobs using a MSG command. I insure that the camera is offline before attempting to change jobs and the name I am trying to send is under 12 characters and the job name includes the ".job". When I send the command, it gives me an error on the MSG instruction "Error code (in upper byte of MGx:y.22) was returned by comms module or CIP device." This is my first time using a Cognex vision system. Thanks for any help

I found the problem. As you always read, CHECK THE CABLE. The cable that I had someone make, is mirrored from front to back. They had the send/rec on pins 3 and 4 instead of 2-3. I do not have a soldering iron on hand so I will have to wait until Monday.

This is my first time trying to use a B&R PLC using Automation Studion 3.0.71 SP2. The vendor sent over a CP1484 CPU and some I/O. I am trying to establish a serial connection. This is through the IF1 serial connections. I have tried the following: 1) Initially I tried to connect and upload the hardware configuration into a new project. I set the com port to the default settings for the CPU (57600, even). No luck. It appears to try to connect as I get the "S" light to turn on along with the "T" on the IF1 card. I tried different settings just for the kicks and still no connection. 2) Created a project with just the CPU. Tried to transfer the Automation Runtime. It could not connect and I tried each speed. I have looked through the documentation and I have a copy of the training modules and I have not found anything that I may be doiing wrong. Does anyone have any experience with the B&R line. Thanks

I am trying to find a demo software for the ABB line of PLC's (AC500). I could not find anything on there website. Does anyone have a link? Thanks

TW, I hope our customer accepts the quote. I will let you know how the Red Lion controls work out. I am also looking at them to do some protocol conversion on a different job using the Data Station Plus. They have some really nice hardware and the software is free. Hard to beat these days.

I thought about using the old current doughnut with a digital output and wiring it and the ssr trigger signal to inputs that would then be monitored by a stand alone PLC. The temperature control is on a standalone system with the setpoint and current value being used on a comm line. Since then we have finalized on what the customer wants. We are going to monitor each heaters temp through the red lion control. The Red Lion control will then send the current temperature over to a PLC. This PLC will have the setpoint and high and low alarms that are set by the operator transmitted by the main PLC. If the heater goes above or below the setpoint, an alarm will be triggered. We will have logic to prevent the alarms from being set until the heater has reached initial temp and an overall timeout if the heater never reached set temp. Thanks for everyones input

We told them they would need to allow the heaters to cool and then turn the heaters back on to even detect the failed heater due to heat absorption. I would much rather use current detection as I stated in an earlier reply, but the customer wants to "see" the defective heater. We may end up doing both, since the customer may run numerous parts before noticing the part is out of spec due to heat. The application is on an inline thermoformer. Thanks

Last night I was looking at Red Lion controls. They looked like they had may solution. Using the CSM controller and CST modules I can get the hardware for around $16K. The controller has numerous serial and ethernet drivers. Looks like my answer but I want to investigate the other suggestions. I am going to quote our customer with the AB PLC option and what other solution I may find, but the Red Lion solution right now appears to be the most cost effective. All this to allow the maint. people find the defective heater a little faster. Thanks for the help.

Will, Customer requested AB PLC. I would not use AB if I was trying to keep the cost down. The thermocouples are imbedded in the ceramic heater. All the heaters that do not have a thermocouple will be replaced. I have looked at Omega but did not see any suitable solutions. For the money that we are going to charge the customer to implement this just so they can see the exact heater to be replaced seems ridiculous. We could easily narrow it down to a zone for 1/3 cost and then they could use a non-contact transmitter to find the defective heater. I don't see the payback

The heaters are spread out across an area 20ft and 3ft. The added thermocouples will be added to a stand-alone system. They want a monitor to view the temperatures of the elements. We are not inclined to use any particlar controls except for AB PLC's. The heater is currently being controlled using RKC temperature controller modules that communicate back to an HMI. We have thought about using a plc with thermocouple cards connected to a monitor. This would at least allow us to get 8 pts per card but if we use a SLC, that would need 3 racks. (They currently have AB in house and prefer AB). Noise can become an issue too. Ceramic heaters are 460V with the thermocouple built-in. What I would prefer to do is monitor the current on the heater zones. If the current for a particular zone drops, you know you have a defective heater. The defective heater will be isolated to a particular zone. The operator then looks at that zone (heaters change color when heating) to find the defective heater. But, this is what the customer wants. Thanks

We have a machine in the field where the customer now wants to install a thermocouple on every ceramic heater. The oven currently consists of 40 Zones. They want to install a thermocouple on the 300 heaters that are not sensed by the controller for temperature feedback to a display. They want to know when an individual heater has failed. The thermcouples are Type K. I have looked but cannot find a suitable, cost effective solution and there may not be one. Does anyone have any suggestions on implementing this that they have done? Thanks

I talked to Tech Support @ Rockwell. According to there answer ID #31769, RSLogix500 will look for a matchiing file with the same processor name. If it finds a file, it then looks at the checksum. If the files match, the user goes directly online. If the files do not match, they may need to go to a different directory or create a new file. Tech support was able to duplicate what I was seeing. If my online file and offline file's checksum do not match and the processor name does, it allows me to go online and see the PLC code without the changes. This should NOT happen. They told me they will fix this in a future release.

We have a system coming through that we want to get a feel as to what would be the best solution for remote I/O. The setup will roughly consist of : Main Rack 374 CPU 48 Digital Input 48 Digital Outputs Remote Location - 80-100ft from Main Rack 32 Digital Inputs 48 Digital Outputs 3 Analog Inputs I would like some suggestions from the GE guru's to see what possible configurations there are and how easy they were to implement. This can be using GE I/O or other vendos remote I/O. Thanks for any suggestions

I saw what you mentioned the other day and I thought "thats it". But, after reading the help file, it is used to warn you if your code when compiled through the "Verify Project" or "Verify File" has an error.