JRoss

That's excellent, glad to hear it.

<rant> Why do we have to do this? Why can't Mitsubishi either (a) Put the GS Installer in an obvious location and publish big notices that it needs to be installed or (b) simply add it to the installer script so nobody has to do anything? This seems like an idiotic oversight. I went through this the first time I tried to use a GS21, and have gotten a call from every one of my customers that gets GT Works 3 and tries to open a program file I've sent them. There's nothing in the software to alert you, no inserts in the HMI box, no notices on the website, and nothing in the manuals. Is tech support so bored they need people to call about things like this? </rant>

Just to be pedantic, and perhaps avoid some future confusion... The Q3xx racks are main racks, and require a power supply and at least one CPU. The Q6xx racks (as you have in the first setup) are powered extension racks, and require a power supply (not a CPU). The Q5xx racks (your final selection) are un-powered extension racks, and don't require a power supply. In any configuration, you need to make sure that you have enough 5V backplane power to power the modules. The tool makes this easy, of course, though you can always calculate it using the specs for each module. You had enough power left for your additional modules, so you were fine to use an unpowered extension rack. If that had not been the case, you could have used a powered extension rack (with a power supply) to add more power into the system. CPUs can only go on the main racks. You can have up to four, but they must be all the way to the left on the rack, with no other modules between them. Incidentally, the third character in the part number indicates the number of I/O slots, and does not include the power supply slot or the first CPU slot. For example: Q35B - 1 power supply slot, 1 CPU slot, 5 module slots Q65B - 1 power supply slot, 5 module slots Q55B - 5 modules slots

Which series of PLC? See if yours has the WSUM instruction.

The correct software package is GX Works 2, which replaced GX Developer for all but the oldest Mitsubishi PLCs. The FX3G does have a mini USB port, so you can use a standard mini USB cable, such as you might use for a digital camera. The PLC also has an RS422 programming port, for which you would use an SC-09 cable with a USB to serial adapter. There are USB versions of the SC-09 available also. All of the cable options give the same features and performance in my experience. I usually use the mini USB cable.

Since it sounds like you're hitting walls (ceilings?) trying to work your way in, the associates degree is a good step. It could make potential employers take you more seriously. But definitely find a program that is specific to automation. If you're going to spend a couple of years learning a new set of skills, make it worth while. You mentioned switching jobs as part of this transition. Make sure that you are at least in proximity to automation, so that you can continue building your level of experience. It will help in your studies as well, since you'll be able to immediately recognize and perhaps even apply the things you are learning to what you see on the plant floor. This will help in retention and understanding. And getting demo equipment to play with at home is valuable also. A cheap MicroLogix that works with the free version of RSLogix500 is a good idea, since AB is roughly 50% of the marketplace. But you could also look into some of the other brands, so that you have more breadth. The Click series from Automation Direct is cheap, has free software, and is a good starter PLC for home projects.

The result of your DINT instruction is 32-bit, but your PLSY instruction is only 16-bit. So you're seeing the decimal representation of the lower half of a 32-bit word, which is basically useless. You need to use DPLSY, the 32-bit version of the PLSY instruction.

What's the alternative you found? I use the free version of Teamviewer, which can do the same thing as LogMeIn, but I really should be using the professional version. Unfortunately it's cost prohibitive.

I highly recommend keeping the process network separate from the office network. Main two reasons are to limit traffic on the networks and to increase security. That being said, if you're talking short-term, then it could work. You can change the IP settings on the PLC using RS Linx Classic, but then you'll have to change the Panelview Plus program to point all the tags to the new address, as well as changing it's own IP settings. The engineer can do that and send you a new runtime file which you can load in using a USB flash drive. (Though it seems the type of flash drive makes a difference. I just walked a customer through this process this morning, and the first drive he tried didn't work.) Alternatively, you could have IT set up a router or managed switch to bridge the PLC network to the office network without changing the PLC network subnet. You might still have to change the gateway setting on the PLC and HMI, but this won't affect the HMI comms settings.

Active elements like buttons and lamps always float to the top. You'll have to hack it. I can think of two options: 1. It looks like your "vertical text" isn't rotated, it's just a column of characters. You can do that in the lamp itself by just hitting enter between characters. If you want to use comments, then use Alt-Enter. 2. You could create an image of the text in the format you want using GIMP or similar, then import the image into GT Works and use it on the lamp.

+1 for the eWon Cosy. I've used this method quite a bit, including one installation where I used their WiFi version so the customer didn't have to run a physical cable. If the customer has the programming software and can connect to the internet while online with the PLC, you could also use a remote access software like Teamviewer. I've used this method as well.

Huh, I never noticed that before. I always assumed they were rechargeable, since they are lithium. Good to know!

Safe, but not necessarily practical. The battery is under the left endcap on the processor. Depending on how the PLC is mounted in the panel, you might need to take out the processor to access the battery. That's why the capacitors give you a couple minutes, so you can change the battery without losing the program.

The PLC requires power to keep the program in memory. This is supplied by the input power when it is on and by the battery when the input power is not on. There are some capacitors that will give you a few minutes if you lose power and don't have a battery. It's not impossible for the battery to hold out for 7 years if it was fresh, but I'd definitely recommend replacing it with a new battery at this point. As long as you are diligent about replacing the batteries periodically, you'll be fine to turn the system off at night. The PLC supports a CompactFlash card that can be used as non-volatile memory to store a copy of the program to be loaded under one of three circumstances: 1) manually using RS Logix, 2) on CPU error (lost program), or 3) every time the CPU powers up. As Michael mentioned, every time you change the program you have to remember to also reload the nonvolatile storage, which requires stopping the PLC, so I also avoid using this method preferring to just maintain copies of the program on a computer. This will be the ACD file you have. Also be aware that data memory (i.e. machine settings, recipe values, etc.) are stored as part of the program. This means that you definitely don't want the non-volatile memory reloading the program every morning, as it will overwrite any data changes made the day before. Loading the program requires the software. Other than the non-volatile option, this is the only way to do it. The Panelview memory is non-volatile already, so nothing really to be done there. I don't bother copying the internal flash memory of the Panelview. The MER (runtime) file and the APA (project archive) are all you should need. The runtime can be loaded onto the Panelview using a CompactFlash card or USB flash drive without needing software in case of a failure, and the APA is the preferred method of archiving the project. These days the runtime can be decompiled fairly painlessly, so that's all that's really necessary, but I usually like to keep the archive as well.

Only way I have found to do this is to use the search/replace feature to update the label in the ladder after changing the label in the label definitions.