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Joe E.

Littell stock feeder, unsupported

8 posts in this topic

We have in service 2 stock feeders, Littell model 225-12. We have a problem that started yesterday, where one of them will not go into automatic cycle. The machine will go into "auto" mode, but not "auto run". When I got in touch with their support folks, this is what I got back: The heart (and brain) of the feeder is an Allen-Bradley Ultra 5000 servo drive, 2098-IPD-030 Ser. A. It has a PanelView 300 Key (2711-K3A17) connected via DF1 to the CN3A port. There is a ControlLogix L55 PLC, but it doesn't directly handle any motion stuff. It just sends signals telling the feeder when to feed and when it should be done feeding. We have the UltraWare file, but it only contains the compiled user programs, no source code. We first verified that the inputs are working (24VDC at the drive connector). After much head scratching, we were finally able to go online with the drive by setting its node to 96, which disables the user programs and allows the default COM port settings to stay active. The software confirms that all of the digital inputs are working (the indicators in the software light up appropriately). Of course, nothing else happens since the user programs are disabled. I'm a little confused, since the installation manual (page 2-34) says that CN3A is fixed at 38400 baud for the PC but the PV communicates at 19200 via CN3A. The manual says that CN3B can be configured via the user programs, but it seems that CN3A can be too. When we restore the drive to its original node setting and cycle power, UltraWare will attach to the drive, but will lose communication as soon as the drive finishes booting up and the user program apparently takes over. Bottom line, and this is a long shot, is there anyone who might have (and be able to share) the source code for these? Or a way to decompile the run-times (this post in the RA forums says not)? We have no way of knowing what the drive program is waiting for to allow "auto run". As I mentioned, we have the UltraWare file that contains the compiled run-time files, but no source. For some reason, the file uploader here seems to be hanging up (probably a problem with our firewall), so I have uploaded the HMI and drive files to dropbox: https://www.dropbox....StockFeeder.zip ETA: This might should be in the Allen Bradley forum. I thought it might be more likely to get attention from a Littell expert here. Edited by Joe E.

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Did you find anything?

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Nothing terribly useful yet. We have discovered that the Ultra drive and motor are both obsolete.

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Yes they are. I have been putting in ultra 3000 in place of the 5000. On some of the new machines I am looking at using kinetics motion and compactlogix.

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I wish we had the time to engineer such a replacement. Would save a lot of time & money in the long run. We're not sure how much longer these machines are going to be in service so it's hard to justify a big investment.

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I understand. I did 1 system for a customer and the rest are all duplicated. The only that changes is the current of the servo and the name of the customer.

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Did you find anything out about your feeder?

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Not a thing. We replaced the drive with a re-manufactured unit to get the system running, but that's not a viable long-term solution. It looks like our long-term plan is to send the machines to another facility of ours which probably has its own standard stock feeders. We have a brand new stock feeder (current production from a different manufacturer) sitting on the shelf in case we have a failure and replacement parts are not available. Of course, "long-term" is subject to interpretation. I've been hearing that the presses will be leaving "within 6 months" for about 2 years now. Hmph. I would REALLY like to dig into the feeder, but it's very hard to justify right now, with all the other stuff going on.

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