Beuwolf_1

We use Eplan here as well, but have the add on package, using acad lite since we don't do a lot of rendering anyway. That cuts down the price to just an arm and a leg and leaves out the price of the first born.

Have you thought about a cheap temperature controller to xmit the temps to the plc via RS 232? I think if you just used the controller as a form of temp sensor you shouldn't have a problem. Or you could just use the dry contact of the alarm of the temp controller to tell the PLC to run what ever heat functions you needed, and you gain the fun of PID control as well, which would help prevent overshooting and temp "sag" Hope this helps, Beuwolf

We have been using password protection also in certain applications, and for good reason. We have safety monitoring in our PLC's and while some items may seem not needed, too slow, or maybe just a pain for the operator or maintenance, we prefer them not to be removed by some over eager achiever with a knowlege of programming and a lack of background as to why the software was written this way. A small example is we put in a timer to wait for one minute till moving parts come to a complete stop. While standing there, the minute timer seems to take at least five and irritates the operators who must stand around and wait for that full minute to open a guard, even tho they can see some of the blades have stopped in less time. The software protection is to prevent some one from changing something that may have issues later down the road, but it can be a real pain for those that protect it just because they can. Beuwolf

Yes, thanks for the extra documentation. We are going to be implementing arc flash here in the very near future, and the insite has been very helpful. For tthose of you that have had more experience then the rest of us, I do have a question still. When all is said and done, and you have a system implemented, what happens if the electrial demands change with short notice? For instance, we seem to be stuck in a "5S" and "Lean" senerio where the Lean team takes great pride in moving equipment all over the plant. Does this require a new review of the electrical system? Or does this mean that moving equipment from point A to point B has no effect on anything but the buss itself? Thanks again, Beuwolf

I know, this probably doesn't even come close to a PLC question, but IF an electronic ignition needs aprox 10.5 VDC to fire and run, and the starter of a high compression engine drops it down below that voltage, is there some way of adding a capacitor in the ignition circuit to keep the voltage at or around 12 VDC? I got really tired at work today reading all the stuff about ARK FLASH, and my mind wandered. My hobby in my spare time is rather large bore Harley engines, and this has been on the back of my mind for a long time. I know my kid uses large caps in his car stereo to prevent the headlights from dimming when the bass is cranked, and I figured that might just be the ticket to keeping the voltage where I want it when that starter kicks in and pulls the voltage down. I would kinda like to hear some opinions on this if anyone has ever given it some thought. Especially since the ignition I typically run costs about as much as an AB Micrologix.... LOL Thanks for any insite, Beuwolf

Well I guess what I'm still hoping to find is some way of getting a 120 cubic inch, 128 horsepower Harley engine to turn over with out the investment of a $750 dollar specialty starter. Still working on the reserve capacitor idea tho. Seems that even now that a new starter went in, it still draws the ignition down below 10 volts which seems to be the cutoff level for the ignition.

Well you know I've always wanted a hypercharger. They do look good, true. And if nothing else, it would make that old shovel look a little better with the ability to breath a little deeper.

Well, fuel injection would be nice, but on an almost 30 year old bike, its a little on the difficult side to do, as well as not quite cost effective. But there is one advantage to a carb set up. I ride a lot of "limited resource" areas in northern wisconsin. Even a few of the bars up here carry different forms of gasket stuff that can get a bike back up and running should you pick up a load of water or grit and need to do a "field strip" of the carb in some parking lot. Even done a few gaskets out of phone book covers over the years. But we are thinking of NOX should we find one that wouldn't distract from the bike. Can't wait till spring, Beuwolf

I know compression releases would work on a stroker just fine, but even tho I have heard they don't stick open, I'm still of the old school that fears that lil jet of flame will burn out something into a larger jet of flame. I do have duel plugs per head, but that was done to get more and hotter spark, and would rather just keep the duel plug heads as intended. I do thank the people that have responded, since right now spring way far off yet because our area just got blasted with about 23 inches of snow. So, sitting here pondering a subject that would allow a lil insite into spring, and still take a few of you to task with a possible solution. Has anyone ever had any experince with programmable ignitions of any kind? Such as programmable torque curves, advances or other cool toys? Thanks Beuwolf

I guess since I'm more of a do-er then the follower type, my suggestion may differ from many others in here on how to start out from scratch. My method of self taught was begin with a few examples, yes, but don't assume by using someone else's program, that its the only way things can be done. I go by the rule of know what is expected to be accomplished. Either in process or motion control, you should understand completely what it is the machine is SUPPOSED to do. Then break it down in to smaller pieces and even flow chart if that helps. One thing some more expereinced programmers forget with success, is a PLC only does what you TELL it to do, but that doesn't really mean its going to do what you WANT it to do. I have to remind myself of this every now and then when something doesn't quite look right. Hope this helps a lil bit

I hope you all realize that this went from what I had hoped to be a rather simple question to a whole mess... LOL I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one that reads like mad, digs a deeper hole the more I read. I guess now to go back to another topic for just a moment. Who makes the best design engineer? At this moment, I'm gonna reflect on that and go with the advise of WWSD? (What would Scotty do?) Time to read some more, and I really thank all of you with all the fine info that has me lap deep in reading material.... Thanks, Beuwolf

I think that the Allen Bradley has one of the easiest bit shifts to program and understand. But without doing the actual programming its just a way of assigning a one or zero to say when to spray. I hope i'm not going to insult anyone's intellegence by my really poor example of a bit shift but what the heck 00000000000000000001111111111100000000000000000 The 0's are the cool spots and the 1's are the area to be cooled. A calibrated pulse, say every inch, would index the 1's to the "right", the least significant bit would be the point of spray. 00000000000000000000000011111111111000000000000 (five pulses later) 00000000000000000000000000000000111111111110000 (eight pulses later) 00000000000000000000000000000000000001111111111 (start spraying) 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000001111 (spraying till all the 1's land in the bit bucket) I really hope this isn't overly simple or anyone thinks I'm tryin to insult their intelegence, but it was the easiest way I could think of to explain a bit shift right in real people terms.

I kind of like the PLC idea, temperatures can be monitored along with the line speed and movement. Then maybe something as simple as a bit shift would be able to turn on the sprayer. Don't know if this is practical for your application, but it has worked for me pretty well in the past.

Have you tried Hoffman Engineering?

True, AutoCAD can do the BOM listing, but also has the limitations that its not a transparent dwg format when opened by someone who only has access to a standard cad package. Thats the point I was attempting to make, should you be in a profession that requires you to send out electronic media packages as part of the document package. This has been an issue for several OEM's that I've worked for in the past.

I have used Auto CAD, for electrical design work, as well as Promise E and several other platforms. One advantage to Promise E and other schematic generators, is that they can build your BOM's for you. However, if you are sending those files to a customer or third party that doesn't have the same platform, that information and the information referenced in the blocks is lost, and can cause some confustion. My recommendation would be to use something that is fairly transparent if the drawings are going to be used out side your facility.

Now how important is it to "REDO" all the calculations if motors are added or transformers changed and all that good stuff? In some plants I have been in, this could be almost impossible since machinery is moved in and out of production areas all the time. Would calculations just be done on the buss drops, or per machine? We typically move some kind of large current type device here at least once a week if not more. According to what I have read, that would require a new set of calculations, and it would mean a full time job for some one. Or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill.

I am waiting for my copy to come thru the mail. I am also investigating different modeling software too, just not sure what to look for besides the typical price justification. Also has anyone had any formal arc flash training that they would be willing to recommend?

I would think a cheap and dirty way to do it would be to use a signal isolator. Lots of drive makers use them to condition signals of various voltages coming in, and prep it for a 0-10VDC or 4-20mA out put, usually user configurable. Check with Extron or Minarik for a very user friendly condtioner. Hope this helps, Beuwolf

I'm a firm believer in subroutines, and most of the people replying in here are also of the opinion that subroutines are the way to go. I also certainly believe in DC control systems over AC just for safety concerns. Maybe one way to show your boss how the world in general sees things would be to have a poll in here on how many prefer using subroutines vs one big messy, nasty, never ending pile of program printed out to work on. Who knows, majority rule may work in your case. Good luck

While I have a solid background in process control, I always looked back to the original Star Trek series for my insperation as a youth. Not too many mechanical guys on there and you never saw Scotty covered with grease and oil, and there was seldom a process that he couldn't fix thru the use of a keyboard

Thanks for the info. Its greatly appreciated.