acpi

Morning, This is not usual to have some many plcs, particulary small ones likes TSX37 and hmis connected together in Modbus. Are you sure by the way that it's Modbus and not Unitelway wich is the Telemecanique protocol usually used to connect Schneider Hmi to plc ? Anyway, Modbus or Unitelway it sound like "wires troubles". You have to check all the cables and connections first. Then you must verify that there's no conflict of adresses in the hmis and plcs. Some views of the configurations could be usefull to go further. You said you have changed an hmi but how, as it seems you don't have the version needed to open old projects ? JC

Hello, One of my customer has a cardbox machine controlled by a PLC-5. On a DH+ port of this plc there's a T30C panel. This panel is totally obsolete and he asked me to replace it. I'm not an expert of PLC-5 plc but I know how to connect it and get the program. But for the panel I'm in the fog. I found nothing about it on Rockwell website and almost no informations on the web. It seems this panel was made by Xycom for AB but I can't find a manual about it. If someone here know those panels and could tell me what software to use, how to upload  from the panel or any useful informations it will be cool. Thanks. JC

Morning, Thank you for researching. That confirm what I thought, it was certainly very difficult to work with this panel JC

Hello, I knew I’d tickle the patriotic fibre by speaking of Siemens in a Rockwell forum It's normal but your vision is skewed cause I guess you work with them all the time. I work with AB/Rockwell mostly to backup programs or help the maintenance guys to find the a machine fault. Sometimes I install a new plc when customer specifically ask for Rockwell stuff. It happens once every 10 years... The rest of the time I work at 80% with Schneider and Siemens. If I had to convert the PLC-5 I should buy a licence for ControLogix (€€€) ControlLogix configuration (€€€) and if I want a support I will have to pay in addition a techconnect contract (€€€). So ok there's a conversion tool but if I add all the extras costs I could spend a lot (by lot I mean tons) of hours of engineering and I will be cheaper anyway with Siemens at the end. I prefer to sell programming hours cause it goes in my pocket (my boss's pocket to be exact) and not in Rockwell's pocket. But it's pure spéculation cause this plc won't be replaced, mostly because it's reliable (good point for AB) whereas it's not the same story for the panel and its cathodic tube. Have a nice weekend JC  

Hi, Well, in a perfect world plc and hmi should be replaced by brand new Siemens hardware cause it's more common in Europe especially in cardboard industry but we aint living in a perfect world and I have to deal with prehistoric AB stuffs JC

Morning, The reference is 1784-T30C indeed but there's nothing about it on Rockwell website, it's like it has never existed 30 years ago I've installed a Xycom 2000 panel that look like a lot the AB one and there was a DOS software but it seems its different with the T30C. I found messages on another forum from a guy that had worked with thoses panels and he talk of hyperterminal to get and send configuration to the panel. That sound really primitive, even for a 90's product... I think I'm going to start from scratch by finding tags that are displayed but it will be fastidious as I don't have the source code of the plc. JC

Hi, Anybus is cheaper but Hilscher is german https://www.hilscher.com/products/gateways-switches-for-industrial-communication/gateways-for-industrial-ethernet-fieldbus-serial/nt-50-dp-rs JC

Morning, If some values are updated and in the same time you get a "no plc response" message that means one or several tags on the displayed screen can't be read in the plc. It could be a wrong adress, outside range, bad type etc. So you have to carrefully check all your tags. JC

Morning, To my knowledge you have the very last latest version of PL7 Pro. So I think your problem is probably not linked to the PL7 version. Maybe it's rather an Unitelway driver issue but I can't be affirmative. JC

Morning, A TIA V18 basic licence is about 350/400 euros here in France. I don't understand how it could be 4000 USD or Euros in Denmark. JC

Morning, Weintek panels can communicate with Ethernet Siemens Logo.  They're cheaper than Siemens hmis even if KTP ones are not so expensive than that and work with Logo too. http://dl.weintek.com/public/PLC_Connect_Guide/Siemens_LOGO_Ethernet.pdf JC

Morning, You should install XTEL V6.1 SP1 that doesn't need anymore the protections keys. This version is available on the subscribers Schneider Website. If you can not find this version send me a pm. JC

Morning, Here are the options to upload and dowload parameters to the drive. In your case the easiest seems the use of an MMC card. JC

For sure S7-Graph is not good at all, Siemens has never implemented this graphic language properly in their plcs. Anyway I don't see exactely how your program is done but it seems it's a mix between graphic SFC, ladder and ST. If you can send me your XTEL project I could have a look on it and give you my opinion in PM. It's free and as I'm not a Schneider guy, it will be objective JC

Morning, Of course there's a migration tool to convert 7 series plcs programs but not directly to Control Expert. You have to convert to Pl7-Pro first and then from PL7-Pro to Control Expert. It works but it's not a miracle tool and you have to adjust a lot of things including the adressing of the I/O. In addition you get an old fashion program that does not use at all the possiblities of a modern plc.   Grafcet can be translated in another language than SFC (graphic language), with Siemens I do Grafcets in ladder with steps words. This is the method we used in the past with old Telemecanique plcs cause there was a lot of limitation. You could not modify SFC in run mode and you had limited numbers of steps. Of course if you have hundreds of Grafcet it could be a consuming time job but at least you have the hand on the program. During my carreer I have made a lot of programs conversions and I've learned that each case is different and must be studied to find the right solution. Sometimes software migration is a good solution sometimes not, despite what Schneider always say. JC

Hi, You can't use Ethercat with Schneider Plcs. Today they use mainly EtherNet/IP or Modbus TCP/IP. If you plan to use remote I/O that means you will have to remap all the locals I/O used in the TSX87. In fact you have missed a step. You should had convert your TSX87 to TSX Premium Plc and so you could use the Premium rack and modules as remote I/O of the M580 processor. My advice will be to swap everything to Siemens. Of course you will have to rewrite the program but it's a better long term solution. To be honnest i'm even very surprised you consider Schneider today cause each time I had to work with german companies we had the obligation to use german hardware, whatever the price or if the hardware was good or not

Hi, We had the original program from the distributor but I suppose I didn't do the right things to transfer the program and parameters into the cpu. My customer kept trying and  he succeeded to transfer it and the main cpu went in run mode. I do'nt know what he exactely did and I have no idea of what happened originaly but the machine is running now, so problem is solved... JC

Morning, I have a problem with a japanese cardbox machine fitted with Q series plcs. It's a multi cpu system with a GOT1000 HMI plugged directely on the rack. After a power down on the weekend the main cpu is in error (error led is flickering) and the diag show 2400 error on the main cpu and 7000 on the motion cpu. I'm not very familiar with Mitsubishi plcs and I don't know those Q plcs. We have bought a spare Q02H cpu and transferred the program without success, error is still present. What could be the problem ? JC

Hi, I don't think there's a SD card, there's an empty slot in front of the cpu but it's empty. According to the european distributor of this machine, programme is stored in internal ROM and battery is used to save datas. But we're not sure if what he's saying is correct because it seems he doesen't know the machine so well. Thanks for your help. JC    

Hello, You can swap the module without the need to download the application. There's nothing into the module, the whole wonfiguration is in the plc. JC

I simply use an old Dell laptop with a serial port and a virtual machine with XTEL SP1. I connect the plcs in local either with a RS232/RS485 converter for TSX 17 or FT21CBCL030 cable wich is a RS232/Current loop converter for TSX27, 57, 67, 87 or 107. You can use as well a Westermo MA-21 converter wich is exactely the same thing than the original Telemecanique TSX TE01. Today we don't work a lot with those plcs. Most of the time it's just to get the program to convert it on a newer plc or to restore a program after a loss caused by battery failure so there's really no need to use distant connection as Ethway. The fact is Ethway came at the very end of life of those plcs and in addtion the Ethway modules were very expensive, so it was very rarely used. So you wo'nt find a lot of informations about it even by old automation guys like me JC

Morning, I saw your posts on the french automation forum. Kalhix is just a laptop (probably Panasonic thougbook) with their software for plcs. I never use it cause it's way too expensive for what it is (about 9000 euros for premium version) and there's nothing you can't do with a basic laptop. Ethway communication could be interesting to connect plcs remotely but honestly you can troubleshoot your installations without it. I have installed hundred of 7 serie plcs in the past and I rarely (to not say never) used Ethway communication. Today I use a virtual machine on a Dell laptop with serial port to use the westermo converter and it's largely sufficent. JC

Morning, First I have to says that I'm not familiar with Mitsubishi's Hmis cause this brand is not so common im my country. So I have made a backup of a GOT1000 Hmi (GT15) with GT Designer 2. When I uploaded the project, software warned me that the version of project was 2.111 and my GT designer version is 2.90. Anyway, upload was ok eventually and I got the whole project. Is there any known issue with this difference of versions. In other words, if I download this project to a backup panel will it work properly ? In addition we have made a backup on a CF card formatted with the hmi . Can I copy those files on a server and eventually put it on another CF card for future restoration or should I necessarily use the original backup made from the panel ? Thanks for answers JC

Hi, Here is a beginning of solution based on the explanation of pturmel. I1 is the coin input and I2 is the start input of the cycle. V1 is a comparison of the counter > 0. https://ibb.co/LQvY1rd JC

Sorry but you can not use the HMI as a gateway. Go for the IBH (or similar) gateway or try to find an used CP343 at a decent price.