Mike Krell

I am trying to configure HART devices using software on my laptop via a MACTEK Hart communicator that has an rs232 connection. this is plugged into a rs232 to USB converter. The devices i have are a micromotion transmitter and Endress and Hauser pressure transmitter. Does anyone know if there are known issues with this? Known issues with usb to serial converters in general? Should i just purchases a USB hart communicator and not even mess with this?

I have a control network for all of my process equipment at the plant and i have a new machine that i just purchased that has its own network. I cant add these devices to my network because there is IO hardware that needs to stay on that local network. My thought was to connect this network to my existing network using a router. I would assume a router is the way to go, but if i was certain i wouldnt be posting this. the new machine has a subnet of 172.33.33.__ The PLC that is on this network is at 172.33.33.40. I am not certain what the addresses are of the other devices, but i'm not too worried about that. My existing network is on a subnet 10.31.67.___. There is a central router for the plant that has the gateway 10.31.67.31. I can authenticate through this router to access it remotely or i can hook up directly at the plant. My goal is to not just be able to connect to these devices from the subnet 10.31.67.___ but also to allow the PLC's to talk to each other. So my next question after "how do i simply join the networks?" is how do i let them talk to each other? i have been told a VPN is what i need, but thats a little over my head.

I am not sure if i mentioned at any point that the PLC is a compactlogix. You cannot add multiple ethernet modules to a compact logix. What is a "managed unit"

I just purchased a machined that came with a Compact Logix L32E. It has one single Ethernet port on the front. This port is currently being occupied. It goes to a switch that also contains 2 AS-I Masters and the PanelView Interface. The compactlogix contains a 3rd party profibus card and an Input and Output Module. I need to put this controller and Panelview on my plant network, but i obviously dont want to attach all these devices to my network because i dont want to interrupt the IO communication. Does anyone have any ideas on how i should do this? My only idea is to get new as-i masters that are profibus and use the existing profibus scanner module to communicate to them. Then i can put the PLC and HMI on the plant network.

Cool. i am not really sure what to do at this point. My plan was to seperate these networks completely, but it sounds like i dont need to. I hope i can get some more help on what exactly i need to do.

I will find out if it has a managed switch. Are you saying i should put all the devices on the same subnet as my existing network, use a managed switch and configure it to limit the traffic with the IO?

I think you might be on to something here. This is what i found in the knowledgebase: http://rockwellautomation.custhelp.com/cgi...040&p_olh=0

I have an Allen Bradley SLC-5/03 PLC inside a few machines. i want to turn these PLC racks into remote bases that are controlled by a 1756-L55 5000 series Control Logix. I am currently using profibus to control a number of other bases so I was tring to find out if there is some kind of remote base card that can replace the PLC that uses profibus? Any ideas?

Is there a reason i should have block transfer logic? I have communication with the IO tags without any kind of block transfer logic. I dont have anything programmed to the RIO addresses yet. There are no atmel parts in this card. I am not sure what else to check for with respect to that. Could it have something to do with the cabling? Maybe the resistor size? i really doubt it but i figured i would ask. I am just using 100 ohm resistors on both ends.

I am not using Data Highway and I not connected to the card at all. I am configuring it by using the eithernet module in the rack and configuring it using rslogix5000. Its just odd that it loses connection and completely locks up the PLC. I am fairly certain its not a cabling issue because when i manually remove the connector and reconnect it it regains connection. The 1747-ASB says "run" on it when it is running. and everytime to get it back to communicating i need to pop the scanner out and pop it back in and then it works for another few minutes.

OK, well after some fiddling around with group numbers and sizes and stuff I got this thing to communicate. I even got the 5000 series PLC to read and write to the rack. However I have one major problem. After a few minutes or so the communication will drop and the 1747-ASB will read "noc". and the scanner stops functioning. Also, if i am connect to the PLC when this happens my connection locks up until i pull the scanner card out of the rack. What could be causing this? It must be some kind of configuration or something no?

I have purchased these cards to try and get communication via Remote IO. Has anyone ever actually done this? There is 24 dip switches on the 1747 Rack, half of which i am not sure what the purpose is. Which is probably the reason i cant get it to work. Who has had success with these?

Thanks for the quick reply. I have considered that. I am using the Prosoft module to communicate to some old 505 Racks. The primary reason i am doing this is for consolidation. I dont want a bunch of 500 series PLC's around if i can run everything off of essentially one 5000. Is there another communication method i should be looking into? I like profibus and I use it for just about everything. Does the 1747-ASB adapter use DataHighway?

I have been using one of these Digi One IAP units to connect to an allen bradley SLC 5/03 PLC. The issue that I am experiencing is that ocassionally there will be a period where i do not have connection and the only way to regain connection is to reboot the Digi One. Does anyone know what this could be?

I have a counter tag that runs constantly that is picked up by wonderware. Shouldnt that be enough to maintain connection?

I have a counter tag that runs constantly that is picked up by wonderware. Shouldnt that be enough to maintain connection?

I have a project in which i need to install some valves in a remote location in the plant. The PLC is a Siemens 555 and I plan on using a profibus DP network so I am looking for: Remote IO that communicates via Profibus DP Something that works well for commanding valving and receiving open and closed feedback Something that is reliable not about to become obsolete. Any recommendations?

Does anyone have any experience with these? http://www.wago.com/wagoweb/documentation/...at/d033300d.pdf I purchased a few of these to give them a try on a project. I hooked it up on my test bench and it was relatively easy to get to communicate and I was pretty excited about it. Then, I noticed that completely lost power to my test bench. When i flipped the breaker back on I realized the problem was a short inside of the 750-333 coupler. It was smoking like a crazy. So, I thought these things were pretty good, but i am a bit nervous about installing these if they are not going to last. Any FBK would be recommended. Does anyone else know of some remote profibus options?

There is no way, its in my office. Noone touches it but me. And i hacked the device apart to look inside and i can clearly see the problem was a failed component. I have seen the Beckhoff system and it seems very similar to the Wago. Does the Pheonix Contact devices support Profibus DP?

OK so i spent some hours getting a Prosoft MV156-DPV1 Profibus Module Communicating to an S7 Slave Rack. By following the manual it seemed that was able to choose the "Flex" option since my CLX processor was > than Rev. 16 and the Prosoft Module was > than 1.21. So after a few hours of following instructions and getting no results I decided to try configuring it in legacy Mode. It didnt take long at all to get everything working perfectly that way. What I am trying to understand is what exactly is the difference between Legacy and Flex? And why can I not seem to get communication in Flex?

Hello everyone, I have an S7 model PLC 6ES73141AE04AB0 that is in a machine here. I want to replace the PLC with some kind of Profibus DP Slave so i can control the IO with a different PLC. (Allen Bradley) Does anyone know what I would need for that? I would ask local Siemens rep's but I hate doing that. Any help would be great.

I thought that may be the reason, but I wondered why a retentive timer was not used instead. I guess I will just get this programmed as close as i can in Logix 5000. IF theres anyone out there that wants to give me a hand I would love it. Thanks.

Can someone explain to me how this On Delay TImer is supposed to function. I am in the process of changing all this over to RS Logix 5000 and I cant really understand what is going on here. I dont get why the TV word is the same as the word that is at the BCD output. Any help would be great. THanks

It doesnt seem those MW's are used anywhere but in this routine.