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I hadn't considered that he wants to display canned ASCII messages, I figured he wanted to display integers. We'll have to find that out!

Now that's hardcore :) Was it running on a Vista 2000?

well from what i recall from electronics class years ago, there's TTL decoder chips that can take discrete signals and correlate that to the appropriate 7-segment numeral display. so it's certainly possible. breaking down the serial "packet" into multiple digits would take a little more circuitry. the question is, what are these particular displays he's got set up to handle? and would it make sense for him to make a small circuit to interface the PLC's output line to the display?

chako.... RULES!

RSterminator? never heard of it

what somebody needs to come up with is something like this, but with a small microcontroller or PGA that has the "database" of cable pinouts stored in it. You just tell it what you're connecting from and to, and it makes all the interconnectons for you.

I never tried the repaid option.. I will see what happens. What would be nice is something like the "detect new hardware" function in control panel, so that windows could determine by itself what driver is needed. I'd be happy if it would just let me give it the river of my choosing, though!

At the last plant I worked for, it was an uphill battle (to say the least) to get the right number of parts, at a minimally acceptable level of quality, out the door every day. It had been that way for years. This created an atmosphere where only the bare minimum downtime was allowed. Adding to the problem, the machines themselves weren't terribly robust, safe, or designed for maintenance. So when it came time to replace a wire/cordset/etc, the choice would be perhaps 15 minutes or more to pull it all the way home and run a new one, vs. 3-5 minutes to buttsplice or wirenut it right where it broke. Guess which technique had management's support So in time, the emergency-fix technique became standard operating procedure. I think the technicians forgot altogether that this was the wrong way to do things. When I started there, I wondered why everyone had a wirenut and buttsplice fetish. It didn't take long to figure it out. And by no means was this philosophy limited to electrical work. It was the informal corporate philosophy. Mind you, this was a BIG Tier 1 auto supplier, not some mom-n-pop shop. And this is by no means the only place in town making auto parts under those conditions. Funny thing though.. you don't see shops like this making Toyota or Honda parts

RSLogix 500 will program even the oldest, smallest SLC 500 and Micrologix controllers. (if I understand your question?)

the little circuit board is potted into the grey pod; chances are you'd destroy it in the attempt to modify it. (ask me how I know this :) But.. If your computer has a serial port, consider this cable: http://shopv2.mrplc.com/product_info.php/p...c260bab6f34152f If you don't have a serial port but do have USB, you'll have to buy a 1747-UIC (or the 1784-PCM4 for the PCMK card)

What model of Micrologix are you using? The newer ones have a pulse-train output (PTO) function

My experience has been that these "safety checks" are reactive, not proactive. In other words, OSHA doesn't open panel doors for inspection unless there's been a report of a serious injury related to an electrical hazard. For this reason, it's pretty common to see panels like this one OR WORSE, still in service. I'll have to share some of the pics i've got :)

Questions very similar to yours come up on a regular basis on this forum, and much has been written about it. Take a look at this thread: http://forums.mrplc.com/index.php?showtopic=6403 Also if you do a search for "DH485" or "1747-PIC" or "DF1" you're sure to come up with a wealth of information.

The DH485 light isn't really a fault light, it just indicates the status of comm channel 1. Is it flashing very slowly, like once every 2-3 seconds? That means the SLC isn't seeing any other nodes on the network. It will go solid green when is sees something else to talk to. If you're connecting to the RS232 port, you should be looking at the RS232 light. As Mickey said, the default is DF1, not DH485. The easy way to tell is, with nothing connected, the RS232 light will flash slowly like the DH485 light if the port is configured for DH485. If it stays unlit, then it is set for DF1. In that case, you will want to go into RSLinx and reconfigure your COM port to DF1, and do an auto-configure to find the port parameters.

you'll have to more specific as to the industry you're talking about.

Usually all you have to do to see/save the program in the BASIC module is connect to one of the RS232 ports on the card from an RS232 port on your PC and log the data using Hyperterminal or a similar program.. PBASE is probably still available, but its benefits are questionable. The only thing I can think of offhand that it allows you to do that you couldn't do otherwise is connect to the DH485 port on the BAS using a PIC module

"Which is the best" posts always become emotional sooner or later. I'm surprised it took 24 replies!

We are still talking about a PLC input, right? I would hope that this stop button input would only be something along the lines of a "cycle hold", not something that would cause an uncontrolled, possibly dangerous stop!

What class(es) have you taken? Which Mc-Mc location is closest to you? If you have any specific questions, I'm sure you can get one of their engineers to sit down with you and go over it.

I have some experience with resistance welding, but only with spot and projection welding. Never did any continuous seam welds. Nonetheless though, I feel compelled to chime in :) The first thing that strikes me as odd is this motorized generator you're using. Is that common in your industry, or is it just very, very old? I've never seen anything like that in an auto plant.. The only thing I've seen that comes close is an old Lincoln arc welder at the community college I attend. It has a huge DC generator as the power source. It was from the mid-60s. Would it be feasable for your company to install a modern mid-frequency DC inverter welding control? That is what is considered commonplace in the auto industry, and would probably eliminate all your problems. (again though, I'm not familiar with seam welding.. not sure if MFDC offers the same advantages to your process) Here's some information on what I'm talking about: http://www.medar.com/welding_concepts/controls_mfdc.html Of course, this would be a major redesign of your process, so it may not be practical or possible for your company to do it. Just a thought though!

In fact.. the only "cost" is the time involved in obtaining the upgrade module. As of a couple years ago anyway, A-B supplied the upgrade modules for free!

oh, and what's your time frame for obtaining this stuff?

I've got a guy in town that's good at bird-dogging this kind of stuff. I'll forward the list to him. and I guess this is another dumb question, but.. Doesn't this plant have any spares?!

Have you checked ebay? A cursory search turned up a lot of part numbers that at least looked very close to what you have on your spreadsheet. Another alternative is local electronic repair houses, but they usually try to charge top dollar. I guess this is a dumb question but have you tried calling Indramat? I recall a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend going to work for Indramat.. I can try to get ahold of her if you would like.

Time to lean heavily on your distributor! You'll have better luck if you're more then the occasional customer.