Steve Bailey

You will have to configure the display on the HMI device to interpret the bit pattern in the PLC register as a floating point number. If you can tell us which HMI you are using we might be able to help explain how to do that.

No conversion required. The hex value you posted is the result of interpreting the bit pattern as a hex value instead of as a 32-bit floating point value. If you're looking at the value in a reference table, change the display from WORD or DWORD to REAL. Then you'll see the floating point value. If you need to work with the value in ladder logic, create a new REAL variable with the same address as your existing DWORD variable and when you use it with a MOVE_REAL, ADD_REAL, MUL_REAL instruction, you'll see the correct interpretation of the bits.

You could run a usage or cross reference report. You could also sort your variables by address and check there. It's fairly easy to prevent overlapping when you're initially programming timers or counters. When you assign an address, type in "%R" without the quotes. That will foce the programming software to assign the next available %R address to the function. The technique won't fill in gaps in the actual %R usage, but it will prevent the majority of overlaps. The technique works with all memory types and it also works for Logicmaster, VersaPro or Machine Edition softw.are

Your basic problem is that the CPU331 is limited to integer arithmetic. You would need a CPU model 350 or higher for floating point arithmetic. An upgrade of that CPU's firmware won't help either. Your approach leaves you with two implied decimal places in that the value 644 actually represents 6.44. That's about the best you can hope for with that CPU. When you divide by 23, you also lose about two thirds of the analog module's resolution. That's because the %AI value will actually change in steps of 8 counts so you get the same result for three consecutive increments in the %AI signal. If your HMI can do it, let it convert the integer %AI value to a floating point value and do the arithmetic there.

Bob, if I'm not mistaken, there are treatment protocols for conditions like yours. Do yourself a favor and check if your health insurance will cover them.

Reduce the acceleration rate or slow down the overall cycling speed. You are asking the motor to do more than it was designed to do.

Did you download (store) the program and the configuration to the PLC? When the computer running Logicmaster is connected to the PLC and you are monitoring the program, is the message in the lower right hand corner of the screen "Logic Equal"? When the program is running, if the logic controlling an output is true, but the output is not true, I can think of several explanations. First, the address assigned to the coil instruction could be turned off somewhere later in the program. Second, the rung could be in a program block (subroutine) other than _MAIN, and that program block is not being called. Third, the rung could be in a conditional zone, either between a MCRN/ENDMCRN pair of instructions or between a JUMP/LABEL pair. If the screen shows the logic true and the coil instruction is also true but the corresponding LED on the output module doesn't light up, it's probably because the address assignments (I/O configuration) you think you're using don't match what the CPU is using.

To the best of my knowledge, Koyo never had anything to do with the Series Six. The Series One, Series Three, and Series Five were all Koyo hardware. The 90-30 was a joint development effort between GE and Fanuc. Around the time GE and Fanuc formed their joint venture for PLCs and CNC controllers, GE and Koyo parted. Koyo went on to market the product formerly known as the Series One with Texas Instriments, calling it the TI305. Later, Siemens bought TI's PLC business and called the product the Siemens/TI305. Then Koyo formed PLC Direct (now Automation Direct) and continues to market the product as the DL305. The GE Fanuc joint venture was dissolved in December 2009. GE is now selling their PLCs and automation software under the banner of "GE Intelligent Platforms". Fanuc continues to sell CNC controllers (formerly labeled GE Fanuc) as "Fanuc CNC America". As far as I know, there never was any connection between GE and Fanuc in the robotics market, although I believe there was such a thing as GE Fanuc lasers.

Who said you have to buy a new PC? There are plenty of older PCs out there with serial ports. All you really need to support your older PLCs is a PC with the OS that was current at the time they were new. I still have a PC with a 386/25 mHz processor and a whopping 20 meg hard drive that I use exclusively to support old GE Series 6 PLCs. Talk about a niche market.... Are you letting the IT department dictate what tools the maintanance department is allowed to use? I have a couple of clients who have issues like that. Their IT department specifies all aspects of all computers the company purchases and retricts the privilege levels of the end users to the point where the maintenance people can't even assign a COM port to the USB/serial adapter or change the IP address. When that's the policy, I advise them to buy a "PLC programmer" instead of a PC so the equipment doesn't have to be vetted by IT. Of course the "PLC programmer" looks a lot like the Dell laptop that IT approved... Paulengr, Who is this "TOYO" you mentioned. I was working for a GE distributor when the Series 90 first came out and I never that name mentioned. At first I though you might have mistyped "KOYO", the parent of Automation Direct and the manufacturer of Series One, the 90-30's predecessor. But you used that name enough times your post to make me believe you meant it. My understanding was that the 90-30 was a joint development effort between GE and Fanuc. They used the same I/O modules in the 90-30 and Fanuc CNCs. The only difference was the color of the plastic case. And why are you buying new USB/serial adapters every 6 - 12 months? Do they sprout legs and walk away?

Your local GE distributor might still have VersaPro CDs gathering dust. Of course, they'll try to sell you Machine Edition, but if you're on good enough terms with them (meaning your company actually buys stuff from them) they might be willing to help you out.

How would that help? I don't know what I/O modules you have installed. However, if all you have are discrete or analog input and output modules, and no mixed discrete or mixed analog modules, then there is a default configuration. The first slot will have a starting address of %I0001 if there is an input module installed there. It will have a starting address of %Q0001 if there is an output module installed there. It will have a starting address of %AI001 if there is an analog input module installed there. It will have a starting address of %AQ001 if there is an analog output module installed there. The second slot will have a starting address of %I0033 if there is an input module installed there. It will have a starting address of %Q0033 if there is an output module installed there. It will have a starting address of %AI009 if there is an analog input module installed there. It will have a starting address of %AQ005 if there is an analog output module installed there. Subsequent slots will increase the starting address by 32 for discrete inputs or outputs, by 8 for analog inputs, and by 4 for analog outputs. Obviously that means you can't use default configuration for analog input modules with more than 8 channels or analog output modules with more than 4 channels. You also can't use default configuration for any "smart" modules like the high speed counter module, servo controller module, or programmable coprocessor module.

First, LM90 and USB/serial adapters don't always play well together. LM90 is a DOS application and was superceded by VersaPro before USB became widespread. Versa Pro has since been superceded by Proficy Machine Edition. Your version 1.1 of VersaPro is old. VersaPro in its earlier versions was notoriously buggy. I personally wouldn't touch anything earlier than version 1.5. My suggestions to you are 1, upgrade to something newer, and 2, run it on a computer with a real serial port.

Yes, counters use three registers just like a timer. The first of those three registers is the accumulator, the second is the preset, and the third is a control word. You can write directly to the accumulator if you think it's necessary and wise.

Set up an STI to call a file once per second. Inside that file divide the tons per hour value by 3600 to get tons per second. Add the tons per second value to the running total.

TS is seconds, TT is tenths (0.1 second), and TH is hundredths (0.01 second).

First, I want to emphasize that this not intended to be a "bash AB" thread. It has been noted elsewhere that Allen Bradley is quoting extended delivery dates for the MicroLogix range of PLCs. This is causing problems for OEMs and end users with project schedules to keep. I'm sure the majority of MicroLogix customers will ride out the late deliveries and stick with a product line that they are familiar and comfortable with. For them the negatives associated with switching to a different platform will outweigh the negatives associated with a delay in their project schedule. Some, however, may decide that any delay in the project schedule is unacceptable, even if it means switching to a different hardware platform. It is to those that this thread is directed. I'm sure there are members on MrPLC.com with experience on multiple platforms, one of which being AB, who could offer services to convert programs and wiring diagrams from AB to any of several alternate brands. I'm hoping those with such experience will indicate their availablilty by posting in this thread. Those with projects at risk can check here to find people with experience in their preferred alternate brand and contact them off-line. I'm one of those people with experience on multiple platforms. I can help with conversion to GE, Automation Direct, Mitsubishi, or Siemens S7-200. That is, I have software for any of those options in addition to RSLogix 500. I've listed them in order of my experience level. Send me a PM if you have a project I might be able to help you with. Again, my intent in starting this thread is not to highlight AB's current difficulties. Eventually, their deliveries will get back to normal and they'll put this behind them. My intent is to help the end users get through it with as little pain and suffering as possible. I'm going to post an edited version of this in the AB section.

What is the nameplate speed of your motor? That would be the case with a 6 pole (1200 RPM) motor (87.5 Foot pounds) or an 8 pole (900 RPM) motor (116.7 Foot pounds).

Why do you think you need to build your code so as to turn off a bit at multiple times within the same program? Yours is a question generally asked by people who are just getting started in PLC programming with a background in C or VB or some other statement language.

Back in the late 1970s, the company I was working for purchased several custom control systems from AB's engineered drives group. The first one of these had a cardlock. All subsequent ones had a PLC. The AB engineer for the project told me that they would rather have used a PLC on the first one, but they weren't sure they could get one in time to meet the delivery committment. I have a group photo around the first machine dated January 1980. By that time the second and third systems were already on order. That gives you and idea of the time frame for the end of cardlock. Maybe someone else can provide details about its beginning. Fortunately, I didn't need to make too many "edits" to the cardlock "program". That involved rewiring the connections to the logic gate cards. Fairly easy if you all you needed to do was add another connection to a four-input OR gate, but tougher to add an additional AND gate into the logic. Plus Murphy's law dictated that the wire you needed to move was at the bottom of the post so you had to remove and replace several wires in order to relocate one. The only advantage over hardwired bulletin 700 relay logic was less space and solid-state switching. In fact, there were still a lot of bulletin 700 relays. They only used the cardlock for circuits that needed to switch at higher frequencies or duty cycles. Incidentally, the PLC was simply PLC. Not PLC2, not PLC3 or PLC5, just PLC. Separate power supply the size of a small suitcase. Processor rack with a half dozen individual modules. Program backup using a STR-LNK tape cassette unit in a snazzy brushed aluminum carrying case. Serial communications between the STR-LNK and the PLC at a blazing 1200 baud.

The keyswitch on the CPU module must be in the Run position to start program execution. Logicmaster can start and stop the program when the keyswitch is in Run, but it can't override the switch position. On the Logicmaster screen, to the right of where it says "CPU:Stop/Unlock" and to the right of the "CPU ID" does it say "LM EQ CPU" or "LM NOTEQ CPU"?

I found a reference to that task number in the C Programmer's Toolkit for PCMs manual (GFK-0771). It looks like PCM task numbers from 4 to 120 are available for use by the developer of the PCM code. That would mean there is code in the PCM that knows what to do with the 9 words of data passed by the COMREQ task 120. The same manual says that task codes outside of that range are reserved for use by the PCM's operating system (VTOS). That agrees withe the only other task codes I've run across. Task codes 1 a nd 2 are for CCM communications on PCM ports 1 and 2. Task code 3 is a Megabasic task. Task code 127 is for generating a PCM reset from ladder logic.

What is the "TASK" parameter in the COMREQ instruction? Presumably the SYSID points to the rack/slot where the PCM301 module is located. The Block Move instruction appears to define a 9 - word data block sent to the recipient of the COMREQ. Since words 3 and 4 of the first block move are zero, it appears that no return data is expected.

Sorry, but I lost my key too. I think after I lost it I removed something from the switch so I can go between run and stop mode with just a screwdriver. No need for the paper clip. Automation direct has a D3-HPKEY part number ($25) which they say is quantity 2 spare keys for the D3-HP handheld. They cross reference the D3-HP to the IC610PRG105 and the TI/Simatic PPX:305-PROG, so it looks like there's a chance the key is common to all three brand labels. If you give AD tech support a call they might be able to tell you if one key fits all.

The Series One Plus manual says that the IC610CMM105 is required for the later model Series One CPUs, the Model E, the One Plus, and the 3.7K One Plus. The IC610CMM100 was the original model DCU. I think that the CMM105 is backward compatible with the earlier CPU models. There were three different part numbers for Logicmaster One software. Logicmaster One Junior for the Series One Junior. If my memory is correct, LM1 Junior had no online monitoring capabilities. All you could do with it was upload/download programs. There was also Logicmaster One (LM1) and Logicmaster One Family (L1F). LM1 and L1F were not compatible with the S1 Jr. Since the Junior's memory is only 700 words, it might make more sense to just connect a handheld programmer and transcribe the program by hand. Either that or write a good description of what the machine is supposed to do and start with a clean sheet of paper on the new platform. There is never going to be a one to one correspondence between the old S1 Jr program and the program you write for the new PLC.

I'm using a Brother MFC-5890CN. Two of the features that sold me on it were separate cartridges for each ink color and the ability to print 11 x 17". The paper tray can't take a stack of 11 x 17 sheets, so I have to feed them one at a time. If you need to do a lot of 11x 17 and need to be able to do it without having to stand by the printer, this won't be the unit for you. But if you just need the occasional 11 x 17 sheet, it's a good low-cost choice. I've had it for over a year now without any problems.