Maf

In addition to ASForrest, it doesn't look like there is any grounding on the common line. This could cause the common to be floating slightly. Using a multimeter/voltmeter, test between common and your ground/earth on both AC and DC, just for good measure. If above about 2 volts, there may be a problem somewhere. It should be less than 1 volt. If less than 2 volts, just link your common to ground/earth to stop any floating voltage on the common. This should sort it out, but as said, a 24VDC supply would be the better, safer option.

Just one to note: RSLogix 5000 version 13.25 is an old version and probably wont have the latest drivers in for certain cards, so if you have to replace any cards in the future, it may become an issue. Most of the cards have their drivers downloadable from the Rockwell site, but I'm not sure if there would be patches that may require adding to version 13.25 in order for them to work.

I agree with Mentor. Add-On-Instructions can get complicated and troubleshooting in them can be a pain. Rockwell have a good library of AOI which you can download and import as you require. A wide range of AOI are available for things like valve control, time sync, interlocks, inputs and many many more. Granted, I find it is often the case that they don't work quite how you want them to, especially when using them with FactoryTalk, but you have a couple of choices then. Live with it as Rockwells AOI are tried and tested, or rip them apart and change them as you require. If you are wanting to learn about them, that may be a good way to start, by taking a basic AOI and changing it slightly to accommodate your needs. You will have to remove the signature first, but worst case, you mess it all up and have to import it again. Obviously, don't put it in a live system until it has been fully tested, including trying to break it by making it do things that it shouldn't do, because you know an operator will.

Could you explain in a bit more detail what you are trying to totalize? I don't know this PLC, but I am sure that we could point you in the right direction to do things like.... Runtime counters - Times how long a bit has been energized for. State change counters - To show how many times a bit changes state, in total or in a given time. And many other uses for counters and timers. OR Adding values together to get a total, or more complex functions than an add block. Explain what you are trying to do and there is more chance of someone having a good solution for you.

During the factory testing of our system, we got a fault showing on the 4 channel analogue module, 1734-IE4S, Channel 0 showed a fault code of 125 (in the controller tags for the module) the other 2 used channels showed fault code 120. Spoke to Rockwell and they were unsure as to the cause, so we replaced the module and it worked fine. Sent the faulty module to Rockwell, but still haven't had a response as to the cause of the fault. I am now on site commissioning and have the same fault showing on a different module. The module has been working fine with 2 inputs connected (or seems to have been, I didn't have reason to check for faults) 3rd input on channel 0 was connected and showed fault, checked and the input mA were showing 0. Checked wiring, connections, changed the smoke detector, still showing 0. Injected 4mA and it still showed 0, so started looking at the module. General properties for the module doesn't show any faults, but when you look at the fault tag within the controller tags, 125 is shown on channel 0 and 120 on the other used channels. This is the same as was observed during testing. I have another module to put in, but want to know why we are seeing this fault. If it was spiked while being connected, or a crossed connection blew the module, I can deal with that and ensure it doesn't happen again (it shouldn't have in the first place as precautions are taken). The connected device is external powered and the module is set up correctly for that. Has anybody come across this fault before and/or has a clue as to what caused it? Thanks

A historian will give you a lot better control of the alarms, but without an historian, alarm/even information can obviously be viewed, but to see the historic alarms/events, you will need to set up the SQL (that's the fun bit). I use FT 7.0, but i shouldn't imagine there are big differences. Basic alarms In your project file, add a server, by right clicking on the ****_RSLINX and selecting Tag A&E server. Name it and point it to the PC where the main project file is held. (eg 'server1' in my case) Double click on the new alarm server and start adding your alarms, or export it to excel (to get the format right) and add them there. (NEVER do a save as, as it will change the file format) I suggest you create a few in the HMI first so you can work out the full format, messages and scan times. Hitoric alarms I cheated and got a colleague to set this up for me as my SQL knowledge is poo, but getting better. Your SQL database will store all of the alarms and their state (eg, active, accepted etc) Basically, when the SQL is set up, go into the alarm server properties and add the location of the history. I suggest that on your HMI you have 2 screens, one for live alarms and one for historic as, depending on how long you let the history store for, it could take a minute or 2 to open the alarm history. Don't forget to set levels on your alarms to distinguish between Urgent, High, Medium and Low (events) Good luck

I've only used the s-curve once in the past, but I'd have a look at 2 tags within it, JerkRate initialize Set the jerk rate high for now (9999). I believe you can use this to control the rate of change, but I did all my calcs in another block and just passed the values in. initialize will hold the output at its start point. This can either be set to 0, or have a bit of code to turn it on/off when the s-curve is being used. Hope this points you in the right direction.

I don't know this PLC, but I dabbled with RS232 comms some 20 years ago. Is it a sealed cable that has been bought, or a home made cable? Losing the power light would make me think of an earth fault, so could plugging it in be shorting anything? If the cable is a home made one, I would take the covers off of the end, check the wiring and quality of soldering. You only need 3 wires for the RS232 comms, but they usually use a few status bits, so may require a few pins linked out at one end or the other. There are examples of this on the net. Good luck

I show module faults on my HMI by using the GSV, point it to my module and use the attribute 'FaultCode' (point IO 1794 series with controllogix 1756-L74 processor) I then use this to alarm if NEQ 0. I don't pick out the individual alarms. I've not tested each possible alarm, as i believe Rockwell's documentation that it works, but I have pulled a module from its backplate and this shows as an alarm. I don't know for sure, but I am assuming that the major/minor faults will show in this FaultCode, so would be reasonably safe to say that the module major/minor faults are in there somewhere to view. I hope this helps a bit.

This has been answered, but I do this for override functions. I use the TON .DN bit to complete the override, but for display purposes on the HMI I show a 10 min countdown. All I do is use a subtraction block and subtract the TON.ACC value from the TON.PRE value, then use the destination tag as my display.

Hi, I understand that this is a PLC forum and not HMI, but I hoped that someone may have an idea on how to get my server to print. I'm running redundant windows 2008 R2 Standard servers with factorytalk 7.0, connected to redundant Contrologix with point IO. All I want to do is to print a report at 7am every morning. I have the report screen with a print button which works fine doing a manual print, but apparently, the 'printdisplay' function doesnt work on the server. I have created an event and have all of the time expression working, eg i can make a bit toggle at 7am, but I can't print anything. I have tried using the invoke function, but couldn't get it to work, so phoned Rockwell support, just asking what the syntax needed to be for the invoke. Basically I got told that it would have to be done in visual basic and always use one of the clients to print. What if that client is switched off??? Rockwell said, well it wont print until it is switched back on. It is a networked printer and is on a stand alone redundant network with the servers, PLC's and 4 clients All I want is for my server to print one of the displays at 7am. If anyone can point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated. (I am a PLC programmer that is just finding his footing with SCADA, but not got as far as learning VBA yet)

Hi. I'm new to this site, and am by no means an expert, but I had the same issue between English (US) and English (UK). I spotted it early on and made sure everything was set to English (UK). The main issue that this has created though is that the help from the faceplates doesn't display correctly. I know it's probably too late now, but have you tried putting it back to how it was and just changing the runtime settings to English (US) It's the first time that I have programed in Factorytalk and have found that Rockwell have a lot of work arounds and you have to be an expert in visual basic to get factorytalk to do the most basic of functions like create reports in excel, read server status and even print from a server. Good luck to you.