hboyer90

Thanks for the reply, this may be a newbie question, but what is the "AOI "? How do I buffer it to that? The majority of my modules are either 1769-IA16 (16 Point 120VAC Input) or 1769-OW16 (16 Point AC/DC Relay Output) just in case that helps at all. Thanks

I did a current draw just now, the coils pull about 600mA pretty consistently while energize, it spiked up to 700mA when it first energized. When I say that the coils go bad/ware out I guess what I mean is that the core tube on the valve can start sticking over time and it causes the coil to work harder or if it gets stuck and the coil just sits there energized without the core tube inside of it then it will get very hot very fast and it will literally melt and break apart. It's a 120VAC coil with about 12ish ohms of resistance and I got a reading of about 600mA-700mA with a clamp-on amp meter.

As Nephets said, don't use an integer file (Nx:xx) use a bit like B3/0 or B3/1 or directly address the outputs: O:1/2. I think that is what your problem is.

Hey guys, I have read through a few posts but I'm still unclear. I have never set up a "send email" command before. It sounds pretty straight forward if you have a ControlLogix setup, but what about with a CompactLogix? I have the CompactLogix L36ERM with two ethernet ports right on the controller it'self. Do I need an additional module if I want it to send emails to an address after X amount of faults? Thanks

Good to hear. Good luck in class!

At my company we just use subroutines to help separate different stages of the process. We are a lead die cast facility, so for example we have out main routine where most of the steps are, close the die, shoot the lead into the die, open the die, robot enter the die, etc, we have another subroutine just for the furnace that heats the lead, another just for the camera logic, etc. At the end of the main routine we jsr to the furnace, at the end of the furnace we jsr to the cameras, etc. It just breaks up the whole program and makes it easier when searching for certain logic. I'm sure there is a better reason for subroutines than this, but this is just how we use them. Howard

Here's how to do it: Link to the image for higher resolution: http://i.imgur.com/EdY1bXQ.jpg The light can be controlled by either the physical push button, or by your hmi button (GREEN_ON). GREEN_ON will be turned on and off from the hmi. Make sense? Feel free to ask any more questions. Howard

Don't make your input tag an alias, just make it a base tag. Next, in your plc program make a rung for the light output and for the inputs put the physical button Local:1:I.Data.0 in parallel with the input tag. This way either the physical button or the hmi button will turn on the light. If you alias the input tag to the physical push button, you will never be able to control the output with the hmi, the hmi button will merely be an indicator of the state of the push button. An hmi button will never be able to control a physical switch, right? So that's why the hmi button needs to just be a Boolean tag, a bit that turns on and off, separate from the switch.

You can make the buttons visible or invisible depending on the security level of the logged in user or group. Right click on the button, go to "Animation" (it's the 5th one down on the list) and then click "Visibility". Click "Expression", click "Functions" and click "CurrentUserHasCode( )" and in the parenthesis put in the security letter that you require. Click on the help button in that screen to read more about all of it.

You said that it compares analog inputs and depending on the reading it will jump to the other subroutine, that is conditional. It will only jump to the other subroutine if certain conditions are met, in your case if the analog readings are a certain number.

Hello, I would love to take a look at it, need more information though.

Sometimes if you restart your computer/laptop with the cable plugged in and then re-open RSLinx it will work. Linx gets a little weird for me at times and a power cycle is required, not sure why. If you know for sure that you have the correct port # then give that a try and then try to do an auto-configure.

This may be a dumb question, but what are macros, and how do I make/use them? I'm working on a PanelView Plus program and I'm putting a log in/ log out screen to give different people different security and I see "Log in and Log out Macros". I also see macros on the left side of the explorer window in FactoryTalk View Studio. What are they and how do I use them? I'm pretty new to using FactoryTalk View. Thank you.

Ah, gotcha. Ok.

Sounds exactly like a homework assignment I had to do in PLC class in college. What version of RSLogix are you running? RSLogix 5, 500 or 5000? And what type of PLC are you running? Micrologix, ContolLogix, CompactLogix, SLC, PLC5? Also, when you say "a single start/stop button" do you mean that there is 1 button that starts the sequence and another separate button that emergency stops everything, or is the start/ emergency stop button the same button? Answer these questions and I can whip something up for you. I can tell it's a homework assignment because you accidentally left the number "3" in front of your question. ;) Howard

Hey guys, when I installed RSLogix 5, 500 and 5000 on my laptop, I set it up so that it gets its security through our FactoryTalk security. So every time I launch any of these, I have to log onto FactoryTalk with a username and password, which is fine. I know that I can enable/disable individual programs from this, by opening a program and going to tools > security > configure source protection. But I want to be able to open a brand new RSLogix 5 or 5000 without having to log onto FactoryTalk. The main reason being we don't have a good setup right now with our VPN and I want to be able to launch RSLogix from home, and not have to log onto FactoryTalk security, because it wouldn't be able to authenticate me from my home network. So, is there a way to disable FactoryTalk security without having to completely uninstall and re-install the software? I am a local admin on my machine, and I have full privileges/ access to modify anything that I want/need, I'm just not sure how to. Thanks

Worked great, thanks!

Hey, here's what I assume is a pretty basic question. Every time I open a program in RSLogix5 it opens in like half a screen, like when you right click on the toolbar and select "show windows stacked". It didn't always open this way, but now every time a program is opened it automatically stacks it. Any way to make it open in full screen by default? It's just getting kind of annoying. Thanks Howard

Never mind, I just found out how to, it's in the "Application Manager". My bad. Not sure how to delete this topic, but if someone tells me how, or if a moderator wants to, its been solved. Thanks.

Hey guys, so I'm programming one of our PanelView Pluses for one of our machines. We have different parameters on some of the screens (metal temp, temp set points, various timer presets). In the past we have locked it out so that people can't change these values from the PanelView itself (we just address the PanelView to the timer preset, but in the logic we use a MOV instruction to change the preset, making it not possible to change from the PanelView since the MOV overrides it). Anyways, we were talking about opening it up so that certain maintenance technicians can change these variables. But we don't want just anybody or an operator to be able to make changes. Also we would like to be able to keep track of who made what changes. The way we currently track this in RSLogix5000 is by using FactoryTalk AssetCentre and every technician has their own username and password, and all the techs have varying levels of authority. From AssetCentre you can go to "Audit Logs" and see every change that has been made to each program. Anyways, so what I would like to set up is on the main screen of the PanelView, have a "log in" button that would be pressed and then the tech could enter in their Username and Password and then it would give them certain privileges to certain screens or to make changes to certain values. I'm sure I'm not the first to want to do this, and I'm sure somebody can help simplify what the AB manual says. The whole security thing is handled by another engineer, and I'm not really familiar with it. So I'm just trying to figure out how to add certain users, how to give them different privileges, how to actually make a log in and out button. Can somebody please help? PanelView Plus 700 - FactoryTalk View Studio Machine Edition - RSLogix5000 V20 - CompactLogix L36ERM Thanks!

Yeah, I just realized that I should have added catalog numbers, my bad. Well, good news for my situation is that my AB rep convinced our boss that we should just buy a new PanelView Plus 700 to go along with the new CompactLogix instead of trying to figure out how to get the old one to work. So its all good now. :)

Hey guys, I have a question. We recently upgraded one of our machines from a PLC5 to a CompactLogix. We have an old PanelView 600 that uses DH/RIO to communicate. In the past we have used an AN-X module to communicate from the PLC5 (DH+/RIO) to the new PanelView Plus (ethernet) but I'm not sure if I am able to use the same AN-X module to go from CompactLogix (ethernet) to PanelView 600 (DH+/RIO). I know on ControlLogix there is a DH/RIO card you can install but you are unable to do that with CompactLogix. We have used the AN-X modules to successfully talk to our Robot Controller that uses DH+. Anyway to make this work without upgrading to a PanelView Plus? Thanks

Hey all, I've been trying to figure out a way to bridge the gap between my smartphone and my PLC. Both are capable of such amazing things and I want to bring them together. I know other's are already doing this, but I'm wondering if there is a way that i can do this without purchasing their products and using what I already have. What I have: Micrologix1000 PLC and a MicroLogix1100 PLC, a laptop, a Samsung Galaxy S5 Objective: To be able to control outputs in my home using my phone. I know there has to be a way. I want to be able to control lights in my home using my phone. Wire an extension cord to the output of my PLC, have that plug into a lamp, keep the switch on the lamp turned on all of the time, only turn on that output when I want to. Obviously I could control that output in a number of ways. If I had an HMI, at a certain time of the day have the lights turn on or off, ect. But I want to bridge that gap and use my mobile phone as the input/hmi that controls the output of that lamp. Is there an easy/way of doing this without buying an expensive 'Hue' lighting system? I've got to think so. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I see that Siemens and a few other PLCs have mobile applications, but I see nothing for Android. Just want to get all of your opinion. Thanks Howard

I will look into this. Thank you.