BJR

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Everything posted by BJR

  1. I have two different machines that have failed me in the last couple of years. They are Compact Logix based, 1769-L32E CPU. The manual specifically says if the battery is OK and able to retain the program that the BATT LED on the face will be off. Every time we have checked on the PLC the BATT LED is off. If you unplug the battery or it is more than 95% depleted the LED will be red. I have unplugged the battery before and have verified that part to be true. However a few times a year a safety conditon will trip the whole electrical panel, turning off the PLC power. It SEEMS like with a fresh battery it is able to power back up but as the year progresses, if we are pushing a year or so, the next time we loose power we loose the program. We will find the panel powers back up in the RUN mode and all of the HMI displays are showing ???? (as in communicating but address not found) because when I get the laptop out I find there is no program in memory. To sum it up, the battery seems to work for awhile then fails. OK, that part makes sense but the BATT LED is not working correctly leading us to believe that there could be something else wrong? Also, we have resorted to buying a compact flash card and storing the program on the card. It is set to load on memory corruption only. This is also fine but not ideal. If we make any recipe changes then I have to remember to store the program again to the CF card. No big deal but I'm human and can forget - or not even know because I don't make the recipe changes. If the Engineer that logs in and makes recipe changes and he forgets to tell me we could be in trouble in a power failure situation. Say the battery is not going to work, and we power down and it restores an older program off the CF card. We will run and nobody will know we are running the wrong chemical times. It would be better to loose the program and make sure you put a good one in at that point. Of course the last time we lost a program before the CF card was installed, it was on weekend production and I was at home. As you can tell, there a few things I am considering here. Also, is there a way once a month that I can program an automatic backup to the card? Write just the recipe addresses to the card so it doesn't have to go to program mode to do a store or something helpful for my situation? This idea is not perfect or elegant but minimizes the risk of keeping a progam in non-volatile meomory that is not up to date. Any ideas? I'm not sure why these batteries are failing me and I'm not sure what I want to do next to eliminate this problem.
  2. EDesigner 7.5 drivers

    I've been supporting vintage equipment and recently caused myself some grief. I have Edesigner 7.5 build 312. Don't know what year this is from as it was here before me. What I have done is updated all of my drivers through the File<From Internet pull down menu and now cannot deal with my old machines anymore. This has to do with the notes in the revision levels of 5.00 through current for the A series PLCs that in some versions the X addresses were inverted. Basically I have old enough hardware that it should not be inverted (or is ) and now since the HMI is up to the latest version they end up being inverted if that makes sense. My question though is if I have another laptop that is supporting the same machines and was basically a mirror image of this laptop where are all the old driver files located? I have already found in the help section that all should be in C:\program files\common files\Beijers shared\opc drivers I have transfered everything in that folder and when it didn't correct things I also copied all other folders in \Bejier shared from the "good" laptop. I have missed more files somewhere pertaining to PLC drivers. When I start a project on the "good" laptop and pick a driver for MELSEC I can choose A Series, FX3, QnA/Q Series. For some reason even after trying to make the "bad" computer like the "good" one I can only select FX3 and QnA/Q. Anybody know something about this? Note: I had updated all of the drivers to determine if I could upgrade a machine and mix some brands of PLC and keep a E1101 HMI. When the AB Compact Logix file I imported only included half of the tags that should have been there I determined that we would not be doing this anymore in our plant even though we were successful on one small machine with one of our contractors. Just FYI on the reason I was updating anything. I updated all of the drivers off of the INternet and now wish I had the older drivers from years ago becuase I've ended up in a mess on this one laptop.
  3. Thank you all for the suggestions.  I will not have time to make improvements for a week or two but appreciate the lessons! 
  4. I am going over someone else's program making a few changes and double checking what they did.  I always use .PC to determine when an MAM has completed.  He has used some LIM commands corresponding to finding a small limit around the .actualPosition and comparing what the commanded position was which is probably OK too. But then I ran across what seems to be one move followed by another move in the other direction and nothing really being monitored to know when to make the second MAM other than a small timer.  Since the machine runs flawlessly for the last few years I am wondering how the MAM command works with regards as to what I will imagine is like a buffering characteristic.    ******If the program is in fact making a small MAM move then, without confirming it is complete, making another MAM on the same axis before the first motion actually completed what would it naturally do?  I'm guessing by the way the machine runs ok, it just buffers the second command because it is busy with the first.  I am surprised it does not interrupt the first move and issue an axis error or at least stop that first motion.  What would you expect it to do based on how MAM works? 
  5. I suspected that the answer would depend on something but didn't know enough where to look for any related options or parameters.  Thanks for the response.  I will check out the MAM setup for those two moves...
  6. I may have overlooked something obvious since I have little experience with Siemens. I took an existing S7 (CPU 314) program that I first checked to see if the offline copy the OEM left me was up to date by doing "compare blocks." It seemed to be, so I went to the offline editor and edited an existing function FC6 to add on one more network at the end of the folder. This was after I added a few new symbols of my own and saved them. I saved and compiled FC6 then pulled down Download from the PLC menu with just that block highlighted. It asked me if I wanted to replace FC6 and said yes. The addition I made is showing up in the online file. When I do a compare block for offline/online it is equal. When I click on monitor then highlight my new network I added, the RUN bar at the bottom stops scrolling, usually nothing is shown to the right in the RLO,STA,STANDARD monitor columns (this is a STL program), and the message at the bottom of the screen says "the statements are not being processed." I tried once more this morning to make sure the offline was saved, compiled, error free, etc. and downloaded it once again. This time every once in awhile I get some numbers in the monitor chart to the right (RLO,STA,STANDARD) but 99% of the time the run bar is frozen and the "statements are not being processed" message is there. When I click on Network 15 the run bar scrolls fast and the monitor chart shows up within seconds. When I go back to 16 the run bar freezes and after 10-30 seconds the monitor chart will fill in. It's almost as if the network 16 is trying to work but the update rate is unbelievably slow. I don't know what to make of it. I've searched the internet and my programming manual for a couple of hours for this "statements are not being processed" message and have found nothing to help at all so I don't know what it is trying to warn me that I've done wrong. I'm a little confused since I simply added in a network to an exisiting block with a few new symbols. What did I miss? Did I violate some rules about STL networks? I couldn't find any training material like I wanted about how much you can put in one network but the OEM has many much bigger networks in this program. I had considered making this several different networks but it's all one item. I should have put a title on the network that says "trigger to OPC server and reset." I supplied a screen shot of my network and captured it after the monitor items showed up to the right. Thanks!
  7. I have been through this problem before and don't recall the solution.  I have experienced this when replacing an E1101 with another E1101 about 5 years ago.  I had downloaded the project and when I hook it up to the A series CPU with 25 pin cable, most of the items on the screen are the wrong state compared to what the machine is actually doing.  There are many Digital Text objects setup to monitor an input from the PLC to show the state of all of the sensors.  I believe it was only on direct I/O tags.  Text object is set so Red is off and green is on.  Everything that should be red was green and green was red.  I did not have to redo any of the objects.  I don't THINK I had to do any firmware changes.  My Mits. dealer or the factory guided me on what to do and it was relatively simple but cannot remember.  They said at some point in the history of either the PLC or HMI hardware there was a change and they knew what to do to fix it.  I have emails/calls into some of my past contacts but am not hearing back from them yet and don't know if they will remember either unless this is pretty common with the older equipment. Actually today I am doing this with an Exter T100 file that the factory converted for me from .mpa to .cpa but the results are the same.  As soon as we plugged it in I knew what was going on but it has been too long to remember what to do to fix it.  I guess if it was more difficult it would have stuck with me or taken notes somewhere.  Any experience with this?  I'm stuck for now!  
  8. I tried to use the verify feature to compare the project I have open to the one in the PLC.  It reports back that the parameters and main program are identical but the SFC is not identical.  What is frustrating is that the SFC comparison will not allow you to click on the SHOW button. My question is if any version of IEC developer was ever capable of this or if it is impossible since the Verify function always shows differences in the editor in IL format. I am the person that was in the PLC last and should have the latest offline copy of the program but I cannot get it to say it matches and am worried what difference there could be since I cannot dig any deeper. Did I miss anything or am I out of luck?  
  9. I have a machine with a Q01CPU and want to order one online as a backup from a surplus vendor. I've looked through a couple of owners manuals and seen an example of the sticker on the side of the CPU. The model number is just Q01CPU and a serial number. No detailed order or part number I can find. Is this as simple as it is? One Q01CPU is same as another except for possibly firmware revisions? What do I need to consider before buying one as an exact backup? Are firmware revisions done through GX IEC developer or another utility? ThankS!
  10. Q01 CPU ordering questions

    I am in the US but my equipment came from a European plant of ours that shut down. It is one of our newer pieces of equipment even though you noticed it's age so it won't get any money thrown into upgrades unless it totally fails. That's partially why I was afraid of ordering a spare CPU for the machine because I was a little worried about the relative age between what I have and buying something old NIB or even on the used market.
  11. Q01 CPU ordering questions

    Inntele, Thank you for the help. Once I got an answer about if there was more than one version of hardware to order I was thinking ahead about any other surprises I could find. I just went through a project last month with Allen Bradley and had not done anything with them for a few years. I was amazed at how many different firmware versions all of the software and hardware was in and how I had to upgrade my software twice and re-flash the HMI to get everything compatible between PLC, HMI and laptop. Thank you for letting me know how Mitsubishi does their hardware.
  12. I have not found an example here. I read through the manual that shows all of the variables to read/write. At least three of them sounded related to what I want but not sure if any are correct. I am going to do simple position/velocity moves to different angles. The knob I am turning will be directly coupled to the motor shaft since only hand torque is required to move it. Compact logic with kinetix 350. One of the final moves is to a detented position that I want to attempt to "feel" by reading the torque. How do I monitor the torque and stop when I reach a detentented position that requires a lot more torque to go past? I know I have heard of people doing something like this to press a bearing or a seal in but maybe that was not in position/velocity mode... Ideas or examples?
  13. Thanks for the quick response. I plan to use that feedback in a comparison during the move to issue a stop command also being aware of my position if needed.
  14. Prog.E LED flashing

    I have done what is shown in post #7 and it is working. At least at my desk spare PLC. I suspect the machine PLC will behave the same. The only thing I can add to this example of a "strange" situation is that one of my copies became corrupted when it was open and I went back to the copy on my server. It was originally written in 5.0 and had been working with it in the last couple of years in 7.03. I don't think that it was the original cause but may have added to it since this is an unusual example. I first split into two networks, one Set and one RST. Then the RST network faulted. When I combined the AND gates all together it finally ran. Thank you all for your help! I would still be scratching my head since I didn't add anything that was incorrect and it all worked before that. I'll expect more trouble like this in the future and just use the PLC Diagnostics window to pinpoint the network and try and change things until it works. Very strange...
  15. Prog.E LED flashing

    I have a FX2N that was programmed with IEC developer. I have actually made some changes in this program over the last few years and feel familiar with it even though it's not the brand I use most of my career. I am stumped where this error is trying to point me to though. I took a working program and added in 3 global variables and put in a few new networks and modified a few more. When I rebuild it I don't get any errors and any warnings are all the previous warnings I got in the original program that works. When the download is done and it asks me if I want to go back to RUN mode it will not go, it just sits there flashing the PROG.E LED. I have also tried forcing the toggle switch STOP then RUN. The manual says if you have no problems with the BATT LED that the PROG.E LED indicates a programming problem. Well, I believe that but what is it? The only thing I can find helpful in the pull down menus is Debug>PLC Diagnostics. This window shows the following information in columns like below number | detail | error message | error step 1 | 6612 | Ladder Error | 2163 Beyond that, I am guessing because the manual on the software is not specific enough that I can find. So what does the above error mean? I know there is a problem in a network but which one? I did find in Debug>Show Step I can type in a step to go to. When I type in 2163 it takes me to a network that I did not modify and happens to be in a POU I did not modify. So I don't know if I am interpreting the error message correctly. I have no idea what I did wrong since it compiled with no errors and I do have some positive experience with Mitsh. over the last few years. Any idea how I can get it to point out my error????? I'll attach file, screenshots, whatever later if anyone can help.
  16. Prog.E LED flashing

    Starting with Bryll's last network suggestion and the advice from others that follow I was putting that together with Bryll's earlier explanation of what error 6612 was referencing about number of LD commands, etc. and was figuring that redoing the network as he suggests would help. I just haven't found the time yet this week to do it. Thank you all for the advice and I will let you know what I end up doing. Thanks! I am also glad to see that others have had similar "strange" problems with parts of the program that were fine until you made other changes. Sometimes things just don't work out the way they are supposed to! I just can't remember any examples where this has happened to me. A lot of times when you can't find an explanation you still have done something wrong and have to find it. Have to go fix machines that are not working before I play with this upgrade again though....
  17. Prog.E LED flashing

    I grew tired of systematically trying to eliminate my changes and simply took the complete program I created and took out the network I posted above. It RUNs! So the only thing I can think of is if that network was always in there running, and all of my changes run without that network - then maybe I messed up the Global Variable declarations somehow? And one of them conflicted with this network then? I'm going to start looking at that since I don't know what else it can be!
  18. Prog.E LED flashing

    I decided to attach the network that contains step 2163. I am not sure why I am looking at this network because this network has been like this for 10 years! Maybe you will notice something though. I am also working on taking my changes out one by one but am not getting much help there either. I'll let you know if I find it...
  19. Prog.E LED flashing

    After looking around on my own and right clicking on "Show Melsec Code of networks" I find myself at the same network that I was at when I used Debug>Show Step and typed in 2163. I am on a network I never changed. So is it possible that this is just telling me where the program stopped scanning when it faulted or is it trying to tell me exactly where the error is? I will keep looking at it until I get it Thanks for the details on the error interface.
  20. I want to make sure I did not miss anything since projects with strings don't come up everyday. I am familiar with them and just want to make sure I did not miss out on any better methods I could use to do this. If I want to search a large string that comes into the PLC from other hardware for a particular letter or a small group of letters in a product desctiption for part lookup there seems to be no way to specify the letters to be searched for in any other way than to store any of the letters or groups of letters in their own strings. This is not a huge problem but in a Micro1400 memory can be precious and each string seems to use 4 words of memory. If the part numbers in my plant start to add on every year I could someday run out of memory if everything I am interested in searching for has to be contained in it's own string. Am I missing something here? The best way to describe my dream instruction for this instance is if in the ASC or ASR commands that the SOURCE could be a "String Constant" (imaginary thing in my head right now). Such as: ASC command source 'RM' ----->NOT some string address STxx:xx that contains 'RM' "stored" in it index 10 string search ST12:0 result N7:0 to search for the letters RM in string ST12:0 also not a way to get different letters into a string directly so I could rotate what I want to search for directly into just one string. Such as I cannot use COP to copy 'RM' into ST12:20. Everything that is allowed to use a string the SOURCE and DEST must both be ST. I realize that this is stricter in the Micro vs. some of the other PLC models but still my imaginary commands above don't seem to be allowed in any of them. SLC and others use a few more things with strings but nothing like I was hoping. Is there a clever way around needing one string location saved and used up just to hold the information that you want to search for or compare???
  21. Both of these methods are now being used in my project upgrade. I've used the first method to save a few strings in part of my previous program to free up a few bits of memory and also using the MOV to make sure that a certain few strings stay put for a comparison. Previously I had just typed them in by hand and hoped nobody else modified them. I have figured out the second RCP method for my use and have tested a sequence that searches through about three catalog numbers right now. I've identified over 30 combinations I need to filter through and loaded them up in a recipe file and wrote a sequence to step through deciphering model number strings to identify what I am running on my machine. I think it is going to turn out much better than I hoped! Thanks again!!
  22. b_carlton and JRoss Thank you both for your excellent help. Before I went home last night I had figured out that two characters went with each .DATA just from trying it out. And didn't even bother calculating ASCII equivalents from an ASCII table/chart. If I make a temporary move command to move a string to an integer I can find out from the PLC that XY = 12345 (or whatever, some 5 digit eqiuvalent) to make things quicker and without error on my part. The second method with Recipe I seem to follow on paper and will probably try an example to learn something new. I've been comforable with indexing/indirect since the early 90's. Actually I picture this method would lend itself to searching through many different possibilities I need to search to conclude which part I have in production much like going through several strings dumped out to a printer in a sequential fashion. I need to learn to look up things in the manual I guess as I get older to learn the more clever things in life. I poured through the Command Help files for an hour or two looking for new ideas but these in depth details are just not covered there. Time to download the ML1400 manual I appreciate the lessons!
  23. Yes. This is probably what was happening. I had been manually manipulating some of my addresses and probably the first time I tried to MOV something in with the command I didn't think it worked because there was nothing visible in the ST data table. Probably after typing in some strings to experiment with the .LEN was populated and after trying some other MOV commands overwrote another two character string and it had something in there already leaving the .LEN at 2 and actually showing something. I think I know what I am doing now and like the fact that there is a simple approach to this almost exactly like I was imagining I wanted.
  24. That seems to be working. Although I did not get consistent results at first, some various testing shows this to be very helpful. I have to admit I've never seen the .DATA[x] specification at the end of the string address but once I find some documentation on it I may understand it more clearly. Bascially my confusion so far is that I did a couple of MOV with different sources and destinations to a ST address but nothing showed up in the actual String Text column in the Data Table view. But most of the time it is, so it can be used in this way. I got one example to move AD into ST12:22.DATA[0] then had AD2678RT in ST12:18. I was able to do ASC search to find AD in ST12:18 (using ST12:22 as the source) because it (AD) had been "stored" there by the MOV command to the .DATA[0]. And that meets my wish to have only one string for the source and be able to move various constants into it! When I fully understand this I could probably post a quick screen dump but it definately gave me something new to work with! Thank You!
  25. Mitsubishi E1101 Recipe

    I've read through all the manuals and help I can get my hands on and am just not getting the last few details of this. It may be because I am just trying to follow someone else's work and not starting from the beginning and making my own recipies. I have two machines that use recipies. One of them I connected to with HMI Tools FTP Client and was able to transfer the recipies to my laptop in .skv format no problem. I'm done with that one. The other machine that uses recipies looks to be setup the same and when I attach with HMI Tools there is nothing showing up in the terminal! So this has brought up a desire to further understand the recipies and understand how they were made. I have a few questions that I cannot answer that may point me to how these were defined and stored but all I really want is to back up the second machine's recipes. So, with this second machine there are 21 items in a recipe (D1200-D1220) First 20 are INT the last address is defined as a STRING and is the recipe name. In the HMI file, there is nothing setup in the Recipe Properties - No Recipe Control Block, No Current recipe register, Directories are not enabled. I considered that the recipies were just being managed inside of the PLC and cannot find any evidence of this. The HMI definately has two buttons setup with the "Other Function" radio button and one is Save Recipe, the other Load Recipe. If the recipe is not being managed in the PLC, where is it defined the recipe is D1200-D1220 and why aren't the files showing up in HMI Tools? I have looked everywhere I can in the HMI file and the PLC file and am lost as to how this was defined and is saving these recipes - yes they do work and have been in production for probably a decade. Also, there are no memory cards being used in the HMI or PLC. I would think the Load/Save buttons would have to be selected with "Saves recipe from memory card" anyway but just trying to think of everything I can.