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Chris Elston

First Compact Logix Look (RS 5000)

68 posts in this topic

The most time critical and hence the most difficult to write code for in the RS5000 world is the redundant processor system. Even a small change can drastically affect scan time in redundant systems. I should know I've been involved on a number of redundant controller projects from the ground up. I can't find the link right now the Rockwell Library has a guide to writing programs for redundant processors and it is a smart idea to apply these ideas to all RS5000 programs in my HO.

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I'm just starting on a GM job that uses ControlLogix. Guess what their standard is? I10504 (typical input) O10601 (typical output) FLX35.O.S02.00 (remote rack on devicenet using Flex I/O) Talk about bone-headed. I think the SLC/PLC5 addresses were more descriptive! Edited by gravitar

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This screen shot you are showing here. Of course I don't have it because I don't have Version 16. But I have a question about versions... If I upgrade to Version 16, but left my program in version 15.02, would I still have this feature? Or no, because when I open the old program it opens version 15.02, and I don't get this feature? I think this feature would be handy to have. My biggest complaint so far is three things: I can't seem to figure out what tags are used or not very easily. The above "greyed out DINTs" would help alot. Forcing stuff seems to be a pain, because everyone "alias" their outputs, and for some reason you can't force the alias, so I keep having to go back and find the local I/O. When toggling between ladder and the control tags screen, the tags always default back to the top of the tags list in alphabetcal order...then you gotta search all over again or scroll down to your tag again.. er..

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Remember that rough draft I sent you about how to use User Defined tags for oganization? Dig it out and give it a read. It should help you with that. BTW, I never use alises tags for outputs

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Hi TW, Any particular reason you do not use aliases for outputs? I'm new to 5K. I am doing my first project using Control Logix now. The first thing I did was to alias the inputs and outputs, just because of eye sore on the length of their original terms. Regards ______

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Kind-of along the lines of the original post in this thread.. I had been doing all SLC/Micrologix work up till now but now I am using PLC-5 heavily and will be using ControlLogix soon. I re-discovered the PLC-5 Quick Reference (pub. 1785-7.1) and was wondering if any of you know something similar for the CLX platform. Seems like something like that would be helpful for someone that already knows PLCs and RSLogix, but needs some handholding when migrating over to the new platform.

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Hello chak Last first - If you switch between ladder and controller tags by using 'ctrl & tab' or by the menu window/controller tags the controller tags window will open at your last position. Note - highlight the a tag before switching between 'monitor & edit' Second - Aliasing I/O is handy if you ever need to add a HMI that can set I/O to manually on/off I usually have a routine where I can manually turn I/Os on/off in the Mapped I/O. Have found this a pain as I have to have a spreadsheet with equipment vers tag equipment number First - Yes it is a pain in RS5000 compared to RS500 & RS5 to find a spare bit. There is a filter for unused tags but will not work to bit level in Dints

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I don't understand why one would prefer "Local 1........." vs anything more descriptive. This is a typical aliased rung from a site that I frequent. The tag naming system identifies the type of field device and the drawing number of the wiring diagram. The base tag is shown under the alias, identifying the physical location of the I/O point. Edited by Gerry

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Overall you are correct Gerry. There are a few reasons I do this. Mainly, coming from a maintenance background that is what I gear my programs towards. For one it has to do with the way I layout my outputs in the program. I always put them in a routine called "Outputs". I run them down the rungs in order which they are wired. I find this helps maintenance follow find the outputs since they are all grouped. When a maintenance person who is not really familiar with the program troubleshoots, their initial discovery will usually be "the clamp is not coming down". They will usually then look at the solenoid, motor, or other device that actuates the clamp. Once they verify the wiring and check fuses, they will usually refer to the wiring diagram or trace the wire to figure out which output it is on the PLC. From there they know that it is slot 5 Output 7. So they look at the program and look for slot 5 output 7 which they can build the address from. With all the outputs laid out in one place it is easy for them to find it and discover what conditions are not keeping the output from coming on. Now when I initially migrated to the Controllogix I aliased these tags and laid them out the same as I had before. Although the actual tag name is right in the alias, the alias tags seemed to cause a lot of confusion since there were "two" tags that could control the output and the actual tag was not in the program. So to make it easier on the maintenance that was accustomed to RsLogix 500 I removed the aliases. My point wasn't that it was better not to alias, but to make the point that it wasn't a show stopper if you didn't use the alias tags and it may be better in some situations not to. If I was constantly developing programs and doing less on the service end I would probably more inclined to use alias tags.

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If I upgrade to Version 16, but left my program in version 15.02, would I still have this feature? Or no, because when I open the old program it opens version 15.02, and I don't get this feature? I think this feature would be handy to have. ________________________________________________________________________ Up grade also your Program to V16, Only if the CPU support. for you to have thus options. Edited by Gnex

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thank you, looks good.. i will order one

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dowload it from here http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/i...ueryForm=%C2%BB

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Chakorules- not sure why you can't force an alias...I've done it a lot in Logix5000 when starting up a new system. Maybe I'm not sure what you mean by your comment. As a veteran of the "old school" PLC systems, I too thought I wouldn't like the Logix5000 tag naming system, but, as in so many other things, I was wrong. It makes for ease of use in going from one system to another when there are similarities in programming. Also, the user defined tags are pretty handy for developing special tags to transport from job to job. Most of the maintenance guys we deal with either will never see the program, or love the "English language" version of knowing what is not working in a rung of logic. I have to say that I'm liking Logix5000 more each time I use it.

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I used long descriptive tagnames on my first RSL5k project, but got fed up with all my rungs looping 3 times to fit in all the tagname lengths. A good abbreviation standard works a charm. And as already noted, these processors have heaps of memory - why not add the abbreviations to a set of working-bit rung comments at the start of the code? Regarding the Tag Editor defaulting to the top of the tag list when switching - keep in mind that when you double-click on "Controller Tags" in the project browser it actually closes your old tag editor and opens a new one. To switch back to your existing tag editor at the same tag you were looking at, use the Window menu. Or even easier - try the amazing Ctrl-Tab combo! Another nice shortcut - Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown which switches between the open routines. Personally, i think RSL5k takes a bit of getting used to but once you've used it a few times - wow. Just wait until you have to go back to a RSL5 or RSL500 project!!

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But I have a question about versions... If I upgrade to Version 16, but left my program in version 15.02, would I still have this feature? Or no, because when I open the old program it opens version 15.02, and I don't get this feature? I think this feature would be handy to have. If you upgrade the computer looking at the program to version 16 and remove version 15.02 from it it will make you update the project in the controller as well. Anything looking at a real time clock will need to be checked out as the time is going to be accessed with a GSV or SSV in 16. If you leave version 15.02 on the computer it will open it in that version. I have versions from 10 to 16 on my computer to open any different files I may encounter. We recently updated four PC's and five PLC's to version 16 and other than the clock items it was real smooth, but you have to be able to take the controller off line and it does take a while to update. Then the processor will be left with the new version and no program So you have to have back up's to reload the program from. As far as finding a bit that is used, before we went to 16 i would try to cross refrence the bit before using it, slow but it works. One other thing about version 16 that is a real pain is that it defaults new tags to program tags so if you want it controller scoped you need to pay attention to change it. Edited by just-chris

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Just got a few copies of this today. Looks pretty good. It is a small spiral-bound book (like the PLC-5 and SLC ones) so it's more convenient than what I would be able to produce on my own with the .PDF file. And best of all, it's free! So I thought I'd pass it back along to you guys that think you might want one to make sure to ask your A-B salesman to order it for you.

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So I'm skimming through this book.. Take a look at this page, it caught my attention. What are they doing in that top rung?! Is that a mistake or can you put several outputs on the same rung in series?! Electrically, I'm not sure exactly what that means. Up to this point, I've thought of ladder logic as being a reasonable approximation of an electrical circuit diagram!

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Gravitar - For those of us raised on the PLC 5 and SLC 500 what they show in the 1756 manual "breaks the rules". The CLGX however being more "C" language basedand designed to operate like a cross between a PLC ad PC will allow multiple outputs on a single rug without the need to branch them as we did in older plcs.

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RSlogix5000 can do rungs like this without any problems. Output instructions (Coils, timers etc) can be in the middle of the rung. Edited by Contr_Conn

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Wow.. THAT is ugly! I guess they allow rungs like that to quickly identify who has paid their dues in the maintenance department and who hasn't :)

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outputs in series is not a "new" feature. It was always available on the PLC-3. Putting outputs between inputs, however, is new.

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So why does PLC 5 give me an "illegal location for output instruction" error messaage when I try to stack Mov's, Add's etc in series? Or is it just coils that can be seriesed in PLC 5?

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You cannot put more then one output instruction with the PLC5 ( RSLogix5) or SLC500 ( RSLogix500) And the output instruction has to be at the end of the rung ( it wouldn't let you do it any other way)

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Mickey I would tend to agree with you, but Gerry seems convinced outputs can be seriesed. Guess someone will have to try and find out to resolve the debate?

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