Mario Elvir

Software for PanelView Plus 600

7 posts in this topic

Hello everyone, I need help with a problem in a machine I'm currently working on. It has a PanelView Plus 600 HMI and SLC 5/04 PLC. The HMI is non responsive and I've been tasked to determine if it's better to substitute that HMI with a Wecon Levi702E HMI which has a free programming software, or buy a new PanelView Plus 600 and buy the software and cables required to extract the program from the old hmi and upload it to the new one.

I have no experience with Allen Bradley since in my country it's very expensive and not very common and I've only worked with Siemens and Direct Logic Plc. I need to know what Licence i need to buy so i can download the program from the old HMI, then upload it into the new one and if i would need to buy the licence for the plc.

Thank you for your help.

IMG-20201003-WA0003.jpg

IMG-20201003-WA0000.jpg

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You need FactoryTalk ME (Machine Edition) for the PanelView 600. You will not need to buy RS500 for the PLC, and you will not have to license the PanelViews individually. Once you have FT ME, you will use its "Transfer Utility" to upload from the existing HMI, and then download to the new HMI. (I don't think Transfer Utility is available to be purchased as stand-alone application).

When you say the current HMI is "non responsive", is it just the touch screen that is worn out? If so and the processor is OK, you shouldn't have any trouble recovering the existing project from the PanelView.

FactoryTalk is a pretty expensive programming tool to purchase for a one-time use, and then to use it only to move a project from one HMI to another. You might considering installing more PanelView 600 and 700s to get more out of the investment. You might also look into the less expensive PanelView 800s, for which the programming tool (Connected Components Workbench) is free. Free software is usually not as user friendly as it could be and though I haven't used the graphics tools in CCW, the Logix editor is not as intuitive as it is other Allen Bradley products. But the CCW PowerFlex drives tool is really easy to use, and free is a powerful word. 

Hope this helps.

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10 hours ago, ElectronGuru said:

You need FactoryTalk ME (Machine Edition) for the PanelView 600. You will not need to buy RS500 for the PLC, and you will not have to license the PanelViews individually. Once you have FT ME, you will use its "Transfer Utility" to upload from the existing HMI, and then download to the new HMI. (I don't think Transfer Utility is available to be purchased as stand-alone application).

When you say the current HMI is "non responsive", is it just the touch screen that is worn out? If so and the processor is OK, you shouldn't have any trouble recovering the existing project from the PanelView.

FactoryTalk is a pretty expensive programming tool to purchase for a one-time use, and then to use it only to move a project from one HMI to another. You might considering installing more PanelView 600 and 700s to get more out of the investment. You might also look into the less expensive PanelView 800s, for which the programming tool (Connected Components Workbench) is free. Free software is usually not as user friendly as it could be and though I haven't used the graphics tools in CCW, the Logix editor is not as intuitive as it is other Allen Bradley products. But the CCW PowerFlex drives tool is really easy to use, and free is a powerful word. 

Hope this helps.

The current HMI touch screen is just worn out so there shouldn't be any problem in getting the program from it. 

Thank you for you reply.

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If the original is still in good enough working order, you should be able to backup the application to the removal flash card and then copy it back into the new one.  No software needed.

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As pcm said, if you have flash card, power down the unit and insert it into the back of the PV. Power back up.

You'll need to access the "SHUT DOWN SCREENS". Someone can look up how to access that if you do not have a secret icon to get to this menu...

This is IMPORTANT...for this method to WORK, the destination panel view must have the same FIRMWARE as the SOURCE. In my example, my PV is firmware 11.0. So I am going to take the MER file from a firmware 11.0 and put it on another Panel View with firmware 11.0. I can not take a MER from a firmware 11 to a firmware 10.0 panel view for example..it won't load.

Once you get to the shut down screens follow this menu.

 

Select TERMINAL SETTINGS

pv-01.thumb.jpg.e87ae05ad3accaf3a96d089c

 

Then File Management

pv-02.thumb.jpg.61324d64cb6e780f49530595

 

Then Copy Files

pv-03.thumb.jpg.7cc1ded692453c3bbbaa7613

 

The Copy Applications

pv-04.thumb.jpg.ec2c2f87cacc3f5fce6203b2

 

I don't have a FLASH CARD installed, but if you did, you would see the "External Source" highlight. Copy the MER FILE to the flash card. And do the same to transfer it to the new panel view. Remember the FIRMWARE VERSION. When it boots up, you can see the firmware version or at the top bar see first picture.

 

pv-05.thumb.jpg.56c58717fd2520a3a803c7b0

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You can always use a USB mouse if the touch screen is unresponsive, and copy the project to a flash card, or if you have an USB hub, then connect the mouse and USB thumbdrive at the same time. Also, you can get "ME transfer utility" as standalone (I've got it before), but usually AB requires licence to download its software, even the free one... Getting the project out of the HMI should be your top priority.

You can always install FactoryTalk View as trial, open your project (you can recompile the runtime into a project if the HMI Factorytalk edition is 5 or higher) and see all the controls so you can create a new project in the brand you like. Just remember the trial has a limit in days, so get hurry to fetch all the information you need. I would do this in your situation. Just make sure before you buy a new HMI that is come with DH+ as I can see you serial port is already used, because the serial port to communicate with the HMI would be the "easy and cheap" solution. DH+ is much more uncommon to still have it as an option, and usually expensiver.

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I would add a minor detail to Chris's post about the firmware versions. It's possible that the runtime file in the HMI was compiled for an older firmware version than what's in the HMI. We used to do that for a while until we had to upgrade to version 6 and finally migrated the runtime security from the old v3.x system. If the replacement HMI has at least as new a firmware version as the existing one, you're fine. If it's older, it's still worth a try to move the runtime file over.

If you can get to the configuration mode described above, you can use a USB flash drive to transfer the runtime file without much trouble. I've heard that there's also a way to get to a CF card inside the device that contains the runtime files, but I can't help you with that.

The runtime file can be de-compiled into a project if it was developed in View Studio version 5.0 (I think...) or later and the developer didn't lock it.

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