Marcin Trębacz

ns8 NS8 EndOfLife - what use as replacement ?

13 posts in this topic

Good day.

I was informed about EoF the NS8 HMI's.

I got couple old machines with those HMI's  , but they  still need to be  supported. So I need to migrate with project in CX-Designer to other model.

My question is  - what else from OMRON can be used as replacement for this hardware (dimension, easy project convert)? 

 

 

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NS Runtime running on a panel IPC will require the least programming changes but likely a different cutout. If you want to stay with an HMI your options are NA or NB both of which have a different cutout and will require a complete redesign of the CX-Designer project into either Sysmac Studio or NB-Designer respectively.

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Haven't heard of the NS being discontinued on this side of the ocean.  Where did you hear that?

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Haven't heard of the NS being discontinued on this side of the ocean.  Where did you hear that?

From our local Poland head office of the OMRON and local distributors. Maybe for them it's mean, that market is out of stock the NS8 locally. ;) 

Fact, told this  to me my colleague from spare-parts department, but I will check this info one more time. Anyway, they starting search/buying NS8 where they can :)

 

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I have the same message from the Czech OMRON office. We have about 300 NS panels in our plant. Fortunately, the panels are trouble-free except for mechanical damage. The next replacement will be the NB series. But the program needs to be written completely again.

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On 3/29/2022 at 3:43 AM, Crossbow said:

Haven't heard of the NS being discontinued on this side of the ocean.  Where did you hear that?

I received from my supplier in Japan the NS discontinued news... they said Omron change to NA model..... which is totally different from NS.... now i am digging this forum to see if anybody have done changing NS to NA.... also the NS model in stock now price double... 

NS Discontinued Omron Japan.pdf

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16 hours ago, vasekd said:

I have the same message from the Czech OMRON office. We have about 300 NS panels in our plant. Fortunately, the panels are trouble-free except for mechanical damage. The next replacement will be the NB series. But the program needs to be written completely again.

Wow... gonna be big project and big money....

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There is no need to immediately change a working thing for a new one

Edited by vasekd

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I did just get the notice, and apparently its a parts availability thing.  They don't normally phase things out without a several year notice, but with the current availability crises on so many products, there's doesn't seem to be an easy option.

There is no converter to NB or NA.  Keep in mind NB is a budget interface, so more work is needed in the controller side to do some things that NS did in the HMI, such as accessing Sysmac variables.  That being said, I have heard from many customers that they use NX1P2 controller and NB operator interface all the time, as the small NA costs more than the NX1P2 did. 

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I just saw this today as well. 

Is using the NS-Runtime a good option?

We have a lot of legacy machines that run with CJ2 PLCs and NS10 HMIs. We currently don't have any spare units but we have mechanical damage from time to time. Someone will poke a screw driver through the screen (or whatever) and we'll have to replace the damaged unit.

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I would build an inventory of NS screens for now then look at the longer term replacement. With the current availability, I would even look at third party suppliers. It seems availability for most screens today is slim..... all manufacturers. We just waited 6-7 months for an Allen Bradley PanelView and an Omron NA5.

Since the NA5 is designed for the NJ/NX series, I would look at upgrading the entire system. The NJ PLC will accept CJ modules so it is a suitable replacement for the CJ2 but takes some work to convert the program. A local distributor or Omron representative may be able to help out with the conversion. Omron used to have conversion software but it wasn't available to the public due to its reliability. I'm not sure where that stands now.

In the meantime, I would take care of the NSs. They are very durable screens when they don't have screw drivers stabbed into them.

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Just wanted to answer a few points here.

20 hours ago, kckku said:

I just saw this today as well. 

Is using the NS-Runtime a good option?

We have a lot of legacy machines that run with CJ2 PLCs and NS10 HMIs. We currently don't have any spare units but we have mechanical damage from time to time. Someone will poke a screw driver through the screen (or whatever) and we'll have to replace the damaged unit.

NS-Runtime is a great option in most cases.

  • Not all Smart active parts are supported on the NS-Runtime environment
  • The project needs to be 8.1 or lower
  • No native support or NJ/NX PLCs
  • No 3rd party PLC support via Modbus
  • A communication module/card may need to be added to the PLC depending on the IPC used
  • Panel cutout will likely be different

It works on Windows 10 however

3 hours ago, IO_Rack said:

I would build an inventory of NS screens for now then look at the longer term replacement. With the current availability, I would even look at third party suppliers. It seems availability for most screens today is slim..... all manufacturers. We just waited 6-7 months for an Allen Bradley PanelView and an Omron NA5.

Since the NA5 is designed for the NJ/NX series, I would look at upgrading the entire system. The NJ PLC will accept CJ modules so it is a suitable replacement for the CJ2 but takes some work to convert the program. A local distributor or Omron representative may be able to help out with the conversion. Omron used to have conversion software but it wasn't available to the public due to its reliability. I'm not sure where that stands now.

In the meantime, I would take care of the NSs. They are very durable screens when they don't have screw drivers stabbed into them.

NA5 will talk to the older controllers (CP/CJ/CS) over FINS Ethernet.

The conversion utility is still functional and valid but it is an internal employee only program. It generally gets you close but there is often a fair amount of tagging needed and instruction incompatibility.

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1 hour ago, photovoltaic said:

Just wanted to answer a few points here.

NS-Runtime is a great option in most cases.

  • Not all Smart active parts are supported on the NS-Runtime environment
  • The project needs to be 8.1 or lower
  • No native support or NJ/NX PLCs
  • No 3rd party PLC support via Modbus
  • A communication module/card may need to be added to the PLC depending on the IPC used
  • Panel cutout will likely be different

It works on Windows 10 however

NA5 will talk to the older controllers (CP/CJ/CS) over FINS Ethernet.

The conversion utility is still functional and valid but it is an internal employee only program. It generally gets you close but there is often a fair amount of tagging needed and instruction incompatibility.

There is no way our management will want someone to convert the old NS10 programs to NA. Nobody would want to pay (budget constraints), nobody is proactive enough, and nobody wants to take the blame if it doesn't work. 

I have been looking at some other alternatives like a standard PC and touchscreen. I have used Test mode on CX-Designer to have it function as a pseudo HMI. Sometimes when I have to remote into the plant from home, I use this function on a PC that's connected to the line.

If this is workable then I think we can just have a PC with CX-One/Designer installed (licensed) and then use Test mode. Phoenix Contact has IP rated touch screens (BL FPM) that we can probably use. 

Either this or install and run NS-RunTime. We typically don't use Smart Active parts. The project version will probably be an issue though. It seems like most of ours is 8.4 - 8.6.

 

2022-04-07_15-22-59.jpg

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