KnuckleDragger

Looking for a good USB to Serial (RS232) Converter

6 posts in this topic

Until recently, I haven't had to connect to a piece of hardware using a serial connection in quite sometime. Well, that all changed yesterday when I needed to connect to a Watlow F4T Controller. I dug around in the bottle drawer of my desk and pulled at not one, but two USB-Serial Converters that I saved for just such an occasion! My old ones worked on everything from Allen Bradley SLCs, to Schneider Drives. Unfortunately, neither appear to work in a Windows 10 environment. Searching the internet, I was not able to find any drivers for these old converters, but did find some posts in another forum stating that Microsoft changed how it manages its USB ports from Win 7 to Win 10. Thanks Microsoft! Sorry, I will cut this rant short and just ask my question:-).

Can anyone recommend a USB-Serial Converter that works in a Windows 10/11 environment? 

Respectfully,

Shane 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You can try the 232 com plus 1 from digikey. https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/ftdi-future-technology-devices-international-ltd/USB-COM232-PLUS1/2139294

You will have to get the usb cable seperate. This worked for me on numerous different automation equipment. I can not gurantee it will work with your specific unit, but might be worth a shot. Little note: Be careful when choosing the usb cable as you can choose 2.0 or 3.0. Sometimes the 3.0 cables do not work in my experience. The 2.0 cable would probably be your best bet. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've had best results in recent years with the FTDI-based devices like Otto posted.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My go-to USB-serial adapter has been the Keyspan (Tripplite) USA-19HS for over a decade. This thread made me realize that I'd never tested it in Windows 10, so I just did. It took a reboot and a few tries in RSLinx Classic, but I did get it to  connect to a SLC 5/05's serial port. I've used it in the past to connect to a Watlow F4 as well, but using Windows 7 on a different laptop.

My software is in a Windows 10 virtual machine running on a Windows 10 host. The last time I used a Watlow controller was with Windows 7 VM on a Windows 7 host.

 

1 person likes this

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So, a quick followup. I opened up my Win10 VM again this morning and tried to connect to the 5/05 but RSLinx couldn't get the COM port, said it was busy. The Keyspan utility showed it bouncing between idle and busy about every second. I ended up having to delete the driver in RSLinx and set it up again from scratch. Even so, auto-configure took several tries to work. I fired up my Win7 VM (same Win10 host) and it connected and worked out of the box with no issues. There may be an issue with the Keyspan driver (I'm using the latest one) or with how Windows 10 is handling things. I'll definitely be keeping my Win7 VM...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now