directlogic plc

[fosy 0]

Hi Chaps, Just got a critical machine in the factory, its an Electro Plasma thingy ma-gig. I dont know much about the technology but it looks scary. When you look inside it there is a lot of pink purply sparks going on and from what has been explained, it de-oxidizers the surface of plastic? Apparently this helps glues adhere to the treated plastic better. Anyway, the bloody thing has a Directlogic plc. Never heard of this type of plc before, so I have had to purchase the whole system to sit on a shelf just in case something goes wrong with it. I've ordered Directsoft32 software and leads too. Looking at the printed program it looks pretty simple enough. What I'm after is, have you any experiences with this kit I need to know and worry about? It looks pretty cool but is there any sh.i.t I should know? Thanks, Fosy Edited 14 Nov 2005 by fosy

[b_carlton 61]

All manuals are available online at AutomationDirect Inputs are 'X', outputs are 'Y' Control Bits are 'C'. Addressing is in octal. Default math is in BCD.

[Chris Elston 78]

Here is my first attempt at Direct Logic: http://www.mrplc.com/kb/index.php?page=ind...x_v2&id=74&c=34

[GerryM 2]

I've had real good luck with Automationdirect for the last 10 years. I've got a whole plant full of it. Very few problems.

[fosy 0]

Excellent advice, thank you for your time. We were considering replacing the PLC system with a make we are more familiar with, like Omron. But when we found the costings of Direct Logic and the availability in the UK, we decided to stay with it. I agree that AutomationDirect have a great website and the information for identifying spares is first class. Chris, your review of your first experiences with Direct Logic PLCs has been a great help. A lot of it went over my head but I did understand the bits that concern me as a maintenance technician. If I need to alter the program at all, it will only involve changing timer values, which I understand, I won't be able to do online. I may need to monitor certain operations, conditions and force the odd I/O if need be. But beyond that, my intervention stops. I have had to use Medoc Dos software for years now so Directsoft32 should not cause me too much of a problem. Thanks again, Fosy.

[b_carlton 61]

Regarding timer presets. If the preset is stated as a 'K' or constant value then indeed you have to modify the program and re-download it. But the preset can be sstated as a 'V' value (for example V2000) which means that the preset is stored in that register. Then it can be modified by an HMI, by Directsoft using a data window, or even by the mathematical operations of the program itself.

[Chris Elston 78]

Thanks b_carlton, ARTICLE QUOTE: "No online timer adjustments. One of the things you can’t do is change a timer value online at the timer function in the rung. I didn’t try this yet, but I assume you could load the timer into a Data View table and edit the value in the Data View. Don’t know if this would work, but I had an after thought." END QUOTE: Your comment confirmed my assumption. I was trying to say something down that lines if you load your timer value into a register or a dataview I figured that it would work. Good to know that it will.

[b_carlton 61]

You may be saying this exactly but let me restate. It depends on how the timer is defined IN THE PROGRAM. If the Preset has 'Ksomething' then the program MUST be changed and redownloaded to affect the preset. If the Preset is defined as 'Vsomething' then you can change that register in whatever way you wish. Edited 15 Nov 2005 by b_carlton

[fosy 0]

I received the DirectSOFT32 software, leads and a spare Optimate panel OP1500 yesterday. What is annoying, I went over to the machine and uploaded the program from the PLC champion. Had a look to see how I could upload the OP1500 and found I couldn't. The sale person told me I could upload/download and write the program for the panel and the PLC with the same software. Nope not bloody so. DirectSOFT32 comes with a DV1000 setup support only, very very annoying, watch out for that. I now have to search for another software called OP winedit according to an American company I spoke to tonite. I'm not impressed. More leads more software I've got software coming out of my ears. Probably never have to use the dang stuff anyway lol.

[fosy 0]

Hey, Found a free download for this optimate panel editing......http://www.optimate.com/support/swupdates The Zip version wouldn't load on my puter, loads of errors, but the .exe version loads champion. It allows you to upload/download and save. You can't build with it. I still need to find and buy a blumin lead though lol. Dont know why my link dont work, but thats the address anyway. Edited 29 Nov 2005 by fosy

[wwyatt 0]

I have found over the years you get what you pay for. My exprience with Automation Direct is it is cheap and with a little patience it will do what you need but it is fragile and the year warranty is a year for a reason becuase that is about as long as it runs without replacement parts. I admit is has been a few years since I used it so maybe the quality is better. At that time I found the programming software very crude and not very user friendly that is why I said with a little paitence it will do what you need.

[elevmike 0]

wwyatt, Based on my experiance I totally disagree with your assesment of Automation Direct. Inexpensive dosnt always equate to cheap/poor quality. AD practices a market/busniess model that envolves MUCH less overhead then other major competators. These cost savings are reflected in the product price. Stat wise we've had far fewer failures with AD products then other brands. Many installiations are in very harsh enviroments, with no problems. Regarding the software, authough it's not as sophisicated as CME or some others, it's also less compex and more stright forward with a much shorter learning curve. As far as the end result goes (programming wise) there's little or mabey nothing that you cant do with Directsoft that can be done with with most other brands. Fosy, You can buy OP-WinEdit for $30.00 from AD here: =http://web1.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Software_Products/Operator_Interface_Config._S-z-W/OP-WINEDITop-winedit You didnt mention which AD product you have, but you can configure the timers so that they can be field adjustable without using Directsoft or and HMI. The 240 CPU has 4 adjustable pots that can be used for this, or you can use a spare input on a momentary button. Just time the button closure and store that time as the timer preset. You have a good quality product. There's no need to change it out. It's just different and something new to learn. Regards, Mike Edited 4 Dec 2005 by elevmike

[TimWilborne 108]

It has been several years since I have used DirectLogic but I found the hardware to be very reliable. We did have some problems with the devicenet adapter for the DirectLogic 205 but beyond that I thought it was an excellent product. The software wasn't the greatest but for the money it was very good. I wouldn't hesitate to use it again on most projects but will admit I would have to give it some thought on larger projects. The major problem we had on the last project we used it on was at the time they were not truely "readily available" internationally. We had no problems with the hardware but the customer frowned on it. We used AB controllers and DirectLogic chassis for the I/O in a very harsh environment. Like I said its been about 5 years. Can some of you who use them give me the heads up on improvements since then? Especially some of you in Europe and Asia. I'm thinking about using some of them again.

[acsautomate 0]

The biggest problem I have with Automation Direct is the way data is handled, BCD/HEX instead of straight decimal. Plus you don't have the built in a box functionality , like with AB.... But if you don't mind extra programming for math and data functions, its well worth the price.

[b_carlton 61]

The BCD versus Decimal was a stumbling block for me at the start also. I don't know why they didn't just do everything in the decimal/binary mode and leave BCD as just the odd format requiring conversion when coming from something like a thumbwheel switch or out to some odd display. While the BCD math is the default, the binary math runs faster. When I want to assure speed (as in an interrupt routine) I always use binary math. I wish the move commands allowed for a stack loaded argument instead of hard coded into the command. That way the destination could be determined at the time of execution jsut as the source address can be.

[acsautomate 0]

I too found that the binary math was the answer to many problems, also when you compare an integer to a timer value, you will have similar conversion problems. The simple answer is to convert timer values for comparison to binary and compare the hex values. Edited 13 Dec 2005 by acsautomate