AB PLC5/80E RIO to Panelview + 1250 Slow Block Transfers after converting PV 1400E

[sprintboy 0]

Hi Guys, I'm currently in the middle of a conversion from a PanelView 1400E touch screen to a Panelview Plus 1250. The existing panelview works fine other than it's slowly dying. It'sconnected to a PLC5/80E. Here's the problem after the conversion and corrections to the converted program all functions appear to work ok on the PV +1250 except numeric operations can take up to 10 seconds to execute. All binary functions appear to be normal and operate almost instantly. Upon further investigation I've found that the Block Transfer Reads and Write slow down and some timeout. Other than the blocks which are timing out, the other block transers seem like they operate ok. I've tried deleting any aliases that reference these block transfers and still no better. I will say I've just found reference to no gaps in the block transfer configuration in RSview ME. But does not tell me what the effect of this is. If anybody has any ideas or heard of any problems I'd be more than happy to here from you. Thanks Steve

[BobLfoot 302]

You do not mention what communication media is being used. I assume the PB1400E was DH+, RIO or serial, while the PVP1250 is nost likely ethernet. This being the case and the 5/80E already probably had other connections to it's ethernet I'd check the connection count. The AB Knowledgebase has plenty of info on the dangers of overloading ethernet communiccations. This sounds most like your issue.

[Ken Roach 194]

Since you mentioned Block Transfer instructions in your PLC-5/80E controller, I'll diverge from Bob's conclusion and say you are using the 2711P-RN6 card as a Remote I/O adapter on the PV+. I have had some experience with this conversion and was dissatisfied with the ease of use and performance. In each case I eventually changed the communication method to Ethernet and greatly improved performance. Since you already have data in optimized files ready to be block-transferred to the PV+, the connection should be fairly easy to implement over Ethernet. For the time being, though, let's address the block transfer issue. You may be having a firmware problem (some early RIO adapter firmware exhibited performance problems that are hard to characterize) or a hardware issue. Check your grounding of the PV+ terminal and it's power supply, and check the wiring on the -RN6 card to be sure it's tight. There was also, unfortunately, an issue with some of the -RN6 cards that caused a PCI bus fault which rebooted the terminals. It wasn't common and is easy to fix, but you should figure out if your terminal is at risk for that problem. Post the revision of firmware you have loaded on the terminal (I am running 4.00.05) and any identifying info on the 2711P-RN6.

[sprintboy 0]

Thanks for your reply Ken. You are right It is on RIO using the 2711P-RN6 card as a Remote I/O adapter on the PV+. What I have found is that the discrete I/O operations are perfectly fine. Only block transfers are affected. What I do have and am trying to fix is Block transfers BT 1 To BT 10 without a BT3. I read in a tech note that there should be no gaps in the mapped BT's in the PV+ RIO Configuration. Also tried to convice them to put it on ethernet but they won't hear of it. I've done quite a few PV+ conversions and developed new ones but this is the first on RIO. Went in to this thinking it would be no big deal and now I'm looking a little silly. Customer is at least being tolerant, but I don't think it's done my reputation much good though. Using same firmware as you, I upgraded it from 3.20. Thanks Again Steve Thank you for your input Bob. Can't believe that I didn't tell you that it was on RIO. Thanks Steve

[BobLfoot 302]

Thats OK - The Only PVPlus we ever used were Ethernet that is why I jumped that way. Glad Ken was able to fill in the blind spot.

[TechJunki 0]

I have done quite a few of these conversions (PV1200 to PV+ 1250) over Remote I/O. There is definetly some performance issues involved with RIO, as stated earlier I would choose Ethernet whenever possible. One thing I have noticed in the past, when using Block Transfers the PV+ always seemed to run better whenever the Block Transfer addresses were used as your actual address, instead of creating tags for them. I have also had some termination problems, be sure to check that you have the correct resistor installed, and all connections look good. Seems these terminals can be a little picky that all the wiring is done perfectly.

[OkiePC 14]

One big advantage to having it on RIO is you won't have to worry about stuck button syndrome on the discrete data. That my be one good reason why "they won't hear of it [ethernet]." I always try to use those discrete addresses for all machinery motion controls...then the processor or scanner can control the fault state, or at least detect a rack fault immediately. Paul