Hi, I have been banging my head on this problem for months, hoping to get some help from the experts here. I will try to make this short.
The Problem: PLC network connection to Top Server OPC constantly drops out for a second or 2. Happens roughly once every 10 minutes on avg. Going live with the processor in logix designer is also painfully slow.
The System: Conveyor system consisting of a ControlLogix L73S V28, 14ea PowerFlex 527 VFD's, some Cognex imaging devices, a handful of remote I/O racks in a DLR, and a stratix switch as the DLR supervisor. The OPC connection is made through a NATR module. The main task is a continuous task with a 25% timeslice, reserved for comms. Task monitor shows around 10% null time, comms usage is below 15% as are the en2t modules, and the stratix shows at worst, 2% utilization.
Other facts: We have several other systems all with similar Allen Bradley hardware and identical connections to OPC with no problems. Occasionally, an attempt to go live gets stuck on "correlating", removing the DLR cables from the stratix unfreezes it. Oddly enough, if it happens when the connections are already removed, reinserting them unfreezes it. Does not matter if you are connecting with Ethernet or USB, same behavior. The VFD's are controlled using motion instructions, not a fan of the way it was implemented. The symptoms seem to all be communication related, but removing the networked devices does not improve the connection, plus utilization is really low. The CPU utilization is within acceptable levels as well. Any insights would be appreciated, I'm out of reasonable options. Thank you.
The Problem: PLC network connection to Top Server OPC constantly drops out for a second or 2. Happens roughly once every 10 minutes on avg. Going live with the processor in logix designer is also painfully slow.
The System: Conveyor system consisting of a ControlLogix L73S V28, 14ea PowerFlex 527 VFD's, some Cognex imaging devices, a handful of remote I/O racks in a DLR, and a stratix switch as the DLR supervisor. The OPC connection is made through a NATR module. The main task is a continuous task with a 25% timeslice, reserved for comms. Task monitor shows around 10% null time, comms usage is below 15% as are the en2t modules, and the stratix shows at worst, 2% utilization.
Other facts: We have several other systems all with similar Allen Bradley hardware and identical connections to OPC with no problems. Occasionally, an attempt to go live gets stuck on "correlating", removing the DLR cables from the stratix unfreezes it. Oddly enough, if it happens when the connections are already removed, reinserting them unfreezes it. Does not matter if you are connecting with Ethernet or USB, same behavior. The VFD's are controlled using motion instructions, not a fan of the way it was implemented. The symptoms seem to all be communication related, but removing the networked devices does not improve the connection, plus utilization is really low. The CPU utilization is within acceptable levels as well. Any insights would be appreciated, I'm out of reasonable options. Thank you.