How do you find CCW?

Hey All.

Just wondering. I have to start a small project likely using a miro800 line of controller and HMI.
I have never used CCW for anything more than drive programming and a tiny bit of safety relay stuff.

I am curious how you Rockwell fans find this software to be. I am most comfortable with 500, 5000 and FTV but things like Picosoft turn my stomach.

Is the CCW genuine Rockwell or another third party rebranded software?
Is this something that most would opt out from using?

Thanks

Hi

From my understanding it's a product of a company that Rockwell have bought
It is nothing like 500,5000 or FT
I would go for a 1100/1400 and stay away from the 800
Now that's just me

Donnchadh

I am no expert, I have used rslogix500 and CCW. They are different and take some getting use to. But I do enjoy programming with either, I do like that with CCW you can mix ST with ladder and RSLogix500 is ladder only.

I have several micro820 out in the field and they preform flawlessly.

We are incorporating the Micro800 series PLC's into some of our smaller projects moving forward. AB has been very helpful with getting us started and showing us the basics of the PLC's and the 800 series HMI's.

Pro's:
Lots of power and features for the price.
Flexibility with LAD, ST, and FB.
Expansion capabilities are pretty impressive.
Help files for instructions are pretty good.

Con's:
Software can be kind of slow and kludgy.
Significant learning curve.
Help instructions for the HMI portion is not great.

All in all I am impressed. The software has come a long way and the AB guys aware of improvements that still need to be made.

I have used CCW with 850 PLC, red lion hmi and a AB vfd. It was a steep learning curve for me, with help from this forum and red lion. The vendor I bought it of had not used it with the application I wanted, that being coms via ethernet and remote access via a PC.

It worked for me, as the AB brand helped seal the clients approval, within his budget.

I would use it again.

I used quite a few Micro 820's for data collection projects. It was hard to beat a sub $300 ethernet based PLC with configurable digital and analog inputs. I suggest purchasing the Developer Edition of CCW which allows online edits and user defined data types.

as others have said, CCW definitely isn't like studio 500/5000.

I tried it near when they were first coming out with it. The impression my colleagues and I got was that it looked and felt a bit like "Mickey Mouse Teaches Programming": lots of bright colors, and sorta basic. I don't have any substantive complaints, though. It did what I needed it to do, a basic program for a cheap application. The problem was that it FELT cheap. You get what you pay for, I guess.

The recommendation I've heard often is that if this is a one off type system, you'll spend more money in engineering time learning the software then you will save by not using a cheap compactlogix. If its a serial machine, the initial engineering isn't as important, and the cost savings per unit is often the deciding factor.