Just in case you're interested...

I promised some guys pictures...
The photos attached are of the panel that runs our new 71 motor conveyor system. There are 4200 wires (6 miles) inside the panel with 1000 more (11 more miles) wires to the field devices. There is a PV 1000 running the show in the left hand door. Not shown are 14 barcode scanners and 28 diverters. Several diverters run off bit shifts and there are two sort lanes, 10 and 6 lanes, running off FIFO logic. The panel cost my company $85K which leads me to wonder what a panel shop would have charged.

Awsome looking panel.

Hi Rube....Awsome panel dude..Are those PowerFlex 4s I see?

Later....Todd

*****in. Good looking work. How did you communicate to the drives?

I'm impressed!!

Thanks Guys

Yeah Powerflex 4s--my second panel with them. I'm just using relays for controlling the drives, there's no analog in this panel, just set the Freq and it's on or off. We needed the chassis for I/O and analog would have killed my slot count for the 5/04. We have some spiral conveyors on our other two lines that I control speed thru photoeye/counter logic. We don't have to honor flow or pressure requirements so we don't have a lot of speed changes.

I had to shrink the photos down so much they lost some detail.

I had to shrink the photos down so much they lost some detail.

Click to expand...

Zip them up and attach them.

Hey Mark,, "Way Cool".

Nice panel. I bet the AB distributor was tickled pink when they got that Powerflex order. Were you able to negotiate a better discount?

Does the schematic include mile marker posts?...

Rube said:

There are 4200 wires (6 miles) inside the panel with 1000 more (11 more miles) wires to the field devices.

Click to expand...

Thankfully, electrons travel quite fast!...

Excellent work there, Mark!...



-Eric

Very Cool!
Nice work.
I counted 52 drives.
Maybe I miscounted?
You said 78 motors are some drives elsewhere?
Is there more than one PLC?

gbradley said:

I counted 52 drives....

Click to expand...

You counted!!!!


You deserve a beer for that.

gbradley said:

I counted 52 drives.
Maybe I miscounted?
You said 78 motors are some drives elsewhere?

Click to expand...

Looks like the remaining are DOL. Notice the row of contactors and overloads in the left hand photo. Feel free to count them, George...



-Eric

Nice work Mark.

Why you did not use devicenet or modbus and save those inpout and outputs etc?

Great looking panel, Mark! The cost for a panel shop to do that same job would have been at least twice your cost or possibly even three times. You got a deal!

gbradley said:

I counted 52 drives.
Maybe I miscounted?
You said 78 motors are some drives elsewhere?
Is there more than one PLC?

Click to expand...

There are controls for 74 motors, George. Two drives and several contactor/overload sets (good eyes, Eric) are installed for future needs. We know we'll need them, we just haven't worked the exact details out--it's for a third sortation routine.

One PLC--30 slots. The most you can hang on the 5/04. Program is big as a Dallas phone book when hard copied. PV program big as a Mayberry (RFD) phone book.

AB gives use a huge discount thru our local distributor and since this is my third large panel (although the largest of the three) we can really play the pricing game.

Arik I am the only one here that would know how to diagnose any issues with technology any different than what I built--devicenet would blow everyone else's mind. I know for a fact my next panel will use Dnet if I'm able to-it's coming up in Dec. I have to get the other guys used to newer stuff but this was not the panel I chose to start with.

Eric--no mile markers-just the requisite maps. I'm anal about documentation.

I know I probably shouldn't do this so, Phil, feel free to edit this: Cornerstone Automation was instumental in the communication from our barcode scanners and our Warehouse Mgmt System (WMS). If you're in need of integration utilizing scanners look them up. They don't know I'm telling about them...

Thanks for the comments. I'll try to zip up some better photos.