Assistance needed with a DL06 and C-More HMI

Hello all, This is my first post to the forum, although I've been reading and gleaning info from other's posts here for years. The amount of knowledge that can be gained here is staggering.
I've been programming AB plc's for years, and am very familiar with the old AI and the present RS Logix software. But, due to budget restraints on a project I am working on, I decided to buy a DL06 plc and a C-More HMI. After receiving the equipment and reading the manuals I must say that the DL06 is one sweet little plc, at a fraction of the cost of a comparable AB. There is a little difference in the programming structure though, but I think I've mustered through the main differences. I've got the majority of the plc program written, the HMI is programmed and they are communicating with each other(finally, after setting the correct baud rate for port 2!) Now, here's my problem: I need to take a value that is input through the HMI and control the output of an analog card to a VFD. This should be very straightforward, as I've done this hundreds of times with AB equipment. I think I'm missing something in the conversion process. I've poured through the DL06 manual, the options module manual for the analog card,( I'm using the FO-2AD2DA-2 2 ch in/2 ch out set to 0-10v) and I'm sure I am just overlooking something very simple.
Here's what I'm trying to do in more detail. I have a cleated flex-link conveyor that I'm trying to run at a certain speed to pace the packers on the line. The speed will change with different jobs. The supervisor will enter a line speed in feet per minute through the HMI. I need to be able to scale a range of inputs from around 2.0 fpm through 7.0 fpm in .5 fpm increments to the appropriate output levels of the analog card that will achieve the desired speed. I am sending the input value from the HMI to memory location V400, and the output of the analog card is determined by the value that is in V2010. I am getting a voltage output from the analog card, but it's not consistently changing as the input changes. For example, when I enter 2.5 I may get 3.6v out, 3.5 yields 4.2v out, then when I enter 4.5, I get .27 volts out, then 5.5 yields 9.8 volts out. I almost feel embarrased to be asking about this, because as I stated earlier, I'm sure I've overlooked something sooo simple in the output conversion. Any ideas to point me in the right direction would be appreciated...just a nudge!

Thanks, Paul

These are 12 bit output cards, right?

Make sure your CMore input box is set for BCD, the scaling set 4095 = 10 Volts, 0 = Volts.

Without seeing it, I'd bet you've got a wrong format, maybe using Decimal instead of BCD for the data type in the CMore.

I can't remember exactly, but hopefully I'll point you in the right direction. Are you using a 4 digit BCD number in the HMI?
I think this should be a double number using address V400 and V401.
Then do a BCD to Bin and output to the analog. You must send Bin to the analog card.
The chapter on PID explains pretty well how to talk to analog cards.

Yes!

Thanks guys! Crocop, you hit it dead on... in the C-more I had not changed the input type - it was set for 16 bit integer. Now as my input increases, the output voltage scales right up with it. A little tweaking with the math now will get the exact voltages I need.

Thanks again! Paul

WAY TO GO :site:

keithkyll said:

You must send Bin to the analog card.

Click to expand...

Paul I know you got your app working, but I thought I'd point out that most of the analog cards can be setup as BIN or BCD. It will all depend on how you have it setup.

Glad your problem is solved Paul. I just want to mention that the main difference between AB programming and AutomationDirect programming is how they handle numbers. Read page 4-23 in the manual to see what I mean. I love the AutomationDirect plc's, and especially love the stage and block programming instructions, but I wish they would make the number computation instructions a little more user friendly.