Need advice for training

Hello all,

I've been asked to help train some of the mechanics at work "on plcs". Now, what i'm primarily trying to do is teach them to use plc's as a troubleshooting tool. I want to keep confusion at a minimum and teach as fast and clear ,as possible, how to track inputs and outputs as it relates to the machine and it's operation. What i'm considering is bringing in a homemade board with lights and switches and starting off with your basic, push button 1 and light 1 turns on, push button 2 and it goes off and working from there. Perhaps working my way towards timers and things like that. I don't want to overwhelm them, or they will just turn a deaf ear to everything I say. A couple of the younger guys are really interested and i'd really like to help them make sense of it.
You must realize this is a group of strictly mechanics who've had no electrical training whatsoever, let alone plc training. Can you guys give me some advice on what you'd suggest would be good starters for teaching guys to look at inputs and outputs.

thanks
Tom

Hello Patriot,

It just so happens that I am a diesel mechanic by trade that is very involved with PLC's. Maybe I can help.

Could you explain more about "using PLC's as a troubleshooting tool"? What type of machines are they? Are they troubleshooting the PLC's or the machines that use PLC's? What brand PLC? One way to approach it is to use the I/O indicator whether it is a light or display as a testlight. Instead of poking around with a test light you just watch for inputs or outputs to register. This means that they will have to understand addressing first which should be linked to the schematics for the machine.

Get back to me concerning the questions. I'll do my best to help.

I don't care how good they say they are at typing... make sure they put one hand in their back pocket. The other hand should use one, and ONLY ONE, finger.

Find out which hand they prefer to use and cut off all fingers on that hand except for the index finger... and cut off the thumb of course. (You might consider cutting off the unpreferred hand - in this respect, they only need one finger, or perhaps, only one thumb.)

Actually, you might leave only the smallest finger... whichever finger (or possibly the thumb) that is the smallest in diameter. I know a lot of mechanics that can't possibly press one, and only one, key.

But seriously, this is a very good question. I'll think on it.

How many PLCs are we talking about training them for? Are they hooked into a network?

I looked a doing this a few years ago and, no offense, found while some people have great mechanical skills they don't need to be able to get into the PLC programing software.

But, one thing I did find that all of them had in common was that they knew how to use the internet. Most of our machines were accessible through our network, so we developed diagnostics web pages to they could easily figure out what was wrong with the machines just by knowing how to use Internet Explorer

TW...

What's wrong with using the Operator Interface to indicate conditional status?

If a problem occurs, or someone tries to do something in manual and it can't happen, have a screen "pop-up" that indicates the problem, or the current status of the conditions related to the attempted manual operation.

As in...
The process has faulted because...
-OR-
You can't do this because...

It's easy to get screens to "pop-up".

Hi Kyle,

To elaborate a little on your response, I work in a plant that is attempting to come into the modern era(kicking and screaming). Our electricians and mechanics are still separate departments and "never the two shall cross", so to speak. There are a lot of 20 and 25 year guys(on both sides) who view my task with resentment and all sorts of other negative emotions. My project is a little experiment, and if I can, I want to make it ONE department.........EVENTUALLY. I don't expect it overnight, just a little at a time, that's why I don't want to anger or alienate some.
As for the mechanics, it's strictly as a troubleshooting tool. Just to trace the problem. The dedicated electricians still do the PLC work, but this is an attempt to help educate some of our mechanics in troubleshooting newer equipment.

Terry Woods said:

TW...

What's wrong with using the Operator Interface to indicate conditional status?

If a problem occurs, or someone tries to do something in manual and it can't happen, have a screen "pop-up" that indicates the problem, or the current status of the conditions related to the attempted manual operation.

As in...
The process has faulted because...
-OR-
You can't do this because...

It's easy to get screens to "pop-up".

Click to expand...

Not all of our machines have operator interfaces, the ones that have operator interfaces do have diagnostics screens

I would say the need to connect to a PLC for troubleshooting purposes would greater for those machines without operator interfaces

Hi Patriot,

When you mentioned mechanics I was picturing equipment that I work on, i.e., highway construction equipment with PLC controls. Since you are in manufacturing it would probably be best for me to bow out as there are guys in this forum who know alot more than I do about this topic and your particular environment than I do.

Good Luck.

Kyle

Hi Kyle,


Yeah, this is primarily printing equipment, with a lot of packaging equipment. PLC brands such as AB, GE and Siemens are the most common.

Our highway milling machines come from Germany with Inter Control PLC's from the factory. I "supplement" with AB Micrologix 1200's to make the machines act the way we want them to. The program in the Inter Control cannot be edited.

Without knowing much about your system, I would think that teaching them addressing and interpreting I/O indicators would be a good place to start (I thought I was going to bow out). Well this time I mean it. Good Luck.