SLC Firmware

I have an older SLC 5/05 and discovered that to use all of the Ethernet/IP capabilities, I have to upgrade the firmware. Much to my suprise, it appears that I have to purchase a firmware upgrade kit. I seem to recall that you could download the firmware from the web site. Am I mistaken?

You may be able to with controllogix, but SLC firmware is upgraded via an EPROM. IIRC, you do have to buy it. You can upgrade more than one processor with the kit, though.

SLC-500 and PLC-5 controllers all have chargeable firmware upgrade kits.

MicroLogix firmware upgrades are downloadable at no charge.

ControlLogix firmware upgrades are downloadable if you have a valid Tech Connect contract.

In your case, the SLC-5/05 does use the ControlFlash utility, so you don't need a physical EEPROM plug to perform the upgrade.

The general principle is that new features are an increased function, and thus are a chargeable item. SLC firmware kits can update an unlimited number of CPU's.

Your local Rockwell distributor or field office might be able to help you perform this upgrade if it's part of a larger effort.

Can I ask a dumb question?

I'm going to anyway! What capabilities are you looking to get?

Not a dumb question!

A couple of things, that really may or may not be worth the effort ....

Web page capability, using Ethernet/IP Flex I/O, and RSLinx and RSNetWorx browsing capability. You can use the old ethernet driver but then you have to enter all of the IP addresses.

I guess I was just surprised that I have to pay above and beyond the cost of the PLC and programming software to get some new functionality. Perhaps this is another means by AB to push people towards controllogix.

I think you may have been mislead. The SLC 5/05 will not be able to use the Ethernet/IP Flex I/O as an I/O connection. If you can use it at all it will have to be with message statements. You can use the updated SLC to communicate with drives, but again, it will be with message statements and not a Ethernet/IP Class 1 I/O connection. This is a VERY big issue and gets misunderstood by the salesmen quite a bit.

The SLC does support Ethernet/IP (CIP), but for messaging only and the additional capabilities also allow it to support multihop messages where it can route thorough a ControlLogix gateway (hop from ethernet to DH+, etc).

I am sure that if I have mis-stated anything Ken can straighten it out.

Darren

Thank you very much for the information! I was not aware of SLC Ethernet I/O limitation. This actually may make me reconsider the use of this PLC for my application. I have used a SLC for distributed I/O using remote I/O and I guess assumed that it would work with Ethernet I/O in a similar manner.

If you do go to the ControlLogix family you may want to look at the L35E or the L32E. These will save you around $2K over a full 1756 ControlLogix, but to our company we are usually much better off in the long run with the full ControlLogix. Customers usually are amazed at the flexibility of the CLX and usually start wanting to use the additional communications features of the CLX. This is especially true if they have older DH+ or RIO networks in place. Also if the customer has HART or Profibus, these can also be supported easily with Spectrum and Prosoft modules.

Also, you will want to carefully look at the network layout you are interested in. If it is just a single remote rack and an HMI then you can most likely use a standard 100Mb non-managed switch, but if you are planning on having lots of I/O in the future and several HMIs you should consider a managed switch with the features that Rockwell recomends. I do not remember the part number right now, but Cisco offers a nice industrial rated switch with 12 10/100 copper ports and you can add a 1Gb fiber uplink port. Also to consider are the N-Tron, Hirshman and Phoenix brands. I have had good experience with Cisco tech support for standard office protocols, but I have no idea on how well they are at supporting industrial installations. N-Tron has great tech support for the industrial stuff and the engineers are familiar with the ControlLogix and the Ethernet/IP (CIP) protocol.

Anyway I am sure there are other people here that can list what they have had good experience with.

Darren

Thanks for the info.

Do you (or anybody else) have any experience with using ControlLogix with either SLC(1747) or PLC5 (1771) I/O? Our big issue is downtime. We would like to get the benefits of using ControlLogix (function block programming, real tags, etc.) without rewiring our panels, at least initially. I guess that limits the network choices to AB Remote I/O or ControlNet. I have used Profibus with Siemens PLCs but never tried using the SST or ProSoft scanners.

Thanks,
Pete

I have used 1771 I/O on RIO and ControlNet. Works well. Have also used 1747 on RIO, but not ControlNet. Also works well.

Darren

Look here for good info on planning an EtherNet/IP network.

http://www.ab.com/networks/site-index.html