Upgrading ControlLogix Advice.

I have a large process running. 4 ControlLogix Processors, multiple remote I/O Racks, 3 or 4 devicenet bridges, all communicating through ControlNET.

We have a subscription to AB's Direct Connect service, and get software upgrades as they come out. Right now everything is running on RSLogix ver 12. We have ver 15, but didn't find it necessary to upgrade everything.

Is there any real benifit to upgrading to ver 15, or should we just use the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach? I've read that the newest CNB Modules (Series E I think) don't accept version 12. If anything bad happened to one of our CNB Modules, would we be forced to upgrade?

Just looking for thoughts.

The reason for upgrade is to use new features.

If you don't need new features then keep ver 12

BTW, CNB/E works without any problems with ver 12 as well as any other non-redundand controllers.

I agree. We have a number of ControlLogix in our facility and we upgraded ours to V15 during our annual shutdown. V12 was a very stable release, so unless you need the functionality or fixes in V15, there is no reason to upgrade. To help you decide this, read through the release notes include with the software.

I have found huge benefits (functionality) in upgrading. With 4 processors on site you should have a spare. So flash the spare to version 15, copy the logic into it using your spare rack (hopefully you have spare racks and power supplies) then during a downtime swap a version 12 processor for the version 15. Put the version 12 in the spare rack to stop battery drain. Run the system for a few days till you are confident everything is OK then repeat the process with another version 12 processor. If something fails you always have the original version 12 which can be slotted straight back in. (you may lose some production data) I found this a virtually failproof way to upgrade.
Regards Alan Case

Tharon.
I have always upgraded (from V2.27 onwards) and have usually seen benefits but there are some things to watch if you are going from V12 to V15. V15 no longer supports the original Control Logix processors so if you have any older equipment I would check re compatibility before attempting to upgrade. Even if you decide not to upgrade the existing systems you are likely to need the newer version as you install new hardware but you can always have both versions of RS Logix 5000 installed on the same computer.
Andybr

carefully!!!!!

Some firmware & hardware series not supported in ver15. check the compatability to the current series& revisions with Ver 15.

For Ex:-
No support for CLX 5550 controller in ver 15

Online editing of UDT's is reason enough for me.

I only know the basics of RSLogix5000. What are UDTs?

Tharon said:

I only know the basics of RSLogix5000. What are UDTs?

Click to expand...

User Defined Tags - one of the best features of ControlLogix IMO.

Oh! So with Version 15, when I create a tag in ControlLogix, I can change its type without having to delete it and remake it?

PS. Not knowing proper terminology sucks when you talk with other people... you don't know what they mean, but then realize that maybe you do after it's explained

You can edit the UDT online, change it, delete it, but only if you don't have any of that UDT declared anywhere in the program.

So, if I were to make a UDT that was a 10 word long array, I could change the array to 15 words while online, as long as it wasn't used anywhere in the program?

Is this specific to ver 15? Or has it always been like this?

Sorry for asking simple things I could find out on my own, but I'm not at work now and don't have 5000 at home.

its from ver 15 only

Tharon said:

So, if I were to make a UDT that was a 10 word long array, I could change the array to 15 words while online, as long as it wasn't used anywhere in the program?

Is this specific to ver 15? Or has it always been like this?

Sorry for asking simple things I could find out on my own, but I'm not at work now and don't have 5000 at home.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you can change array dimensions on the fly.

I'll plug it in tomorrow & let you know.

You can't. We are getting a little confused here. A UDT is a User Defined Type, not a user defined tag.

A Timer is a Pre-Defined data type, a DINT is a pre-defined data type. A UDT is where you can create your own data type.

When you create a tag, you identify what type of data will be stored in that tag. An array is where you create a bunch of similar tags (all the same type of data).

You cannot edit the length of an array online in any version (so far). If the array is 10 elements then the only way to change it to 15 would be to go offline. To my understanding, this has to do with how the memory is allocated in the memory of the controller. The memory in the array needs to be in contiguous locations. Expanding the array would require memory to be shifted around to keep it contiguous. This can not be done (yet) while the processor executes logic that effects that memory.

This is why you can create new arrays, since they fit into new, unallocated memory. This is also why you cannot change a tag type online. But you can delete it (if it is unused) and then recreate it as the right type.

OG