Hello,
We are using a Siemens 315-DP2 PLC with a CP342-5 communications processor, Intouch version 9.5 SP1 and a Woodhead DRL-MPI communications card on a Dell Optiplex 320 PC running XP. We are using the same configurations on this machine as 4 other machines that were delivered in the past. Surely the CP342-5 firmware has changed over the past few years as well as the 315-DP2 PLC firmware as well but the configuration and software inside the PLC and Intouch as well as the communication card are all the same. We have a problem with communication errors from the Woodhead DRL-MPI comm card this time.
Here is how the application runs:
We have a text file editor that we use for recipes and because of tag limitations in Intouch, indirect tags were used in Intouch in order to move a lot of recipe information to only a few tags and then pass that onto the PLC. There can be as much as 1000 tags of information moved at one time from Intouch to the PLC. In Intouch we are using condition scripts to convert the text file into usable information that the PLC can use. These condition scripts are "while running" scripts and set for 2 second updates. In the earlier machines, we had no problem with the information getting from Intouch to the PLC and the communication card did not give any comm errors. In this machine we cannot pass the information from Intouch to the PLC unless we change the "while running" script time in Intouch from 2 to 4 seconds. If we use 2 seconds we get timeout errors on the comm card. Also we extended the timeout error time in the comm card and this stopped but when I check in the PLC the information takes sometimes longer than 30 seconds to get to the PLC. We are using DP on the CP342-5 comm card and 1.5 mbps baud rate like in earlier machines. We have replaced the CP342-5 card and the profibus cabling, connectors, etc and this problem will not disappear. Due to tagname limitations we have to use these indirect tags in Intouch for the time being. The application was designed by a previous engineer so I am trying to find out how to troubleshoot this problem and what tools I can use to find the problem. I also want to know if someone has other recipe editors that we could use to make the system work a different way. The problem is that this machine is used in clean room applications where the process needs to be edited frequently by chemists so the operators are not allowed to make the recipes. The main reason they went with the text editor was so that the chemists can make a recipe on any computer and then dump it onto the pc running Intouch and then anyone can make a recipe to be used on several machines. I would like to know if anyone has done this in another way or are there recipe systems out there that could work with Intouch in this manner.
Thanks for your help!
PK
We are using a Siemens 315-DP2 PLC with a CP342-5 communications processor, Intouch version 9.5 SP1 and a Woodhead DRL-MPI communications card on a Dell Optiplex 320 PC running XP. We are using the same configurations on this machine as 4 other machines that were delivered in the past. Surely the CP342-5 firmware has changed over the past few years as well as the 315-DP2 PLC firmware as well but the configuration and software inside the PLC and Intouch as well as the communication card are all the same. We have a problem with communication errors from the Woodhead DRL-MPI comm card this time.
Here is how the application runs:
We have a text file editor that we use for recipes and because of tag limitations in Intouch, indirect tags were used in Intouch in order to move a lot of recipe information to only a few tags and then pass that onto the PLC. There can be as much as 1000 tags of information moved at one time from Intouch to the PLC. In Intouch we are using condition scripts to convert the text file into usable information that the PLC can use. These condition scripts are "while running" scripts and set for 2 second updates. In the earlier machines, we had no problem with the information getting from Intouch to the PLC and the communication card did not give any comm errors. In this machine we cannot pass the information from Intouch to the PLC unless we change the "while running" script time in Intouch from 2 to 4 seconds. If we use 2 seconds we get timeout errors on the comm card. Also we extended the timeout error time in the comm card and this stopped but when I check in the PLC the information takes sometimes longer than 30 seconds to get to the PLC. We are using DP on the CP342-5 comm card and 1.5 mbps baud rate like in earlier machines. We have replaced the CP342-5 card and the profibus cabling, connectors, etc and this problem will not disappear. Due to tagname limitations we have to use these indirect tags in Intouch for the time being. The application was designed by a previous engineer so I am trying to find out how to troubleshoot this problem and what tools I can use to find the problem. I also want to know if someone has other recipe editors that we could use to make the system work a different way. The problem is that this machine is used in clean room applications where the process needs to be edited frequently by chemists so the operators are not allowed to make the recipes. The main reason they went with the text editor was so that the chemists can make a recipe on any computer and then dump it onto the pc running Intouch and then anyone can make a recipe to be used on several machines. I would like to know if anyone has done this in another way or are there recipe systems out there that could work with Intouch in this manner.
Thanks for your help!
PK
