AB PowerFlex400, 40, and 70 comm. to SLC5/03 DH485?

Can anyone please advise me about the least expensive and most logical way to interface (3)-Allen Bradley PowerFlex 40, (1)-400 and (1)-70 drives to my SLC 5/03 PLC DH485 network?

The 3 ABPF40 drives are about 1200' away and the other two within 30'.

Thanks for any assistance you might have.

Protocol vs. Signalling, Round 42

You won't get the drives directly onto the DH-485 network. Even though each drive has an interface option that includes an RS-485 electrical interface, none of them support the DH-485 network protocol.

If it were my system, I'd spring for a Prosoft MVI46-MCM module and equip the PowerFlex 70 with an RS-485 Modbus RTU protocol interface (20-COMM-H). The PowerFlex 40 and 400 already support Modbus RTU natively through their "DSI" serial port.

Use one MVI46-MCM port to connect to the three far-away drives and the other to connect to the nearby ones. Configure both ports as Modbus RTU Masters, define the polled registers in the Master Transactions table, and you're in business.

If time and trouble are valuable to you, then the Prosoft card will save you more than enough of both to justify the hardware purchase.

Thanks for your reply Ken. I was wondering if using the ProSoft RTU-5/03 might be an option? Would I be able to parallel or slave my Flex 40 drives? I have a PV600 DH485 terminal to connect also. What would I use for my online programming port?

The Prosoft RTU-5/03 implements only Modbus RTU Slave on the Channel 0 serial port of the controller. You need a Modbus RTU Master port.

You can connect your DH485-protocol PanelView (it's always best to post the part number) to the Channel 1 DH485 network port of the SLC-5/03.

Use the Channel 0 serial port of the SLC-5/03 in DF1 Full Duplex mode to perform upload/download/monitoring/editing of the SLC program.

Install a Prosoft MVI46-MCM module as described above to act as a Modbus RTU Master to the PowerFlex drives.