slc 5/03

I have an industrial customer who has a machine which uses the slc 5/03 to control the machine. I was asked to troubleshoot the machine to determine why filler#2 turns on when filler#1 is turned on. Each filler has separate on/off controls thru the touch screen. After tracing out the wires that energize the individual contactors for the fillers I discovered someone had placed both wires that energize the individual contactors under the same screw on the 1746-ob16 output board. The wires are tagged 608 and 613 but both are under the #13 output on the card thus both contactors energize at the same time. Also, the #08 output card led does not turn on when filler2 is turned on via the touch screen.

Long story I know but bear with me. So my initial thought was the #8 output had died and the quick fix was to energize both contactors via the #13 output. The customer wants to control the fillers independantly. Is there any way to determine if the #8 output has died ? The ladder logic drawings for this machine are missing a couple of pages one of which would show the output card wiring. I have the drawings for the input cards, not the output cards.

Second, it's been a LONG time (over 8 years) since I had any training on the AB plc's. I would like to download a copy of the programming in this machine to my laptop. What would I need to accomplish this ?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Good troubleshooting work so far.

The LED array and the physical output circuit are independent, so because the #8 output is not coming on, it's not being commanded to come on in the program. You would need to go online and Force it on or poke a 1 into the output image table to test its functionality.

This makes me think the program as well as the wiring have been changed.

To upload this program, you need RSLogix 500 software and the RSLinx communication package. RSLinx Lite is free, and you need at least the Starter version of RSLogix 500, which is about $600.

If you can find a copy of the program file (extension *.RSS) you can post it here and folks can print it out so you can find out if the program comments are present and useful.

Thanks for the response. Are you saying that #8 output LED would still turn on regardless if the #8 output transistor is blown ?

The only way I see getting a copy of the programming is if I download it from the PLC. There are no disks with the machine. The customer was having a problem with the temperature differential on three sealing arms. They are basically heaters that seal the bags. They were getting temperature swings of 20F. They called the manufacturer to have someone come out and reduce the temperature differential in the programming. After two phone calls with no return call from the manufacturer the customer gave up and had me install three process controllers to control the sealing arms. This project led to the troubleshooting call. If I can get trained to work on the PLC's I could pick up more work from this customer.

Thanks for the response. Are you saying that #8 output LED would still turn on regardless if the #8 output transistor is blown ?

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Yes the LED can be on when you do not have a output... I have also seen a ghost voltage when the LED is not on

This project led to the troubleshooting call. If I can get trained to work on the PLC's I could pick up more work from this customer.

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See this thread http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=33740 if you want to start exploring PLC's, you can not use the RSLogix on that PLC, you need the starter version as Ken said it will also come with the RSLinx lite but you can use the free version to start learning....