Converting PLC2 to SLC5/04

mwatkins

Member
Join Date
Jun 2002
Posts
73
I have been given a project to change out a PLC2 (I never programmed a PLC2) to a SLC5/04. Where can I find definitions for the instructions used in a PLC2. I don't have the software for the PLC2.
Example FWM (file to word move) and SQO (sequencer output). Which SLC instrunction should I replace these with.
Thanks for any help given.
 
I couldnt locate the PLC2 instruction reference but I think the PLC5 is real similar and has the info to explain the differences. With this and the Instruction reference for the SLC 500 you should be able to make a list of the commands (SQO etc ) and find the equivalent or what to use to create the same effect.
PLC 5 Instruction SET Reference

SLC 500 Instruction Set Reference

Also in the Knowledgebase is a document on converting from PLC2 to PLC5
http://domino.automation.rockwell.com/Applications/kb/kb.nsf/0701b46627a068a4852565db0056d5af/0fd9494436005279852566330051f7a8?OpenDocument

This will not be a simple task, it will take time.
 
Is this a BIGGGGGG project? If so you might want to go to:

www.software.rockwell.com/download/corporate/swc/swc98_3/38-44.pdf

and take a look at part number 9313-L5225D. (Price tag is in the range of $1500). This is a conversion utility to go from PLC-2 to PLC-5. Of course you eventually want to end up with a program for an SLC-5/04 but ... I think most people will agree that the PLC-5 is a lot closer to an SLC-5/04 ... than a PLC-2 is to an SLC-5/04. Making that assumption, you might consider the following plan of attack:

suppose you went (with the utility) from PLC-2 to PLC-5 ...
then opened the PLC-5 file with RSLogix5 ...
then cut and pasted the rungs from RSLogix5 to RSLogix500 ...
and then Searched and Replaced the PLC-5 addresses with SLC-5/04 addresses ...
then maybe you'd end up with something close to right.

You'd still have some major debugging to do, but for a BIGGGGGGG enough project, jumping through all these hoops might still be the way to go. I look forward to reading some of the various opinions which I'm sure will be posted on this.

Disclaimer: I've never done it myself but once I watched someone convert a PLC-2 program to one for a PLC-5. It wasn't a pretty picture. Even with the conversion utility there was quite a bit of debugging to do. About half a day for a relatively short, simple program. Further disclaimer: I've never personally worked with a PLC-2 at all so take everything I say with more than one grain of salt.

Of course if yours is a short program, you'd probably come out easier (and cheaper) by just converting the code yourself. And on that score: you say you don't have the PLC-2 software available. If you're going to be converting things like SQO's think about this: the SQO makes use of bit patterns which have been stored in the data table files. If all you have is (I assume) a printout of the ladders, you could be in real trouble here. You're going to need those bit patterns to get the SQO to work right. This is just one example. There are, of course, many other reasons why you'd want to have the PLC-2 software available as you work through this project.

And, since you're wondering ... if there's a conversion from PLC-2 to SLC-5/04, I've never heard of it.

Finally, rsdoran is right when he says: "This will not be a simple task, it will take time." You didn't volunteer for this project did you?

Best of luck.
 
Thanks for the reply's. I am doing the conversion manually, it is only about 1200 lines of code so not to big. All I have is the hard copy print out for now. I will have acess to the software and program once I get to the customer who is wanting this done.
No I didn't volunteer, I got volunteered when my boss accepted the job.
Thanks again.
 
I've done some conversions (but not PLC-2 to SLC). But I can offer you these tips:

If at all possible, before you convert, assign PLC addresses that will correspond to the PLC-2 address. An easy scheme would be:
N10:0-99 = 000 - 099, N11:0-99 = 100-199, etc.

Assign symbol names to each register. Since you can't start a symbol with a number, use something like X### for words and X##### for bits. When you enter you code, use the symbol name, rather than the 'real' address

When you come to timers and countes, remember that the single address shown is for the ACC word. The DN, EN, etc bits are part of that word. The .PRE is 100 words up from that address. Since you will have to use a T4 address with a timer, instead of N10 address, change the symbol X### to be the T4 addresses of the .PRE, .ACC, and .DN. This way, when you run across them in your program, since you enter them by symbol, they go to the correct addresses automatically.

You can view the code using symbols instead of addresses, and it should look almost the same as your PLC-2 code. This helpsy you debug the code by visual inspection, which helps eliminate typos introduced in the conversion process.

Read the Programming and Operations manual very carefully, and understand what each function does. Don't worry about having a single instruction that's equivalent - if you understand what it does, you can write a block of code that does the same.

When converting from a GE Series Six to a SLC, for example, the SUB instruction is often used as a Greater than or Equal to function as well. I didn't try analyzing each case to see if it was being used that way, I just kept the SUB, and branched around with a GEQ.

After the code is in and functional, then you can clean it up.

Beleive me, it will look ugly.

Good luck
 
This manual (cat. # 1772-LZ,LZP,LX,LXP,LW,LWP) is available on the
A-B site and is downloadable, I believe. This manual has all the instructions for PLC2-02 / 2-16 / 2-17. My company still uses alot of PLC-2's, and the instructuions, even the "high level" ones in PLC-2, are still pretty basic.
On the plus side, when the conversion is over, the new program should be alot shorter and easier to understand. No more "get,puts" for word manipulation, etc.
It should be alot of fun!! Please, keep us posted on the results.
Since I am a newbie, I'll take this time to comment on what a great site this is! Excellent reading, thanks.
 
Lots of quirky differences to be aware of for a person familiar with the SLC 5/04 when reading their first PLC2 program!

The PLC2 data table is one lump with some variable de-facto boundaries. No separate areas for timers, integers, etc. All addressing is in octal. All numbers are 3-digit BCD. Words 0-7 and 100-107 can't be used. A PLC2 'file' is just a group of consecutive words anywhere in the data table.
Example FWM (file to word move) and SQO (sequencer output). Which SLC instrunction should I replace these with.
FWM - the counter accumulator in the instruction is an offset from the beginning of the 'file'. The word at that offset will be moved to the destination word for every scan that the rung is true. Replace with a MOV with indirectly addressed source.

SQO - this has been talked to death here - check the other threads. Note that the PLC2's SQO could be up to 4 words wide, whereas the SLC's SQO only operates on single words.
 

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