Pont i/o trouble

Hello all.
I am having an issue with a Point I/O modual and I am hoping somebody can help. This modual was working fine and has been running for a few years now. Over the past few months it has faulted before with a point bus flashing red LED. I would cycle the power and all is well. Well now it is flashing the Network Status LED as soon as it starts up and susequently flashes the Point Bus LED after a timeout with no connections made. The troubleshooting guide for the unit states that the recomended action for the flashing Network Status is "none". RA Support says to replace the modual. I am just looking for another opinion on this. The unit is connected to my Ethernet through a couple Ethernet extenders over an old copper pair phone line. and then to my network switch. I have verified through IT that my port is configured properly and I have verified continuity through the wiring to the controller. The controller is a 1734-AENT. It is monitored through a soft logix station on a dedicated PC where I can only see yellow triangles on my project tree for this modual. Also when I try to PING the I.P. I get request timed out. Just looking for another opinion before I buy a new controller. Thanks in advance for any assistance offered!

Have you by-passed your old network cable with a different cable and try to ping it and see if it is recognized by RSLinx? Eliminate everything in-between, if you still have a problem replace the module.

The "old phone line" has me a bit concerned.

As far as the Pointbus Light flashing, this is indicative a problem with the AENT communicating with the modules themselves. The Point I/O communication bus is actually a miniature Devicenet network. I've found the most common errors on Point Bus are caused either by improper setup (not specifying the number of cards for it to look for), which is unlikely due to the fact that this was running; or it's caused by corrosion on the wiring terminals interrupting the Devicenet signal. The very first thing I would do inspect each I/O card and wiring base for corrosion. No need to unwire anything, just pop off each card, look at it, and put it back if it looks okay. It probably won't solve the problem your having, but it only costs time and no material to make sure.

I agree with Paully's5.0. You're trying to use an industrial communications protocol over cables that may or may not be up to the task. A bit of corrosion on a wire could cause wave reflection and noise that a simple continuity test won't pick up.

I would grab a laptop and a crossover cable. Disconnect the AENT from the network, plug in your laptop and set it to the same subnet as the module. If you can ping it directly from your laptop, there is a problem with your network infrastructure. If you can't, then the module definitely needs to be replaced.

Tahnks for the help. Guys. I have been able to determine the cable is indeed bad. Once connected directly to the unit with my laptop and crossover cable I was able to ping and make it visible on LINX Now the difficult task of trying to get a piece of cat5 out to this old remote building. Or maby ill look into some wireless technology. Have to see what the boss man will let me spend. thank again for the help.

Hey guys.
Just thinkin about something here and wondered if you may be able to answer my question.
After I connected to my point I/O and made it visible in LINX, why is it that my network status light is still flashing? will this flash until its actually communicating with the PLC?

Yes, the NET LED flashes green if there is no logical I/O connection established to a controller, or if the controller is in PROG mode. With your PC connected it's talking to the PC for configuration and monitoring, but there's no I/O connection until you get it reconnected to the SoftLogix.

I'm a big fan of Ubiquiti wireless hardware for campus infrastructure: high-power, very stable, and inexpensive.

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at this wireless equipment.

We have AB Make PLC System for our Boiler
Compact Logix CPU. It has a AENT1734 Module. After one Yr. of
Installation of this system we are facing Problem in above mentioned
Module. It's last red Indication Starts Blinking CPU remain in healthy
condition. But due to no communication Between I/O cards & CPU,
Operator Station gets Hanged Up. i.e. Operator can not perform any
operations. We Reset the Power supply of the system, wait for few
min.s & then restart the system. Boiler gets shutdown for this
period(Production Loss). Initially we found that It's temp. was rising
high. We provided External cooling Fan for It.the frequency of this
fault reduces from 10 Hr.s to 1 month. but still this card some time
goes in Fault mode & trips the plant.
Pl. help us in understanding & solving this
problem. As mentioned Temp. rise was one of the problem & we avoided
the same, Temp Now is Normal & is @ 25 °C.
Point BUs Module i.e. Las LED goes to RED flashing mode.Following is our System Configuration



11769-L23E-QB1BCompactLogix L2x Controller, 1 serial port, 1 EtherNet/IP port,
512KB memory, 16 DC in, 16 DC out,up to 3 1769 I/O expansion
modules or 1769 Communication modules121734-AENT1734 EtherNet/IP Adapter131734-IB824V DC 8-Point Sink Input Module541734-OB824V DC 8-Point Source Output Module151734-IE8C8-Channel High-Density Analog Current Input Module761734-OE4C4-Point Analog Current Output Module571734-EP24DC24V DC Expansion Power Module181734-TBSMODULE BASE W/ REMOVABLE IEC SCREW TERMINALS
(PRICED PER PIECE, SOLD IN LOTS OF 10)209------10" PANEL VIEW HMI1101783-US08TStratix 2000 Switch, Unmanaged, 8 Copper Ports1
Can any one of following may be the problem
1. Excess current drawn by the modules
2.Heat transferred by the other modiles to this module
3. Dust inside the module.
4. Firmware Bug...