Trying to connect to an AB Ultra3000i using Devicenet

Hi, I am trying to connect to an AB 3000i servo drive through an SLC 5/04 using a 1784-U2DHP USB to DH+ converter. The servo drive is connected to a devicenet card. This is my first time using devicenet. The reason I am trying to connect to the drive is I have to replace it. I was told by one of our engineers that I can put the new drive in, connect to it with devicenet through the PLC and doenload the perameters into it from the machine files we have on our network. Long story short I am trying to connect to the existing drive so I know when I put the new drive in I will only have to have the machine down for a short time. Thank you. Sorry it is so long winded just wanted to give as much detail as I could.

Your first step is to configure the '1747-SDNPT' driver in RSLinx Classic. This will allow you to communicate from the DH+ connection, through the SLC-5/04 controller and the 1747-SDN DeviceNet Scanner, to the Ultra 3000i.

There are several minimum requirements for the firmware version of the 1747-SDN, the configuration of the 1747-SDN in RSLogix 500, and the operating system and version of RSLinx Classic software. Frankly, it's not easy if you're a beginner.

The Ultra 3000i can be configured entirely using RSNetworx for DeviceNet software, which has project files with a *.DNT extension. Are these what you have ?

It can also be configured using Ultraware software, using the serial port on the Ultra 3000i. Do you have that software ?


If we take a step back: Why do you have to replace this drive ? Is it still powered up and communicating on the network ?

If you're just replacing the drive and have little or no experience with DeviceNet, then using Ultraware to transfer the parameters would be much easier. Using passthrough on the SLC to establish a DeviceNet PC connection is slow and temperamental in my experience. A dedicated USB adapter like the 1784-U2DN makes a world of difference.

Ultraware is a free download from Rockwell (I think) and if you don't have the official 2090-UXPC-D09xx serial cable you can get by with a null modem cable and a male-male gender changer. I'm fairly certain that all the DeviceNet parameters are transferred as well with this method.

We can provide more detailed instructions if you decide to go this route.

Thank you for the replies.
Ken, I do have a .dnt file to download to it. I have ultraware but I don't think I have the cable for the drive serial port. I think I have the driver configured correctly because I can connect to the PLC using the 1747-U2DHP but It does not see the drives.
The reason for replacement is position problems. In the beginning of the cycle there is a touch off and the position of the touch off is recorded. This position is fluctuates by .200". This machine has two identical stations. After swapping station one and two motors the problem did not move. I swapped the drives and the problem followed the drive.
As far as experience level I am a beginner with devicenet but intermediate with RSlogix and RSlinx. Thanks

bump

The 1747-SDNPT driver has to be configured in RSLinx Classic as a standalone driver. It depends on another connection to the SLC (like the DH+ connection) but it is a separate entry in the driver list.

It's not like ControlLogix where you start with the upper-level network and then "drill down" through CIP routing.

The 1747-SDNPT driver might not even be available on your version of RSLinx and your Windows OS... it doesn't work with 64-bit operating systems, for example.

Have you tried creating a 1747-SDNPT driver in RSLinx ? If you have the SDN modules properly configured in RSLogix, they'll show up as selectable to participate in a 1747-SDNPT driver.

I don't have all the firmware revisions, G-file sizes, and other details necessary to configure the SDNPT driver at my fingertips... I'm sure they're in the RA Knowledgebase.

Based on your description of the problem, it sounds to me like a configuration issue, rather than a hardware issue, so replacing the controller but copying all the parameters over to a new one is unlikely to solve the problem. At least it will give you another data point so you can narrow down the problem to a particular setting or particular feature.

Thanks Ken

It looks like the 1747-SDNPT driver is not available in my RSlinx version.
Ken, you could be right about it possibly being a configuration issue because this is probably the original config. It does not affect the operation of the machine but a quality engineer noticed it while doing some data collection. This problem may have been there all the long.
I will have to try to get a serial cable to hook up directly.