Bought a Micrologix 1500, so now what...

I got my Micrologix 1500 today. LSP processor, MM1 memory module, 24BWA base unit.

I've been playing with making timers, flashers, and other things from www.contactandcoil.com and his PLC pattern tutorials.

So what should I hook up first? Any kind of suggestions, webpage, or book that you can think of with labs would be great. I've got plenty of pushbuttons, switches, pilot lights, and other things laying around to use for i/o.

I know I'm just a tech, and I should be learning troubleshooting, but I really want to learn to program from scratch. I've made edits to programs in my mill but this is a chance to really dive in without worrying about damaging equipment or getting anyone killed. I can't afford to take off time for week long classes, but I've got lots of time to kill and a perfectly good PLC to mess with.

Thanks in advance!

Jasondelane said:

So what should I hook up first? Any kind of suggestions, webpage, or book that you can think of with labs would be great. I've got plenty of pushbuttons, switches, pilot lights, and other things laying around to use for i/o.

Click to expand...

EVERYTHING... the world is yours just go get it

You need..
Start
Stop
input digital
input analog if you have any
output digital
output analog if you have any
switch
something that will switch on its own

Do you have anything that will move? motor/gear box etc, maybe something that will heat up if you have analog... keep a fire extinguisher handy and make sure unplug everything before you call it a night (been there done that)

Then once you have it wired up... have someone give you a task, example: turn on the motor for 10 sec then shut off and turn on the red light and have the green light on when the motor is running, once the smoke detector goes off flash all lights until the fire is out

What I still do is look around the world, see something operating & say to myself "I wonder if I can program that?"

Then I get one of the PLC's I have collected & write the program for the learning experience.

Garage door opener.

another idea ... this one is cheap - but very flexible ...

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?p=23328&postcount=10

.