which plc should I buy ?

hello everyone .
I have a few basic questions on where to start at this moment . I purchased a roofing forming machine but I failed to get the controler with it . Probably got thrown away . Now I'm looking at building a controler for it .
Im looking at a few plc's but to be honest I'm stumbling in the dark . I know I need a encoder to measure the spool so I can corectly Cut lengths .

The machine has only two motors and a air fired shear . Both motors are 220v 3phase and run off a nema 1 contactor and the control circuit it 110v . not sure on the sheer seloniod atm I can look it up .

I'm looking to be able to adjust lengths and have the plc stop both motors and fire the sheer and restart and continue in a loop . For the desired amount of sheets .
I found a few plc' but when it comes to finding a encoder and being able to know if it's compatible I'm lost .

I Plan on trying to do this myself so I can learn it .
Any help would be greatly appreciated .

Sorry for the bad Grammer in advance .

Hi and Welcome to the forum,
The most common PLC brand in the USA is Allen Bradley. I am also partial to AB myself.

This sounds like a good project for the MicroLogix 1100 PLC. They run about $700. The BWA models have high speed inputs for the encoder and relay outputs for the motor run and shear solenoid. The software to program it is a free download.

I would also look at adding a HMI to the system. That way you can enter different lengths into the PLC and monitor the system for errors and performance. I am partial to the Red Lion HMIs myself and they work well with th AB product.

I don't know what kind of experience you have in controls engineering but you may want to consider having the panel built at a UL508 panel shop. It will get done properly and you will get help starting up you machine safely. I have never been to Hawaii. Hint hint

Thanks for the info . So if I were to have a ul shop put it together for me what kind of rough figure would I be looking at ?

And I'm pretty new to the programing side .My father is a retired electical engineer so he taught me here and there. But I'm no expert .

Hawaii is a great place to come vacation

As a first PLC, I would start with a Micro800, the software is free and the PLC is "inexpensive", less than 1/2 the price of a ML1100.

But the best advice I always give on brand preference is to talk to people doing things like controls near you and see which LOCAL suppliers are good, then use what they have. If you get in trouble, a LOCAL guy who can help you is better than an 800 number going to India or Panama... A-B tends to win out on that front because they INSIST that anyone who wants to be a distributor must also provide local support. But that's doesn't mean it works out like that everywhere. I've done a lot in Hawaii, finding good suppliers can be a real challenge.

That said, OneSource in Honolulu is the only A-B distributor for HI, but they are pretty good. They also own a System Integrator as well, called Berkeley Engineering I think, so if you get in deep doodoo, you can always just let them do it for you.

But does it shear the material while it is moving so that the shear moves at the same speed as the material while shearing? If so, that's called a "flying shear" and to be honest, is a bit of a challenge for a newbie. The alternative would be that the material is payed out to a length, stops, and is sheared, then everything starts again. That's much much easier to do.

Good point , I'm planing on working with companies out of state . It's so hard to find a company in state that won't double if not triple cost.
I will look into the advised plc's and try to buy some good liturature.

The machine is a side buisness I'm starting up on my spare time so I'm not in a rush . As for the sheer it's not a flying sheer it's a stop the feeder and former then the sheer fires then it starts back up .
I'm running the machine manually atm ...it really sucks

Gary,
Pricing will vary a lot depending on the shop doing the work, features you want and equipment chosen.

A very rough estimate For a panel with MicroLogix PLC and Small HMI: $7,000. That would include the equipment, enclosure, drawings and programming for the PLC and HMI.

As for the Micro800, I am not a fan. The software is free, I think it is free only because they couldn't get anyone to pay for that **** IMHO. I found it much less intuitive than RSlogix 500. The hardware is cheaper but the software was much harder for me to learn. Could be because I started on RSlogix 500 and then tried to pick up Connected Component Workbench (CCW). Maybe for someone starting out on CCW as their first PLC software it would not be as big a learning curve. You could download CCW and give it a try. I will admit that the current versions of CCW are much better than previous versions but I still like my RSlogix.

Hawaii, eh? I'll make you a deal, you pay for the parts and fly me and the mrs to hawaii for an extended "commissioning" trip and I'll do it for free

ASF,
I was thinking of offering the same thing

I'm sure we could use two heads on this job. You deal with the UL and construction side of things and I'll do the schematics and PLC program. Sound fair?

Since it is a side business and simple, and you obviously fully understand the sequence of operations...It might a good fit for a Click. You could/should perhaps still farm out the panel construction depending on your electrical skill level, but you could buy at least 4 spares for the price of the MicroLogix1100 and Click software is free.

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc...ers/CLICK_Series_PLCs_(Stackable_Micro_Brick)

It sounds like a good application for a beginner to learn ladder logic. Not that I don't wanna see a forum friend get a trip to Hawaii ...

Shh, Paul! No, PLC programming is hard!

But jokes and free trips to hawaii aside, Paul (OkiePC) is right - I use Click Koyo on a lot of simple cheap stuff, the software is probably the best of the free software's I've tried and it's quite likely capable of everything you need. Can't vouch for the encoder part of things, but aside from that...

I'm also an Allen-Bradley fan, so if your budget will go that far I'd be gesturing suggestively down that road as well. Depends what you need!

ASF said:

Can't vouch for the encoder part of things, but aside from that...

I'm also an Allen-Bradley fan, so if your budget will go that far I'd be gesturing suggestively down that road as well. Depends what you need!

Click to expand...

Oops, yep, I missed that part. I don't know if the Click can do high speed counting at all. We know it is proven with the Micrologix.

EDIT: The a/d guru may have a method to git 'r' dun:
http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=55655

Thanks for all the advice guys ! I'll look into the click and check out the link .
And I won't rule out flying someone down here if I need the help when I get to that point .

Just out of curiosity how would they have built this circuit back in the 80s when this machine was new ? Digital timers?