Logix5000 battery life

Hey All,

Just looking for some opinions on expected battery life in a PLC

I've had to change batteries from time to time over the years in different PLCs,
but I have one in particular that goes through a battery every 8 - 10 months.

This is a Logix5000 5560M03SE Processor and Sercos unit,
and it's the only system like this that I have here, so I have no comparison as to whether this
is typical battery life for this unit, or do I have some underlying problem.

I'm certainly not going to swap out a $7500 processor over a $80 battery every year (yeah, AB is proud of them batteries).

So, just wondering if anyone else has battery life issues with these units, or is it just an anomaly I have??

Regards
JohnR

I can't help on your question but you may check this site for your next battery purchase...http://www.plccable.com/plc-cpu-batteries/

Bob O,

Thanks for the input, interestingly, on the battery description at the plccable website it states;

"Please note that ControlLogix batteries are short lived when the power to the CPU is off, we suggest having a un-interrupted power supply along with the battery back up"

This does kinda answer my question......

JohnR

Thanks Bob

John, are you powering off the CPU ? if the power is left on then yes I would say 8 months is fast

I have a lot of customers that place the same order once a year and replace all the CPU batteries so I would think 12 months + is the normal

As a work around I have installed a UPS and dedicated power on/to a older CPU that the estop was used a lot, still killed the power to the rest of the machine but keep the CPU/rack was still powered up

EDIT: as a note the UPS is for only the "older" ControlLogix CPU's the newer ones are better and the newest have flash

The equipment in question is used 80% of the time on this production line, the other 20% the line runs another product that doesn't utilize this part of the process, so the machine sits idle and powered on, at least that's what I want them to do, but every now and then somebody smarter than me decides that it needs to be turned off, and I don't catch it until (like this morning) they want to use it and it wont start.

So, here I am, rushing to get the program loaded back in so it will run, and of course, it's somehow my fault that the PLC loses it's program.....

I've thought about some kind of UPS-like setup, but I was thinking along the lines of a small power supply connected in parallel with the battery, and powered from a different source than the machine power.

JohnR

I had one machine that had a 5550 rev 7 (if I remember right) and it would keep the program for about 20 hours with the power off... I was told back then that it was normal, not sure if it was or not but thats was were the estop not kill the power on the rack idea came from, every night the machine was powered down as it only ran 2 shifts so about every 3 days we were changing it out

My batteries are a very good price and I have sold thousands of them but if you getting less then a year there is another issue so looking at a work around may be a good option

Another option.... 1756-BATM

http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/in/1756-in576_-en-p.pdf

I dont sell them, you can buy them from your local AB dealer, maybe the easiest fix just not sure of the cost

Does your unit also have a CF card installed? You can store the program image on it as a second measure.

Interesting, AB realizes that this cpu sucks batteries, so they offer a remote battery box with two bigger batteries in it.

Looks like they use the Tadiran TL5930, which I can buy for less than $20, a couple D-cell holders and make up a cable with the connector from the battery I just replaced....

Easy fixes don't have to cost a lot.

Out of curiosity, how warm is the cabinet?

I know that the recommendation from AB is to replace the battery as often as every 8 months if the temperature is above 55 degrees C.

FYI, the new series of Logix5000 processors (Control and CompactLogix) do not require batteries. If you were to replace that Processor with an L7, you'd no longer need to buy batteries for it. They now come equipped with capacitors that keep the processor active long enough to dump the program into non-volatile memory before shutdown.

FactoryTalktotheHand said:

FYI, the new series of Logix5000 processors (Control and CompactLogix) do not require batteries. If you were to replace that Processor with an L7, you'd no longer need to buy batteries for it. They now come equipped with capacitors that keep the processor active long enough to dump the program into non-volatile memory before shutdown.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately this will not work for the OP as he is using a combination processor and 3 axis Sercos module, he would have to fit a new processor and a new motion card (Sercos). $$$$$$$$$$$$

Most likely cheaper to keep changing batteries every 6 moths before they fail.

Alan