PLC5 "Reader" Software (?) & GE Fanuc/Genius Module Help

Years ago, we had a PLC-5 here running some "Supervisory" Utilities Logic. It had (still has) a Wonderware front-end. It was reading multiple Rockwell and GE PLCs. A Contractor came in (2012 timeframe) and replaced the "Supervisory" PLC with a ControlLogix PLC. The end result was - the Rockwell stuff still worked, and the newer GE stuff worked, but some of the older GE stuff stopped working (no data on the Wonderware front-end). The older GE stuff appears to use GE "Genius" hardware modules (Serial data?), and then in the gray Electrical Cabinets are some GE boxes (are these GE PLCs?? ) with network cables that are flashing like they are communicating with something, but I don't know what. I also don't know what these IP addresses would be, and the Rockwell LCD display on the gray Cabinet doesn't seem to have any Menu I can read that on.

What I was thinking was ... I'd look at the old PLC-5 program to see how it compared to the new ControlLogix program (because I know the new program has installed PowerFlex Modules), but there isn't any software here to view the old program. Is there a "Viewer"/Read-Only that I can download just to view the PLC-5 program?

And can anybody shed any light on how these GE Fanuc GENIUS Modules are connected? They look like Terminal Blocks with a Serial Connection ... maybe back to that GE "block" inside the Gray Cabinet (with the Network Connection)? And is there an easy way to find out the IP Address on one of these Blocks?

I'm gonna try to get some better identifying information on the GE stuff and post it back here. Sorry for the scant information so far ...

Without buying RSLogix 5 your best bet is to post the zipped RSP file here and have someone print the report as PDF for you.

GE's Genius is not ethernet. It is a GE proprietary 156 Kbaud serial network. There can be up to 32 devices on one Genius network, one of which needs to be the bus controller. The individual Genius modules are configured using a Genius handheld monitor device. That is the device that assigns the serial bus address. The bus controller is a module in the PLC and it takes care of mapping the data received from the input devices into PLC address space and transferring the PLC outputs to the individual Genius modules.
If you can get photos of the components on the Genius network along with part numbers I can probably identify what each component does.

OK, I guess I was mixing things together: The networked "box" inside the gray Electrical Cabinet is actually a PowerMonitoring 3000 block. These things were the "original" equipment ... which is no longer visible on the HMI or in PI-OSI. A whole row of new Cabinets were installed in 2012. Those are the only ones working now.

As for the "Genius" blocks, I took a frontal picture earlier, but there isn't really any identifying information at that angle. I'll have to go back over there and try again. Looks like it's on the side?

Colt Hero said:

. Looks like it's on the side?

Click to expand...

Whether DIN mounted or bolted to the panel it's always on the side, and usually the side they mounted close to the enclosure side or just-far-away-enough from the next component

In the modern AB world they put it on the side that you attach other modules to, so you need to power down and remove the module to see the part number.

alan_505 said:

In the modern AB world they put it on the side that you attach other modules to, so you need to power down and remove the module to see the part number.

Click to expand...

How many times have you received a photo of the label on a power supply and requested to fix or replace that PLC?


For a CLX rack they're getting a -L85 and a SLC rack I'll quote a 5/05 -L553C. Unless it turns out the CLX needs a -L85S, so I'll include that option.


A little update for the 30 year old machine with a SLC5/02

What is the application? There is a Genius "PowerTrac" block which takes inputs from PTs and CTs and provides voltage, current, active and reactive power, power factor, frequency, and waveform data to a host. The host could be a PLC or it could just be a monitoring device without any control capability. There are no outputs on a PowerTrac block, only the PT and CT inputs. There was also a packaged Cimplicity 3000 power monitoring software.
The part number for the PowerTrac block is IC660BPM100.

If it's that old then the original wonderware is probably expecting information to be shared via topic and linx.

Was the original configuration a serial connection to the Wonderware PC?
What is it now?

I was working with a Siemen's programmer on a project with a S7-300 using Step-7 and a Wonderware HMI.


He warned me NOT to upgrade from Step-7 to TIA Portal because, although the PLC wouldn't care, the older Wonderware version wouldn't be able to communicate with the PLC anymore.

The only way I see the Genius Blocks working with the AB is using Wonderware (now Aveva) Intouch as the comm interface. Intouch may be reading/writing data it gets from the Genius Blocks back to to AB system. Or maybe the Genius info is not necessary for the AB and its data is only addressed by the Intouch system?
However... as I remember.... I believe the Genius system requires a "PCIM" card in the computer to read the genius block data, and it is questionable if Intouch even has an IO server for Genius?

For a few years back in the mid-1990s GE Fanuc was in bed with Wonderware offering "Cimplicity In Touch". There may have been a driver for the Genius PCIM card. The license for Cimplicity In Touch was on a LPT (printer) port dongle.

Steve Bailey said:

For a few years back in the mid-1990s GE Fanuc was in bed with Wonderware offering "Cimplicity In Touch". There may have been a driver for the Genius PCIM card. The license for Cimplicity In Touch was on a LPT (printer) port dongle.

Click to expand...

Yes... that is the path I used in going to Wonderware, started with Complicity Intouch.
The PCIM card (GE Fanuc IC660ELB921) was very tricky to setup. You used to setup the PCIM module with a DOS command line window.

What it looks like...
https://www.artisantg.com/Embedded/85157-1/GE-Fanuc-IC660ELB921-Single-Channel-Genius-I-O-PCIM

More info...
https://www.ge.com/digital/documentation/cimplicity/version11/oxy_ex-2/device_communications/topics/g_cimplicity_device_communications_pcimcardinstallationprocedures.html

Hmmm.... there are OPC servers for the PCIM.
https://www.matrikonopc.com/opc-drivers/523/index.aspx