GE Fanuc 90-30 won't go into Run mode

Hi

I've got a GE Fanuc 90-30 that had a faulty output card. I powered down, then replaced the card and powered up. The PLC won't go back into run mode.

At first I thought it was the battery at fault but when I disconnected the battery (with power connected) the battery fault light came on so the battery must be ok.

I can't get online to the PLC (not sure what the problem is, its a very old laptop running VersaPro, maybe a cable fault) is there any way of getting the system back into run without the computer and software?

Many thanks for any help you can give, its a bit of an emergency this one....

Cheers

JT

I will keep this up so Steve can offer more suggestions.

Is it possible that it lost the program when the problem occured, if so you may have SNP ID address problems...ie the laptop is using the same address as the 90-30. I forget the default addresses but have run into this issue using VersaPro...actually it was the first problem I had with VersaPro.

In VersaPro goto Tools>Communication Setup and setup/create the connection, verify port settings and ID. That may help you get online, hopefully you have a copy of the original program to reinstall. Then you can put it in Run mode.

Like Ron said check your port settings. I believe the default is Stop Bits = 1, Parity = Odd and Baud Rate = 19200. Make sure these are the settings that whatever connection your are choosing are set at. Also make sure that you are using the SNP converter on your cable. The port on the 90-30 is RS-485 not RS-232.

Thanks for the info guys. Unfortunately I've had to leave site now but will look into it tomorrow.

Again, I really appreciate the speedy responses, thanks very much.

Cheers

JT

The reason of the CPU not into run could be two things.
1. The Fault table is full. The clear the fault table you have to go online and clear it manually. If no one has been a little bit intelligent to program such a function in the PLC. It's possible.
2. If the CPU has the setting "Last" on the parameter Power up mode in the hardware configuration. Then you also have to go online and set it to Run manually. So if you have an faulty module then it has porbably gone into stop mode. And that is "Last" known mode.

Tip to avoid number 2 scenario. The CPU:s (excluded PacSystems, have no knowledge of those) from GEF is set to "Last" as default when delivered. Always change this parameter to Run. Then if you have or get any faults the CPU will go into Stop. But it will try to get into Run next time you power up.

I agree with _Spiff_ , you have to clear the fault table first, and then you can set the plc to Run. Both of them you have to do manually. While the plc is in fault (in this way it got in stop), you can't set it to run mode.

Unfortunately, there isn't any way of getting the system back into run without the computer and software.

Many thanks for all the replies to this I managed to sort the problem out. The cause of the fault was that the new
Output card I was given to replace with was not a 16 O/P card, but an 8 O/P card, hence the CPU did not recognise the hardware. The only way you can get it back into Run is via the software (**** I know), so then we had the problem of the comm's.

After inspecting the comm's lead that was being used, I noticed it was plugged into the laptop's parallel port (silly), So I rigged a USB to RS232 to SNP lead as there was no standard RS232 serial port on the laptop. That did the trick, although I did have to slow the Baud rate down to 9600 bps.

Other problems that I encountered which may be of interest, was that when the conflict of hardware occured within the CPU, it creates a "Fault table".
The CPU will not go back into Run until the fault(s) are cleared. This is done in the software. Also the Fault table cannot be viewed unless you "Disconnect from PLC" then open the Fault table menu and then select PLC or I/O.

The Windows Version of the software must contain several segments of program (all of which run seperatley - hence you can only have one program accessing the COM1 port at any one time) I do believe that the DOS version will allow "Multi-tasking" operations as all the program segments are combined.

Also the CPU was originally programmed using the DOS version of the Fanuc software. So when I tried to monitor the program, it would not let me. After performing a verification of the program, it states that there are no errors, but several warnings. These warnings refer to a conflict with the two versions of the software. The conflict of the code in the CPU to the version on the laptop was slightly different, so I had to overwrite the program in the CPU with the Windows version. Only good if you know the saved program is up-to-date.

Once again, many thanks for all your efforts, they are always very much appreciated by people like myself who get themselves into these pickles..


Cheers

JT

Johnny T said:

Other problems that I encountered which may be of interest, was that when the conflict of hardware occured within the CPU, it creates a "Fault table".
The CPU will not go back into Run until the fault(s) are cleared. This is done in the software. Also the Fault table cannot be viewed unless you "Disconnect from PLC" then open the Fault table menu and then select PLC or I/O.

The Windows Version of the software must contain several segments of program (all of which run seperatley - hence you can only have one program accessing the COM1 port at any one time) I do believe that the DOS version will allow "Multi-tasking" operations as all the program segments are combined.

Also the CPU was originally programmed using the DOS version of the Fanuc software. So when I tried to monitor the program, it would not let me. After performing a verification of the program, it states that there are no errors, but several warnings. These warnings refer to a conflict with the two versions of the software. The conflict of the code in the CPU to the version on the laptop was slightly different, so I had to overwrite the program in the CPU with the Windows version. Only good if you know the saved program is up-to-date.

Click to expand...

I've seen this problem occur when you try to use VersaPro on a Processor that has an older version of Firmware on it than VersaPro likes. You said that it was programmed with LM90, you can't monitor a program in VersaPro that was programmed and stored using LM90 unless you save it using VersaPro. Did it give you any error messages when you tried to Download the VersaPro program to the PLC pertaining to the Firmware revision. I'm guessing one those warnings you mentioned was about firmware. If you have a processor with up to date firmware and use Versapro you won't get the errors and you will be able to view the fault table while monitoring the program.

_Spiff_ said:

The reason of the CPU not into run could be two things.
1. The Fault table is full.

Click to expand...

I have seen this comment several times regarding the 90-30 PLC.
It is NOT the case. The Series 90 fault table NEVER fills. It keeps the first 'x' number of faults that occure and the last 'y' number of faults, if the 'Table' does fill it starts a FIFO beginning at x+1. (the value of 'x' and 'y' depends on the CPU)
It is correct that certain faults MUST be cleared before you can put the CPU into 'Run' mode. By default a configuration miss-match is one of these. If an I/Q module died and the CPU could no longer see it, a config not equal would be detected and fault the CPU. Setting the paramater to go to 'Run' at start up will not fix this.
It can be fixed in newer CPU's that have the ability to 'Clear' faults on power-up.

ge 90-30 not in run mode

i know this is old thread but may help someone else in future.i had a problem with a paper bailer this morning that has a ge 90-30.it was not in run mode.i do not have handheld or software to support it.was able to contact tech support to get back in run mode.remove proc and cards from backplane.remove black cover from back plane.remove 2 screws that holds in circuit board.find capacitor c53 on left side of board and short terminals for 30 sec.reassemble.should go back to run it did for me.thanks

Lightning1

Does your machine start from EEPROM?

IIHIC that procedure would erase programs stored in Volatile memory.

yes it does have a eeprom

For the record, Lightning1's method to restart a stopped 90-30 should only be used on a system that has the program backed up on a non-volatile memory chip.

Don't try it on a system with only battery-backed RAM. The procedure erases RAM memory.

hi..... I have a fanuc GE 90 30 PLC it does not go to RUN mode.... its in TUBETEX machine..... what should i Do? should i short the capacitor behind the main board?

.... and if the USER program has gone.... how can i retrieve the program?