Old Cutler hammer Plc's

thanks for this. I have already down loaded these but could not get to run on new laptop so will try on a very old dos laptop later. Thanks for your help.
 
Cutler Hammer D50 issue

We have a 6 station rubber molding machine here that is controlled by a Cutler/Hammer D50 PLC on each station. These six PLC's are interfaced to a Cutler Hammer Power Series 1550 SmartPanel Operator Interface via a RS485 data link. We need to modify the PLC programs to accommodate an operational issue.

All six PLC programs are the same, each station is a unique ID ( 01 thru 06 ). We cannot get the laptop communications program to connect to the PLC's. Keeps giving not found errors.

This happens both trying to access thru the 485 network link or direct to each PLC from the laptop. In addition, when we unplug the network link from an individual PLC to try and access it directly thru its comm port, that PLC's RUN light and POWER light go OFF and it stops running. At that point a power reset will NOT restore the POWER or RUN light. If the network link is reinstalled, the POWER and RUN light come back on and the PLC runs normally.

All cables are correct, adapters are as specified in the various Hardware manuals, comm port parameters are correct, software program configurations are correct. Neither DOS based GPC5 ( CH part number D50CCS35D ) nor windows based WINGPC2.51 ( CH part number 85-01827-00 ) will access the PLC's. We are using the D50CBL10 cable and RS232/RS485 adapter module to acess the PLC 485 port.

Is there a Cutler Hammer D50 PLC guru out there ?
 
Steve Bailey is very knowledgeable on this PLC. I have programmed a single D50 several years ago. I also used the D50CBL10 cable and RS232/485 adapter bought from Cutler Hammer on my single PLC setup. When you have the WINGPC2.51 software open and you are trying to go online to a separate single PLC does the CPU ID have 255 in it? I think that address is supposed to be able to connect regardless of the ID number in the PLC. If you are trying to connect to the network, you have to match the ID number in the PLC, probably will be numbered 1,2,3,4,5, or 6. See the Help menu -> Online -> Online section for more info on this.
I am somewhat confused as to why the POWER and RUN light goes off just from removing the network link. Are you using some kind of separate network device or just connecting the 6 PLC's thru the RS232/RS485 connection on the comm port of each PLC? Could it be that the power is somehow looped thru the connector? Did you verify that the power is actually at the PLC power terminals with the network link disconnected? Sorry for all the dumb questions, just trying to help.
 
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Thanks, jrwb4gbm for the input. All six PLC's are networked to a SmartPanel operator interface ( Power Series 1550 ). The SmartPanel lets the operators enter ram open and ram closed positions for each station using the touch screen. Each PLC is a unique ID, Sta 1 is ID 01, Sta 2 is ID 02, etc. I'm matching ID numbers with the comm software when I try to communicate with a PLC. None of the PLC's respond, either via the network ( 485 link ) or cabled direct to the PLC port. When the netwok cable is unplugged from any of the Station PLC's, the RUN light dies, all led's go off and the PLC is dormant. Power is still applied to the 115vac input but there is no led's lighted, even if I cycle power. If I plug the network cable back into the PLC, the run led comes on and the unit powers up and runs normally. Power is not looped thru the connector, only the two 485 link wires. I have even removed one of the PLC's from the equipment panel and tried to power it up on the bech to see if can get it powered up and communicating... it won't, but when I re-install it and hook the 485 link up, presto up it comes. I'm waaaaaay lost.
 
With the adapter unplugged from the PLC, check the PLC socket where the adapter plugs in, between pin 5 and pin 9 for +5vdc. That will be the power source for the adapter.
You might also want to open up the network link connector to see if there are some jumpers between some of the pins.
 
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Good tip. What I found ( long story, short version ) is that with the comm port cable unplugged there is no +5 vdc on pin 5 and the PLC is dead. With the comm link cable plugged in, the PLC is pulling power for the +5 vdc from pins 9 and 5 from the other PLC's on the link ( the link is a 9 conductor flat cable daisy chaining to the comm ports ). Pull the plug on the comm port and the PLC dies but the one supplying the power continues to happily run. At least I now have the program downloaded from the PLC and can make the necessary changes before uploading it to a replacement PLC. And, another on the plus side I now know that the GPC software, cables and 485 adapter are, in fact, functional ;)

Thanks a bunch guys, for your help and expertise !
 
You're quite welcome. I'm glad to help and glad you found the problem. I'm curious as to what you did to finally get the program downloaded.
 
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My apologies for the delay in posting a reply... The temporary fix to enable communications to the laptop via the 485/232 adapter to the PLC was to install a female 9 pin dsub connector on the 9 pin ribbon cable to mate with the adapter and this enabled us to communicate, as the + 5 volts was being supplied by the 3rd PLC. Once we had comm it was just a matter of pulling the program in the PLC to the laptop, making a backup of the installed program, making the necessary edits and reloading the changed program to the PLC. All is well, but the next step is to correct the problems of the + 5 volt supplies in the otherwise functional PLC's.

On a side note, GpcWin2.5 runs ok on this Dell P3 WIN2000Pro laptop (when the 485 adapter has 5 volts on pin 9 from the PLC end).
 

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