GE Fanuc 90-20 PLC Lost Programming

dschwartz

Member
Join Date
Nov 2017
Location
Cleveland, OH
Posts
3
Hey everyone,

So to preface the situation I'm the IT Manager for an electronic manufacturing company so PLC's aren't my area of expertise by any means, but it's electronics so I'm game to try and learn!

We have a series of Dynapace (who is out of business) conveyor belt systems for PCB boards to travel on between various pick n place machines and reflow ovens but the conveyors are non operational at the moment due to a power failure that seems to have wiped the PLC clear of it's programming. I'm sure if Dynapace was still in business they could re-program the machines for a cost but that's not an option.

I read to program the 90-20 PLC I need the Logicmaster software but I'm unable to find a working link to download the program (reference this thread here: http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=72143). I've also contacted GE about finding a copy of the program which I do believe I found here (https://ge-ip.force.com/communities/CC_Knowledge?q=Logicmaster&contents=Downloads__c#top) but they haven't responded to my request to download from their knowledge base.

I have MS-DOS running on a Virtual Machine so that I can run the Logicmaster program when ready as well.

My questions is summed up as: How can I get these conveyor belts running again given my limited knowledge on the subject? Difficulty on a scale of 1-10?

Thanks in advance!
 
Welcome to the forum.

Given your current situation, I would recommend that you find a system integrator and ask if they are familiar with GE plc's and then discuss hiring them to do the job.

Plc programming is not something you can jump into and in 2 days, your up and running. there are a lot of questions to be asked and things that have to be planned for first. No offence meant, there is a log of things to consider if there is no documentation anywhere and you must start from scratch.

hopefully, you have the software and a backup copy of the program and hope it's up to date.

regards,
james
 
Losing the PLC program after a power outage is most likely due to loss of battery backup. When the "BATT" LED is lit it indicates battery loss.
Do you have a printed listing of the ladder logic or a backup copy of the program? Because without one of those, having Logicmaster software is only the first hurdle to getting things going again. Once you've connected to the PLC with Logicmaster, you'll still have to create a program to control the conveyors, starting from a blank sheet of paper. If you think of Logicmaster as analogous to Excel, then the program running in the PLC is the equivalent of the .xlsx file
 
And using Steve's analagy, with the modern PLC program = .xls file the 90-20 wouldd be = a .wk1 file (Lotus 123).
If you need to put money into this and it will run for 3-5 more years you should update to modern hardware.
 
Quick Update:

So I was able to get my hands on a copy of Logicmaster and have it loaded on a VMWare machine running just a basic MS-DOS operating system. I've also got the proper cable to connect to the PLC now.

To answer your question, no, we do not have a backup up the programming or logic ladder. These were preprogrammed to run from a company that's currently out of business so I'm not sure where to begin, do you all have any recommendations on where to begin my reading to try and attempt to make these belts move?

Thanks!
 
Quick Update:

So I was able to get my hands on a copy of Logicmaster and have it loaded on a VMWare machine running just a basic MS-DOS operating system. I've also got the proper cable to connect to the PLC now.

To answer your question, no, we do not have a backup up the programming or logic ladder. These were preprogrammed to run from a company that's currently out of business so I'm not sure where to begin, do you all have any recommendations on where to begin my reading to try and attempt to make these belts move?

Thanks!

If you have more than one of these copy the program from a working unit, else.
See post #4 above.
And hire a reputable controls person.
 
Last edited:
Russ,

As much as I'd love to hire someone, it's just not in the cards...

Obviously the professionals learned some how so I should be able to do the same, I just wanted to skip the stuff that won't concern me and my project and get right into what pertains to my situation.

I'm quite confident in my abilities

I did notice 2 of the units are still lit up with status lights so perhaps they still retained their programming. I'll check first thing tomorrow once I'm done reading through the Logicmaster user manual

Thanks
 
Note that all you will be able to upload from the working unit will be the ladder logic. There won't be any variable names or rung comments. The physical inputs to the PLC program will be identified by their addresses which correspond to which terminals the field devices such as limit switches and photocells are connected to. You'll see an address like %I0001 which represents a physical input, but to identify which actual device you will need to know what is connected to the terminal for that input point. The same holds true for the physical outputs, denoted by %Q addresses.
The manual for the Series 90-20 is GFK-0551. I have GFK-0551C which is dated August 1995. I don't know whether that is the most recent revision.
 

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