Machine Using FA-2J and PC

Hello,

If anyone could contribute any further knowledge I would appreciate it. I’m working on a plastic molding machine using an Idec FA-2J PLC and PC running Windows NT with an application that communicates with the PLC. The PC is used to send values to the PLC for various parameters such as cycle time, etc. The PC can also scan values such as speeds, etc. and update in real-time. At a minimum, I was able to extract the software from the PLC using WindLDR because the customer didn’t have a copy and the machine is no longer supported. The customer would like to upgrade to a more current PLC. My question is will the application running on the PC be able communicate with a newer PLC such as a FC5A? I have a version of WindLDR with the convert tool aiding conversion to a FC5A. I’m not going to be able to modify the application running on the PC if it gets down to that.

I think that this is a question for IDEC. Companies usually do support backward compatibility for protocols but not being an IDEC expert by a long shot it's IDEC's call.

Good luck.

(8{)} .)
(Yosi)

If you take an image of the hard disk, who knows... maybe the source code for the software used to enter the values is stored there. It would be good to do a backup anyway in case something happens to that PC!

Thanks guys for your reply. I’ll explore both of those routes. The PC application is still with the computer on nine 3-1/2” floppies! I was able to install this on a computer running Windows 7 and it appears to be working correctly. I will attempt to examine the raw floppy data. Maybe something will stand out. The installed app on hard drive is a little more daunting! Good tip though. Worth a shot. Thanks again.

Depending on the driver in the PC for comm's it may talk to any Idec PLC, or it may only talk to that specific CPU.

You probably would have to test the PC with a new PLC to make sure it does talk before upgrading the control.