AC Drive Systems - Siemens SimoDrive VS Allen Bradley PowerFlex 700s

I'm getting ready to replace 20 axis system. Getting rid of Siemens 6RA24 DC drives and going AC. This system controls a continuous web and has tension control (loadcells).

I'm looking for the + and - when trying to decide between Siemens Simodrive system vs. Allen Bradley PowerFlex 700s.

We current have Siemens (TI) 555-1105 plc, but thinking about putting in AB Contrologix 5000 processor.

I am biased towards AB. I have done a few small web lines. How is the current system setup? Are you happy with the way the system runs? What are you reasons for changing this system out? How large of a range are you going to be running this system 300~3000 fpm or 300~400 fpm? Where are the tension loops going to be in the drive or in the PLC? These are a few of the questions that I can think of without gettaway to carried away.

This is my opinion and do with it what you will but in the US i have had terrible support from siemens and with a heafty support contract.

I also know that they do not support there products the same way and as long as AB does. I have some equipment that is a little under 5 years old running siemens master drives and they are now obsolete to the point that i can no longer buy complete drives only parts and that has a limited time also.

I have many AB 1305 and 1336 drives that are still supported and i can get drives and parts. They cost a lot but you can get them. Most of the time i change to something up to date but in a pinch i have more options with AB thatn siemens.

Again just my 2 cents.

Mike

What is the part number of your Simodrive??

Are you going to use servos??


PLC Kid-

You are getting some bogus info. What part number are you talking about?
The Masterdrive family is NOT absolete. It has been put in the mature stage. Parts and complete drive ARE available. These are sold every day

The Masterdrive family will eventually be replaced with Sinamics (typically the S120)

You need a good demo of the Siemens product- There is nothing this drive cant do.
As far as support- They are right in Atlanta Ga.
Whats the problem.

Mike
In short, the Sinamics 6RA80 would
Replace the 6RA24. Then you can keep the DC motors
For AC drives the Sinamics S120 would work fine.
Is the plc talking profibus or maybe USS?

JRW said:

Mike

What is the part number of your Simodrive??

Are you going to use servos??


PLC Kid-

You are getting some bogus info. What part number are you talking about?
The Masterdrive family is NOT absolete. It has been put in the mature stage. Parts and complete drive ARE available. These are sold every day

The Masterdrive family will eventually be replaced with Sinamics (typically the S120)

You need a good demo of the Siemens product- There is nothing this drive cant do.
As far as support- They are right in Atlanta Ga.
Whats the problem.

Click to expand...

The models that i have were obsoleted or matured or however you choose to phrase it as of december 2010. Yes we can still get parts but not full drives and factory repairs until 2012 on these models. I have had corporate siemens come down on this so the info is correct.

They are good drives but i prefer AB. I have extensive factory siemens training on master drives and sinamics so i know them both well. We put a line in with over 400 hundred master drives in mid 2007 and now 80% of the models are in the mature state and that is my only beef.

At the time in 2007 (before i was with the company)the sinamics were either too new or not up to the challenge yet of what we are doing with them. They run special modified PM water cooled torque motors that use a custom Heidenhain encoder and come direct from siemens germany. Not Available in the us. Our drive firmware in many of the units is custom also.

ut we can't even get full drives in many models now with standard firmware.

Can youdownload the custom firmware into a standard drive?

Mike Lewallen said:

I'm getting ready to replace 20 axis system. Getting rid of Siemens 6RA24 DC drives and going AC. This system controls a continuous web and has tension control (loadcells).

I'm looking for the + and - when trying to decide between Siemens Simodrive system vs. Allen Bradley PowerFlex 700s.

We current have Siemens (TI) 555-1105 plc, but thinking about putting in AB Contrologix 5000 processor.

Click to expand...

Just go with ABB ACS800 which come with DTC (Dynamic Tension Control). After all, it is a web you're controlling and the features will come in handy one way or another.
Besides the option the drives come with a library of function blocks that can be used within a drive to control PID, logic and such.
I'm biased towards Siemens (as already mentioned the Sinamics hardware will do the job for you) but for web handling, winders, unwinders, etc can't beat ABB.

I forgot to mention that plug in Bus modules are also available for the ABB drives.
Profi, Ethernet/IP, Modbus/TCP etc.

bkottaras said:

Just go with ABB ACS800 which come with DTC (Dynamic Tension Control).

Click to expand...

DTC = Direct Torque control

I've been running more and more of the Powerflex 700 series here on ControlNet in various modes, speed, position, torque, with no issues.
The oldest complete line is several years old, with no troubles at all.
The only issues I've ever had with a Powerflex, was having to replace the fan on two drives that are just mounted on the wall in a dirty area (no enclosure). They have been there for more than 6 years now.