This is a wild shot in the dark but I am running out of options.
I'll try to keep it short while providing as much info as possible.
I will also apologize for my first post being one that gets right down to business and begs for help rather than contributing somehow. Hopefully there will be an opportunity one day for me to return the favor for someone.
I have an old machine that is down with a PLC (GE Fanuc 90-30 PLC IC693CPU313K - 5 slot backplane - no program prom) problem that I have been unable to resolve thus far.
Contacting GE Tech support and the two local distributors they pointed me to did not accomplish much though I believe they did what they could. One even offered to come take a look but I can't wait ~2 weeks for that. They then recommended I purchase from them the following
- Machine Edition v9.5 Professional Development Suite 700 Points
- Acceleration Plan Bundle - Premier Level for Automation & Controls
Perpetual License
- MINI-CONVERTER KIT WITH CABLE RS-485/RS
for a hefty sum so that I could connect to the PLC and investigate the issue myself. I have a fair amount of PLC experience but have never worked with GE products.
Question #1 is will this more recent software even connect properly to this antique as the sales rep super promised?
When the problem started I found that the output card (IC693MDL940D) in slot 5 had a bad output (A3) that was stuck on which meant the brake on the motor would never engage.
I was able to find a replacement card on ebay and installed it.
While swapping cards solved the one problem it did not fix everything since the machine still will not reset after power up as it used to.
The LEDs (PWR, OK, RUN) on the power supply are all lit and green / no flashing with the exception of the BATT light which is off. I have checked all other cards and did not find any issues as far as I can tell.
This machine was bought used and has been running well here for many years. All I have to work with is a hardcopy of the code which I used to identify what I believe is the problem but I cannot find even a mention of what SA015 (Commented LOS_SIO), SC014 (Commented HRD_FLT, or SC015 (Commented SFT_FLT) are in any manual or online. The last two I would guess are "Hardware Fault" and "Software Fault". SC011 is related to an IO Fault which could have been triggered by the bad card but I have no way of knowing the condition of the contacts or know a way to clear the fault if there is one. These all are NC and lead to an output (Q0020) that must be on to reset the machine and is also used internally as a contact in other areas of the program so externally bypassing that output isn't an option though I tried anyway with no luck naturally.
Question #2 - Are there options other than buying software which may not work, waiting the 2 weeks for a tech to possibly have time to come by, or replacing with a new PLC / rewriting code from scratch (would also take too long)?
Unfortunately I am in a serious jam and have to get this machine running again ASAP.
Any assistance you can give will be greatly appreciated.
I'll try to keep it short while providing as much info as possible.
I will also apologize for my first post being one that gets right down to business and begs for help rather than contributing somehow. Hopefully there will be an opportunity one day for me to return the favor for someone.
I have an old machine that is down with a PLC (GE Fanuc 90-30 PLC IC693CPU313K - 5 slot backplane - no program prom) problem that I have been unable to resolve thus far.
Contacting GE Tech support and the two local distributors they pointed me to did not accomplish much though I believe they did what they could. One even offered to come take a look but I can't wait ~2 weeks for that. They then recommended I purchase from them the following
- Machine Edition v9.5 Professional Development Suite 700 Points
- Acceleration Plan Bundle - Premier Level for Automation & Controls
Perpetual License
- MINI-CONVERTER KIT WITH CABLE RS-485/RS
for a hefty sum so that I could connect to the PLC and investigate the issue myself. I have a fair amount of PLC experience but have never worked with GE products.
Question #1 is will this more recent software even connect properly to this antique as the sales rep super promised?
When the problem started I found that the output card (IC693MDL940D) in slot 5 had a bad output (A3) that was stuck on which meant the brake on the motor would never engage.
I was able to find a replacement card on ebay and installed it.
While swapping cards solved the one problem it did not fix everything since the machine still will not reset after power up as it used to.
The LEDs (PWR, OK, RUN) on the power supply are all lit and green / no flashing with the exception of the BATT light which is off. I have checked all other cards and did not find any issues as far as I can tell.
This machine was bought used and has been running well here for many years. All I have to work with is a hardcopy of the code which I used to identify what I believe is the problem but I cannot find even a mention of what SA015 (Commented LOS_SIO), SC014 (Commented HRD_FLT, or SC015 (Commented SFT_FLT) are in any manual or online. The last two I would guess are "Hardware Fault" and "Software Fault". SC011 is related to an IO Fault which could have been triggered by the bad card but I have no way of knowing the condition of the contacts or know a way to clear the fault if there is one. These all are NC and lead to an output (Q0020) that must be on to reset the machine and is also used internally as a contact in other areas of the program so externally bypassing that output isn't an option though I tried anyway with no luck naturally.
Question #2 - Are there options other than buying software which may not work, waiting the 2 weeks for a tech to possibly have time to come by, or replacing with a new PLC / rewriting code from scratch (would also take too long)?
Unfortunately I am in a serious jam and have to get this machine running again ASAP.
Any assistance you can give will be greatly appreciated.