AutomationTechBrian
Lifetime Supporting Member
I'm having communication/parameter problems trying to replace a Powerflex 700 in a centrifuge application with a controllogix PLC, version 17, and Ethernet I/P communications. Just as an added twist, this is the most difficult, confrontational customer I've ever had, and there is a ton of pressure on me to figure it out. I'd like to share the details of what has happened so far to see what you think.
Original Drive: Powerflex 700, 20BD077A3AYNAEC0, Series B, Firmware 8.007
Replacement: Same..... w/ Firmware 10.004
480v, 60HP, 77 Amps
This is for Centrifuge #1, main drive. There is a twin, Centrifuge #2 that is still operational. I accepted the job when I saw the keypad had saved parameters, and my office found a surplus/new drive with firmware v.10.
I replaced the drive, downloaded the saved parameters, and cycled power. The blinking LEDs on the 20-comm-e module told me there was a communication problem. LED #1: Solid green, LED #2 & #3: slow blinking together. LED #4: off. I hooked up RSLinx to the PLC and checked the version.... RSLogix 5000, v17. At that point I was done until I came back with v17 on my XP VM.
I had a XP VM with version 12 already, so I downloaded and installed almost every version from 13, up to 19. When I went back to the customer's, I found that I didn't have the driver installed for my USB to Ethernet adaptor, so I used DF1 to connect and upload. The drive that wasn't connecting was 192.168.0.50. The keypad IP address was 192.168.1.17. That made me suspect that the keypad parameters were not correct. So I used CCW to connect to both Centrifuge #1 & #2 to upload and print out the non-default parameters to compare. I found a few other parameters that didn't match up. There were a few differences in accel and decel times, which probably not that big of a deal. There were some differences in values that appear to be speed control, PID tuning values (I'll check later). It appears the values were saved before final machine set-up because the differences were pretty large. Then, the IP address was obviously different, but the subnet was the same. And a couple of "masking values" were different, which is the first time I've delt with anything like that. I'll post a picture of the parameter comparison on a separate post on this thread. I'm hoping someone with a deeper knowledge of the PF700 parameters will share their thoughts on the differences.
I tried changing the IP address with the keypad. After cycling power the comm LEDs remained the same... the PLC was not communicating. Just to check, I pinged both the PLC and the VFD on my host laptop. Everything was on the same network.
Chatting with my local Allen Bradley supplier tech desk, they brought up the point that the drive parameters could very likely be stored in the PLC. The DF1 connection was extremely slow and I was running out of business hours to work. I brought up my saved file from earlier in the day, double-clicked on the powerflex 700 drive in the I/O tree, and clicked on the "drive" tab. No parameters were showing, and there was a notice that "Drive page could not load due to the following error: No host device. This problem can be fixed from the Module Definition dialog." Then I remembered what happened earlier that day when I initially double-clicked on the drive in the I/O tree....
After the initial upload of the parameters, I double-clicked on the Powerflex 700 in the I/O tree, which triggered a decompression and installation of an add-on for the drive... I'm guessing maybe "Drive Executive" which I assume is embedded in v17. As I think about this, I'm wondering if the initial upload did not include the drive parameters because Drive Executive was not installed yet... ???
It was Friday, and they only work until 3 PM. I ran out of time and told the customer I'd have to return on another day, hopefully
returning with more ideas about why the drive didn't communicate to the PLC.
At this point I'm thinking of a couple different possibilities. Before going back, I'll need to get my USB to Ethernet adaptor working for that XP VM and then connect to the PLC through the Ethernet I/P driver in Linx. Then, I'll try uploading the program again, now that Drive Executive is installed. Maybe the parameters are in the PLC after all. If they are, I'll need to understand how to push them down to the drive. Is there a procedure to do that?
I'd appreciate any thoughts on any of this. The customer is new, and surprisingly confrontational, which adds to the challenges of fixing a legacy machine that I've never seen before. I'd love to succeed and gain a little trust with them. There is a "Plan B" that I'm contemplating...
My "Plan B" is seeing if the control board can be removed from the bad drive and inserted into a different PF700 that I have in my shop to read the parameters. We are mainly a VFD company, so there have been times where we have done this with other brands. I checked with my two senior techs, but they've never tried it with Powerflex drives. I have a couple of working Powerflex drives in my shop that I could try, but they are smaller drives, so right away there is less of a chance that it will work without some kind of major fault. I'd be interested in finding out if anyone else has tried this with success.
I'll add some attachments to this post a little later today. There's COVID at home, so I'm living in my shop for 10 days. The only internet I have here is my phone. I'll take my laptop somewhere with wi-fi and upload the .ACD file later on.
Original Drive: Powerflex 700, 20BD077A3AYNAEC0, Series B, Firmware 8.007
Replacement: Same..... w/ Firmware 10.004
480v, 60HP, 77 Amps
This is for Centrifuge #1, main drive. There is a twin, Centrifuge #2 that is still operational. I accepted the job when I saw the keypad had saved parameters, and my office found a surplus/new drive with firmware v.10.
I replaced the drive, downloaded the saved parameters, and cycled power. The blinking LEDs on the 20-comm-e module told me there was a communication problem. LED #1: Solid green, LED #2 & #3: slow blinking together. LED #4: off. I hooked up RSLinx to the PLC and checked the version.... RSLogix 5000, v17. At that point I was done until I came back with v17 on my XP VM.
I had a XP VM with version 12 already, so I downloaded and installed almost every version from 13, up to 19. When I went back to the customer's, I found that I didn't have the driver installed for my USB to Ethernet adaptor, so I used DF1 to connect and upload. The drive that wasn't connecting was 192.168.0.50. The keypad IP address was 192.168.1.17. That made me suspect that the keypad parameters were not correct. So I used CCW to connect to both Centrifuge #1 & #2 to upload and print out the non-default parameters to compare. I found a few other parameters that didn't match up. There were a few differences in accel and decel times, which probably not that big of a deal. There were some differences in values that appear to be speed control, PID tuning values (I'll check later). It appears the values were saved before final machine set-up because the differences were pretty large. Then, the IP address was obviously different, but the subnet was the same. And a couple of "masking values" were different, which is the first time I've delt with anything like that. I'll post a picture of the parameter comparison on a separate post on this thread. I'm hoping someone with a deeper knowledge of the PF700 parameters will share their thoughts on the differences.
I tried changing the IP address with the keypad. After cycling power the comm LEDs remained the same... the PLC was not communicating. Just to check, I pinged both the PLC and the VFD on my host laptop. Everything was on the same network.
Chatting with my local Allen Bradley supplier tech desk, they brought up the point that the drive parameters could very likely be stored in the PLC. The DF1 connection was extremely slow and I was running out of business hours to work. I brought up my saved file from earlier in the day, double-clicked on the powerflex 700 drive in the I/O tree, and clicked on the "drive" tab. No parameters were showing, and there was a notice that "Drive page could not load due to the following error: No host device. This problem can be fixed from the Module Definition dialog." Then I remembered what happened earlier that day when I initially double-clicked on the drive in the I/O tree....
After the initial upload of the parameters, I double-clicked on the Powerflex 700 in the I/O tree, which triggered a decompression and installation of an add-on for the drive... I'm guessing maybe "Drive Executive" which I assume is embedded in v17. As I think about this, I'm wondering if the initial upload did not include the drive parameters because Drive Executive was not installed yet... ???
It was Friday, and they only work until 3 PM. I ran out of time and told the customer I'd have to return on another day, hopefully
returning with more ideas about why the drive didn't communicate to the PLC.
At this point I'm thinking of a couple different possibilities. Before going back, I'll need to get my USB to Ethernet adaptor working for that XP VM and then connect to the PLC through the Ethernet I/P driver in Linx. Then, I'll try uploading the program again, now that Drive Executive is installed. Maybe the parameters are in the PLC after all. If they are, I'll need to understand how to push them down to the drive. Is there a procedure to do that?
I'd appreciate any thoughts on any of this. The customer is new, and surprisingly confrontational, which adds to the challenges of fixing a legacy machine that I've never seen before. I'd love to succeed and gain a little trust with them. There is a "Plan B" that I'm contemplating...
My "Plan B" is seeing if the control board can be removed from the bad drive and inserted into a different PF700 that I have in my shop to read the parameters. We are mainly a VFD company, so there have been times where we have done this with other brands. I checked with my two senior techs, but they've never tried it with Powerflex drives. I have a couple of working Powerflex drives in my shop that I could try, but they are smaller drives, so right away there is less of a chance that it will work without some kind of major fault. I'd be interested in finding out if anyone else has tried this with success.
I'll add some attachments to this post a little later today. There's COVID at home, so I'm living in my shop for 10 days. The only internet I have here is my phone. I'll take my laptop somewhere with wi-fi and upload the .ACD file later on.