Power Flex 4

Holeshot

Member
Join Date
Dec 2002
Posts
16
Does anyone know the pinouts of the "22SCM-232" cord used to comunicate to a Power Flex 4 RS485 port. I am trying to avoid buying one from AB. It would be much help. Thank You!
 
Im not sure what you get, I just dont want to have to buy it. I would rather make it if that is possible.
 
You're a sweet boy. Make sure you call me for software support once you build your homemade cable.
 
No I am not sweet... I dont want to pay $200 for something that should only cost $50 and I will use 2 times! Kinda like the great "CP3" cord.
 
If it's an RS-232 to RS-485 converter, it has active electronics onboard and is not just a "simple cable" that you can build yourself out of wire and connectors you have around the shop.

I'm sorry I was abrupt with you, Holeshot. I've been working eighteen-hour days for about three weeks because of some customers who said "training should be free", thus forcing me to provide about 120 hours of labor "for free" without compromising my ordinary job performance. I just come unhinged when I'm this tired and hear people complaining about prices for the products that pay my salary.


You can probably find an RS-232/485 converter cheaply from B&B Electronics or Black Box if you are dead-set against buying one with an A-B logo on it.

It's a two-wire RS-485 port on the PowerFlex 4. Signal+ and Signal- are on pins 4 and 5 of the RJ-485 connector.

There's a good technical note about setting up the PowerFlex 4 communications and cabling (not necessarily with A-B cables) on the A-B Drives website:

http://www.ab.com/support/abdrives/powerflex4/appnotes.html
 
I can understand you resentment to hearing people complain about prices and "free training". I agree with you that training is not free. And on most things our vendors do a good job with seminars to get us started. We build 300 machines a year and spend easily a 500k a year on AB products and software. So for me to complain about a $200 part is meaningless! What frustrated me is that I am using a new product for the first time and I did not know I needed a special adapter that has a lead time of 2 weeks. That is "mostly" my fault.

So I have no problem manufactures making a profit, its free enterprise. Its more the fact that its hard to keep track of it all and I was just venting. My apologies for being abrupt, but you must understand where I am coming from.
 
OK, truce then. Let us know if you find a quickly available or inexpensive substitute for the A-B 232/485 converter module.

I don't think that a 1747-PIC or 1761-NET-AIC will work for this; those all use "three wire" implementations of RS-485 and this one seems to show only two wires.

(again, everybody read www.robustdc.com for RS-485 wiring true stories)
 
Truce it is.
Im not going to sink alot of time into a way around it. Its not worth it.
The PIC wont work,that was actually my first thought.
 
OK I am still confused...Ken cant you find out what is included when ordering the 22-SCM-232, I still think it includes the 2 cables I mentioned above. I did not state this before but if I am not mistaken the retail list price for this kit is around $200, at least that is what I was quoted.

Regardless of brand I dont see the issue if its listed at around $200 and includes cables...I also belive the software is a free download.

At least DriveExplorer Lite and a few others are:
http://www.ab.com/drives/driveexplorer/free_download.html

If any of this info is incorrect please let me know.
 
According to the Technical Data publication for the PowerFlex 4 drive (http://files.awdm.com/e-files/ra/22/22-td001a-en-p.pdf), the part number 22-SCM-232 includes:

(1) RS232 DF1 -> "DSI" protocol converter module
(1) 1203-SFC RS-232 cable (DB9S on one end, locking low-profile connector on the other)
(1) 22-RJ45CBL-C20 2 meter RS-485 cable with RJ45 ends. This is probably the most generic of all of these cables.
(1) DriveExplorer Lite software CD.

According to everything I've read, the "SCM" serial converter module is both a protocol converter and an electrical signal converter. It appears to convert from DF1 to "DSI" protocol, as well as converting from RS-232 to RS-485.

That makes sense if the Drive Explorer software is using DF1 protocol, not "DSI". If our man Holeshot intends to use the A-B Drive Explorer software, I think he's going to need the A-B protocol converter box. I don't think an RS-232/RS-485 signal converter is going to do the trick.

If he's planning only on using the Modbus RTU aspects of the "DSI" protocol with some other software or controller, then a generic RS-232/RS-485 converter may work for him.
 

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