Accessing SLC 500 Program

PLC_n00b_1018

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Hello All,

I work at a plant where our control system is RS Logix 5000. However we do have one system that is still running on SLC 500. I am leading a project where we will be transferring the SLC 500 logic to RS Logix 5000. I have read about the export/import tool that lets you do this. My question is I am having difficulty accessing the SLC 500 program. We only have active RS Logix 5000 licenses so how would you recommend I go about getting access to this PLC?

The reason we never got SLC 500 Rockwell licenses is because the piece of equipment that we bought came with its own SLC 500 PLC that we just have to call in a contractor to troubleshoot if we ever have any issues. We now just want to get all the plant programming in one RS Logix 5000 PLC.

Thanks so much in advance!
 
You need RSLogix500 program to get the program out of the SLC PLC... or you can call your cnotractor and have him email you his copy. He will have a copy on his laptop.
 
Get the copy of the program however you must but do yourself a favor.... Do NOT use the conversion tool. It makes a mess of the final outcome. We had a very reputable Integrator come into our plant to "Re-Do" a large three rack system that was previously a SLC500. (Just before I started here) Now its literally a giant piece of *%$# that I despise even using for troubleshooting. I had no idea how they had created such a disastrous mess until I discovered comments within the PLC explaining that it was a converted project.

Take the time to re-develop the program, you'll be much happier when its done, so will the guy after you that has to work on the system.

my thought!
 
Hello All,

I work at a plant where our control system is RS Logix 5000. However we do have one system that is still running on SLC 500. I am leading a project where we will be transferring the SLC 500 logic to RS Logix 5000. I have read about the export/import tool that lets you do this. My question is I am having difficulty accessing the SLC 500 program. We only have active RS Logix 5000 licenses so how would you recommend I go about getting access to this PLC?

The reason we never got SLC 500 Rockwell licenses is because the piece of equipment that we bought came with its own SLC 500 PLC that we just have to call in a contractor to troubleshoot if we ever have any issues. We now just want to get all the plant programming in one RS Logix 5000 PLC.

Thanks so much in advance!

Welcome to the Forum!

Since you do not have the RSLogix 500 software for accessing the SLC CPU application, the 'cheapest' way to approach your task would be to ask the SLC troubleshooting contractor for the latest SLC application export files and then use the RSLogix 5000 Translation Tool Wizard (Translate PLC-5/SLC) to convert it to a Logix controller application.

http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/rm/1756-rm085_-en-p.pdf

However, I'd suggest biting the bullet and acquiring the RSLogix 500 software (Standard Edition 99324-RL0300ENE $2540.00 List) for a seamless transition;

If you are going to use the contractor you will need to pay for his time and personal hardware/software use; moreover, the converted application will contain tags such as B33[4].13, O4[3].11, F8[21] etc. instead of 'Pump_Start_Latch', 'Pump_Motor_Starter' or 'Conveyor_Speed_Reference' as a Logix application should; some of the SLC features might not be compatible with the Logix platform and if the project lacks documentation it will be a nightmare to implement, sustain, maintain and further develop the new Logix Class system. The asynchronous IO/logic scan of a Logix platform might render some of the SLC logic nonfunctional.

You should try and re-write the SLC application "Logix style"; it will be the right way of implementing the retrofit and a good way of comprehending the functionality of the equipment.
 
I agree with the posts above - re-write the application from scratch in Logix 5000 style. The conversion utility will leave you with a steaming pile of hideous code that everyone hates you for.

Your contractor should be able to print you a copy of the code into PDF, or else if you have a copy of the .RSS file, zip and upload it here and someone will do it for you. Then just start at the beginning, with a nice hot cup of coffee, and start coding!
 
If you are purchasing a Control Logix from your distributor they all are required to have a PLC specialist by AB. I would ask that PLC Specialist to come out and get an upload for you. They should even be able to export it to the required *.L5K file for importing into Logix5000. If you buy them lunch they may even help you convert it. All the ones I have meet are very helpful, kind of their job.
 
You need RSLogix500 program to get the program out of the SLC PLC... or you can call your cnotractor and have him email you his copy. He will have a copy on his laptop.

Thanks for the response! So if he emails me the SLC 500 program will I be able to open it up in RS Logix 5000 or will I have to buy additional software licenses?
 
RSLogix 5000 will not open an RSLogix 500 file. Have him print off a PDF version with comments. This is assuming he has an updated commented copy of the running program.

HTH
 
Thanks for the response! So if he emails me the SLC 500 program will I be able to open it up in RS Logix 5000 or will I have to buy additional software licenses?

You will not be able to use RSLogix 5000 for the existing application.

You will need RSLogix 500 (9324-RL0300ENE -RSLogix 500 Standard Edition Offline/Online Programming)
 
Welcome to the Forum!

Since you do not have the RSLogix 500 software for accessing the SLC CPU application, the 'cheapest' way to approach your task would be to ask the SLC troubleshooting contractor for the latest SLC application export files and then use the RSLogix 5000 Translation Tool Wizard (Translate PLC-5/SLC) to convert it to a Logix controller application.

http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/rm/1756-rm085_-en-p.pdf

However, I'd suggest biting the bullet and acquiring the RSLogix 500 software (Standard Edition 99324-RL0300ENE $2540.00 List) for a seamless transition;

If you are going to use the contractor you will need to pay for his time and personal hardware/software use; moreover, the converted application will contain tags such as B33[4].13, O4[3].11, F8[21] etc. instead of 'Pump_Start_Latch', 'Pump_Motor_Starter' or 'Conveyor_Speed_Reference' as a Logix application should; some of the SLC features might not be compatible with the Logix platform and if the project lacks documentation it will be a nightmare to implement, sustain, maintain and further develop the new Logix Class system. The asynchronous IO/logic scan of a Logix platform might render some of the SLC logic nonfunctional.

You should try and re-write the SLC application "Logix style"; it will be the right way of implementing the retrofit and a good way of comprehending the functionality of the equipment.

Thanks you so much for the quick responses. I am amazed at all the useful info I have already received from this forum!

I would like to give you a little more info and follow up with some additional questions. The SLC 500 program we are converting over has about 150 rungs of logic and 340 tags (binary, I/O, integer, status, and timer). The program is mostly composed of simple XIC, XIO logic. The most common outputs are latch/unlatch and the MOV function. It also has the following functions but in fewer quantities: COP, CPT, RTO, TON, SCP, PID, NEG, LIM, ADD, SUB, GRT, NEQ, MVM, JSR.

1) Given these additional details, do you still feel like I would eventually hate life if I used the internal Logix 5000 conversion tool?
2) We never bought and installed an RS 500 network license on the process computers because past engineers were under that impression that it would interfere with the RSLOGIX license. Any truth to this?
3) All of the tags have detailed descriptions that would be tedious to retype. I know in RS Logix 5000 you can export to excel, adjust tag names, and then reimport to Logix 5000. Can you do the same thing in RS 500?
4) The binary and integer tag names seem strange to me. Some say B3, others B16, or B18. Any reason for this? Same with the integers (N7, N10, etc…)
5) My SLC 500 program uses status data types quite often for tags like S: 33/9 “Scan Toggle Flag” or “I/O Slot Enabled”. Is there any reason I cannot use DINT in Logix 5000 for this?
6) I have a tagname of a solenoid valve that I cannot figure out what it references. It only occurs on the Output tags. (i.e. O:3/4 Isolation Damper ETO). I cannot for the life of me find out what ETO stands for besides possibly Extended Tube OD Ends which seems random to call out in the programming)

Thanks again for all your help!
 
1) Given these additional details, do you still feel like I would eventually hate life if I used the internal Logix 5000 conversion tool?
Yes. Absolutely, yes. The fact that the program is quite simple, in my opinion, makes it even more attractive to re-program it from scratch, because it's a less risky, less time-consuming proposition, and the rewards are still the same. Definitely, absolutely, 100% re-code.
2) We never bought and installed an RS 500 network license on the process computers because past engineers were under that impression that it would interfere with the RSLOGIX license. Any truth to this?
None whatsoever. I (and many others here) have a System Integrator's license - this means that we pay an (exorbitant) annual fee and in return get a year's activation for every single software product Rockwell make. I have literally hundreds and hundreds of Rockwell software licenses on my activation server, and they all play together just fine.

If you were talking about installing, say, Siemens software on your Rockwell machine, then I'd urge caution for those reasons. But there is no way an RSLogix 500 license will negatively affect an RSLogix 5000/Studio 5000 activation.
3) All of the tags have detailed descriptions that would be tedious to retype. I know in RS Logix 5000 you can export to excel, adjust tag names, and then reimport to Logix 5000. Can you do the same thing in RS 500?
You can export the documentation to an .EAS file from RSLogix 500. It will take a bit of poking and prodding, you won't be able to *directly* copy/paste into your RSL5000 CSV file, but it's doable.
4) The binary and integer tag names seem strange to me. Some say B3, others B16, or B18. Any reason for this? Same with the integers (N7, N10, etc…)
The registers are for the most part pre-defined in RSLogix 500. B3 is the array for Boolean data - so B3:1/0 means "data file B3, word 1, bit 0". Likewise, N7 is the default register for 16-bit integer data. So N7:14 means "Data file N7, word 14". In both B3 and N7, you can address the whole word or individual bits - e.g., you can address B3:3 as a whole 16-bit word, or you can address N7:8/12 and get just bit 12 of word 8. Which begs the question, why bother with two different data types at all, but that's a different tangent.
You can then add more registers of any type you want. So maybe I'll create N19 for all of my integers to do with a certain task, or a certain part of the machine. Maybe I'll create a new register of timers, called T11, to stick all my alarm timers in. At the end of the day it really doesn't matter if you're converting to RSLogix 5000, but you'll probably find as you get into it that all of the B16 elements are somehow related, as are all of the B18 elements, etc.
5) My SLC 500 program uses status data types quite often for tags like S: 33/9 “Scan Toggle Flag” or “I/O Slot Enabled”. Is there any reason I cannot use DINT in Logix 5000 for this?
This is something you'll have to look into a little deeper. RSLogix 5000 does not have the same status bits that RSLogix 500 has. For each status bit you find, you will have to dig a little deeper into what that status bit actually does, and then try to work out the equivalent function in RSLogix 5000. One exception is the first scan bit - I *think* from memory in RSLogix 500 it's S:1/15, and RSLogix 5000 does have a direct equivalent - S:FS. A good starting point to delve into the others is the GSV instruction - have a read up about that and you'll get some idea on how the platforms differ. For any other curly ones, if google doesn't help you, post them up and someone will steer you in the right direction.
6) I have a tagname of a solenoid valve that I cannot figure out what it references. It only occurs on the Output tags. (i.e. O:3/4 Isolation Damper ETO). I cannot for the life of me find out what ETO stands for besides possibly Extended Tube OD Ends which seems random to call out in the programming)
Other than the fact that "ETO" is "OTE" in reverse, and "OTE is a standard "coil" output instruction, I have no idea. That's almost certainly coincidence. If it's just part of the tag name/description, it has nothing at all to do with the programming techniques you'll need to employ.
 
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1. It is a pretty small application, however, I couldn't tell you about the complexity since you do not have the application file; if you are not committed to spend $3500 for a RSLogix 500 license you will need at least a printout of it while keeping your fingers crossed when it comes to documentation; with a current printout in your hand the conversion utility might do the job; you could always re-write it in RSL5K rung by rung deleting the 'converted' one when the Logix style is functional.

There is no SCP instruction in RSL5K, however, there is an available AOI; the SLC PID instruction tuning will probably not hold on a Logix Class CPU, however, the Logix PID is easy to setup and far more accurate.

2. No, there is no truth in it; 'close' age RSL5K/Logix Designer and RSLogix 500 are playing just fine on any Windows machine, real or virtual.

3. Kinda; RSLogix 500 has a two tier documentation (Description + Tag Name) which could be Exported/Imported; however, if you choose to re-write the application rung by rung you could incorporate part of the original addresses' descriptions within the new Logix tags' names; I very seldom add descriptions to Logix tags- I'd say less than 5%; the rest have all the required info within their names.

4. It is just a user defined 'Name/Number; the letter stands for the Data Type (B=Binary, N=Integer, F=Float, etc.) and the number differentiates the same Data Type components.

5. You will probably not need it in a Logix application; the internal flags(S) are system defined; each CPU family has its own configuration; the only Logix system flag you will probably need is the S:FS (First Scan).

6. I couldn't tell you what ETO stands for since I am not the original developer; what matters is that it is just an Output point; you will eventually figure it out and give it a more descriptive tag name.

@ASF was way faster from down-under...D:
 
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