EZ Automation Opinions

Heys Guys,

Does anyone have any experience with the EZ Automation product line? What did you think? They seem like quality products at low prices and they are made in the USA.

Charles

I used a couple of their EZ panels when they were selling thru automation direct. They were super easy to set up and haven't given us any problems, however they are being used in a clean room.

Their EZ Panels are awesome for the price. I've only used the older ones; they have some limitations like you can't allow objects to overlap and you have to place touch buttons on grid boundaries. I think about a year ago they came out with better software and those limitations no longer apply. Even so, they are very easy to use and they've been bombproof for me.

They have an Excel import function that is bulletproof; a while back, I built an Excel spreadsheet that you can open, lay in an AB RSLogix500 data table (by hand from another Excel spreadsheet, sorry!) and the new spreadsheet looks at the columns holding the AB tag description and concatenates them into one string in one cell for you. You can then import that into the EZ panel software and voila- a thousand tags done in about five minutes.

If you don't need all the bells and whistles of something like a PV+, they are a good buy. And they beat the hell out of the old Panelviews for ease of use.

Paul T

I got their low cost 6" panel, with blue light. $349.00. Although I selected the proper part number, the software still does everything in color. It's supposed to be 4 shades of blue, but I see blue and some reds. It really looks funky trying to get any shades out of it. I should have popped $50.00 more for the mono.

For now, I'm setting up my colors as black or white. When I do a 'framed' button, the frame tries to be gray and I can't change it.
(Maple also has a blue 6". Not sure if it's better or worse).
Aside from the backlight, I'm happy with overall quality. Customer service is good, and shipping is fast.

EZ Automation

I've been using their products since their site went online. I've used their touch screens on six machines, and their PLC's on three. I started using the touch screens since they were first sold through AutomationDirect. Now, every new machine I build gets one of their PLC's. These are complex (for me) automatic material handling machines with full features for auto or manual operation, keeping track of part location, using analog inputs and outputs, recipes, bad part rejection, etc.

I've been impressed with the price and compact size. Tech support is good. Shipping is fast. Those four factors have cut my cost to build a machine control by a lot.

There are some gotcha's in the learning curve, and a few irritating quirks in the programming software. But I've gotten past those to realize the savings.

I've even written a communications program that archives production data over ethernet to hard drive. If my time were free, you could say that the whole machine control cost less than $4,000 including sensors, wiring, cabinet, everything. Can't do that with any other product.

I'm now massaging my little program to collect data from every machine I retro with these controllers. Data collection from a machine for less than anywhere else -- and it controls the machine, too! I/O cost is untouchable, as far as I can see.

Anyone that needs advice on the gotcha's can email me at i_s_throwaway at sbcglobal.net. (That's a disassembled email address so spam bots won't get it.)

--97T--

Edit: I recommend the higher end touch screens. I use 10" color tft. And to get the best cost reduction, use the one with the PLC built on to the back of it, and put it in the back of a cabinet so the back of the cabinet faces the user, then you don't have to wire to the I/O on a door or in a remote enclosure. I can do that because I engineer the whole machine anyway.