Looking for hands on PLC training and references

I am looking for a good hands on training and good reference manuals for PLC's in general. I was looking into going to Ron Beaufort's PLC Bootcamp however, he's semi retired and about to fully retired so that avenue seems to be closed.

I was really interested in his since it cuts a lot of the BS and summaries of things and got down to the nits and bolts of things. One can't fix what they do not understand. Additionally it was an all week class which is great since I would be traveling at a great expense and have no issue with long days.

My PLC experience is and exposure limited, but when I do go up against an issue, I need to be ready for it since it's just not that easy to get a tech in here in a timely manner.

Additionally employers are more interested in what certs one haves versus what a resume shows so there's that too. Reference manuals are great too since I don't have readily access to internet and cell service. More times than not, I am the only resource I have at my disposal and what I bring with me.

Whats your job?

If you are a maintenance guy, then you have a decent opportunity for hands on learning by doing small projects with Siemens LOGO, AB Micro PLCs etc which have free downloadable software.

I started out like this around 15 years ago, replacing old relay panels with nothing more than the above. A couple of successes under your belt, then transition to a small PLC, CompactLX, S7-1200 etc etc for a smaller machine.

Every factory has old panels built years ago which are crying out for a simple PLC, go and find them!

Then it grows as you learn more. Nothing beats real world working and learning at the same time, certainly nothing you will glean from a traditional classroom, but you have to make the effort though yourself.

After about 6 months of the above, my boss at he time gave me a budget of £500 a month to buy whatever I wanted PLC / HMI-wise and make an improvement in the factory to benefit the business.

In all fairness we had an army of old machines that weren't simple, but certainly weren't complicated. Most were old Siemens S5's and even to a casual user, were long in the tooth. I was itching to replace one, so used to unplug the old screen from time to time and say 'it's on it's way out, let me replace the whole lot'

I made a deal with my boss that if he bought the hardware, S7-300 from memory and the software, I would write most of logic in my own time and change the plc and screen over 1 weekend. It took me about 3 weeks to write in the evenings or days depending on what shift I was on.

Best decision I ever made, I stayed at the plant another 3 years after that and upgraded 56 old S5s!

I left after that and got a job working for a small SI / Controls company, I am still here to this day and now lead a team as it's not so small anymore.

I have never set foot in a classroom where a plc was the subject. I have a degree in Economics, never used it since graduation!

If your not a maintenance tech in a plant / factory, then obviously the above doesn't apply.

I had access to the software at the school I was attending and at work. I bought an SLC500 on ebay. All the classroom had were some 8 point micrologix 800s. I wanted to experiment with some other instructions, particularly analog IO.

Also, a nice gentleman on here sent me a couple old ones from his plant, which I donated to the classroom, and the people on here really helped me get my start. After the class was done, I took it to work, set up the rack, and worked the test bench after work. This was noticed, and I got my first job as a "PLC guy."

So, in short, buy a PLC, acquire the software for said PLC, get ya some keyless fixtures and single pole toggles and start getting after it. You may have to spend $500 bucks, which is much less than a class, but you can get into it.

Then move on to analog systems after you understand the scan cycle and discrete logic. Then, move on to numbering systems, how the memory is allocated, etc. Finally, start digging into networking and COM's. Honestly, for the latter two an arduino is better because you see on a low level how things like serial and ethernet work.

Finally, don't forget to ask questions here as you get stuck so that we can help guide you along in your development! Good luck!

You will find at the top of this page a link for "learn plcs", so that is also a good place to start. There are a number of free PLC software packages the include emulators. You may want to locate one of those and use them to simulate processes that you work with everyday.

Greetings Sparkyinak ...

IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU: we're talking about the Allen-Bradley ControlLogix/CompactLogix platform – correct? ... we need to nail that down before we go much further ... but let's move on for now ...

this is going to sound kind of weird (coming from a guy who makes his living by teaching PLC skills) but honestly, the "get-yourself-a-PLC-and-learn-it-on-your-own" approach is actually probably the best way to master the skills that you need ...

except ...

you're going to need access to some hardware - and to the software ...

and – (here's the kicker) you're going to need a LOT of time ...

it's sort of like learning to play the piano by yourself (specifically, without having an instructor) ... basically you just keep banging away on the keys – and eventually you'll learn to play ... the question then becomes: how much TIME is it going to take before you get "good-enough" to where people would be willing to listen to you play? ...

so ... the advice that others have already given you in this thread – is GOOD advice – and (believe it or not) I personally agree with it ... but for most of the companies who send their employees to me for training, the story goes something like this: "We don't have months – (or maybe even years) – available for our guys to just "poke around" with the hardware and software until they get good enough to do the maintenance jobs that we hired them to do." ...

so when you get right down to the nuts-and-bolts of things – all that a training class (mine included) is intended to do is to shorten the "learning curve" – from something like months (or even years) down to something manageable – something like five twelve-hour days ...

anyway ...

I don't like to talk too much about my business on the forum (it might come across as "advertising") – but since you brought up a few points about me personally (by name) – I'll go ahead and try to answer your questions ...

I was looking into going to Ron Beaufort's PLC Bootcamp however, he's semi retired and about to fully retired so that avenue seems to be closed.

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maybe ... but to be honest – I really don't WANT to retire ... I enjoy what I do – and a lot of folks want me to keep on doing it ... but ... I'm almost 72 years old now (I feel like I'm about half that age) ... and once in awhile, my left ankle swells up to the size of a grapefruit ... it's not causing any pain or discomfort (yet) - and it hasn't slowed me down (yet) – but common sense tells me that "something" isn't right ... although the three doctors that I've been to haven't seemed too worried about it (yet) ...

my lovely little wife - on the other hand – IS worried about it ... and she tells me that it's time to retire – and start taking things easy for a change ...

plus ... I really hate to commit to signing a one-year commercial lease (at a minimum) and then find out that my ankle is going to prevent me from working and being able to pay the rent ...

and so on and so on ... but ... there is a potential for hope on the horizon ...

one of our forum members – Mr. Phil Buchanan – is now trying to set up his own training business – based on what I've been doing with mine ... I've been trying to help him get his operation up-and-running – even to the point of lending him the use of my lab and all of its equipment – and my training material - to conduct his first classes ...

keep in mind that I haven't heard Phil teach a "boot camp" style class yet – so it remains to be seen whether or not he'll be able to yell at his students for five twelve-hour days – which is a primary requirement of my "boot camp" training method ... we'll see about that ... but I can tell you that he has been VERY dedicated to mastering the material ...

so ... maybe the "PLC boot camp" legend will continue – even after Ron rides off into the sunset ...

one more point that you brought up ...

Reference manuals are great too since I don't have readily access to internet and cell service. More times than not, I am the only resource I have at my disposal and what I bring with me.

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IF (big IF) we're talking about Rockwell RSLogix/Studio 5000 software – then you probably have a lot more manuals available to you than you might know about ... if you followed the default software installation procedure – and enabled the proper options – then you probably have THOUSANDS of pages of PDF files already on your computer's hard drive ... poke around under "Help" and see if you can access the "Online Books" feature ... the "Local PDF" selection is usually the one that you want ...

good luck with your studies – and be safe ...

Ron Beaufort said:

IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU: we're talking about the Allen-Bradley ControlLogix/CompactLogix platform – correct? ...

IF (big IF) we're talking about Rockwell RSLogix/Studio 5000 software –

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We sell PLC Trainers.... but if your flipping the bill and looking for 5000 training, if I were you I would buy a CompactLogix used or new and get the mini version of Logix this will let you program CompactLogix only but its the same version and a lot cheaper

PN 9324-RLD200ENE http://literature.rockwellautomation.com/idc/groups/literature/documents/qr/9324-qr001_-en-p.pdf

The CompactLogix trainers we sell use a 1769-L24er and its a great little PLC

https://www.plccable.com/allen-bradley-analog-trainer-plc-training-l24er-compactlogix-rslogix-5000/

Best of luck!

Ron Beaufort said:

one of our forum members – Mr. Phil Buchanan – is now trying to set up his own training business – based on what I've been doing with mine ... I've been trying to help him get his operation up-and-running – even to the point of lending him the use of my lab and all of its equipment – and my training material - to conduct his first classes ...



so ... maybe the "PLC boot camp" legend will continue – even after Ron rides off into the sunset ...

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There is only one Ron Beaufort

If Phil is half as good as you Ron.... he will do just fine

Sparkyinak--hey good to hear from someone working/living in Alaska. I was up there for about 10 years off and on. Chief engineer on a crab boat, electrician/engineer on floating processors/shore plants (Akutan, Dutch Harbor, operated a power plant in Galena) been to Ketchikan a few times, Petersburg, Pelican, Juneau.
Anyway, Ron is right. I learned by basically self teaching, RS 5 and 500, and got into 5000 really intense 8 month job where I basically learned to navigate in RS5000 which helped a lot. I read the help and online books all the time. There are a lot of great folks out there (especially on this forum) who have taught me countless things about programming. Although I am only proficient in A-B, ladder logic, I am learning Indra Logic, Siemens and some other software. I am a controls engineer at an integrator now, not much travel and I like it. Just stay with it, you'll get it.
I made up my own programs to help me navigate and get proficient, but I've had company software to do it. Traffic lights, complex sequencing routines, etc. Maybe the mini version of logix will allow you to do some of this. Good luck, man.

If you have any query or wants to search references for plc then you can join plc trai ning course in noida.

Ron Beaufort said:

although the three doctors that I've been to haven't seemed too worried about it (yet) ...

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Find another doctor

Ron Beaufort said:

it's sort of like learning to play the piano by yourself ... basically you just keep banging away on the keys – and eventually you'll learn to play ... the question then becomes: how much TIME is it going to take before you get "good-enough" to where people would be willing to listen to you play? ...

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My boss is willing to listen all day, but he hates paying the admission fee.

Thanx all. I'll dive into theses suggestions as time permits. Basically without going into detail, I'll use an anology. Imagine being on a remote and your the only fire department. Very rare is the fire department is called out. You can read online, books, or watch a power point on how to put out fires. When that call comes in and there's a fire, you best bring your "A" game and you don't have back ups from surrounding community departments, you're basically on your own. It's not cheap or easy to get the training, tools, and experience that one needs hence you make do. The cost to us attend training high so one try make the most in one trip. This applies to many aspects of life here.

sparkyinak said:

When that call comes in and there's a fire, you best bring your "A" game and you don't have back ups from surrounding community departments, you're basically on your own.

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The best training I ever received... I was thrown onto nightshift and had no one to asked for help, it was all me, just under a mill square feet of running equipment, about 100 operators and 10 managers and I had it all

For the first year, I never got tired.... I was to damn scared

And remember your never alone if your a member here, we can all help, maynot be the right thing but we will tell you anyway


:site:

kalabdel said:

Find another doctor

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I agree. One who listens. Your gut knows what feels normal and what don't.

I went through 4 docs once and shrugged off my concerns after a bad fall that landed me in the hospital. I was wrapped up and locked like a pretzel and they could figure out what was wrong with me so they were just going to send me home n that condition. I had a MRI of my back two months prior and they all felt that a MRI wasn't going to show any thing new even though my left side was in excrushiating pain. After insisting on one even at my expense, the forth one got ****y with me but ordered it. Shortly after the MRI results, they got the right combination of meds and later that night with a loud pop! My back unlocked.

geniusintraining said:

There is only one Ron Beaufort

If Phil is half as good as you Ron.... he will do just fine

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Ron does leave very big shoes to fill but thankfully I have his full support and knowledge with me.

Working with him in the past few months I have learned so much not only about plc training but also about teaching and delivering content in his unique way.