Allen Bradley Plc2-Contrologix

[fornhamspark]

Hi Guys,

I have an application to convert an Allen Bradley PLC2 program to Compactlogix. Has anyone experiance in the conversion.

I have read up and there seems to be a program to convert Plc2-Plc5, then i can convert the Plc5 code to compactlogix vial Logix 5000.

However the program conversion for Plc2-Plc5 is illuding me, does anyone know how i can obtain a copy.

 

[Ken Moore]

There are so many new features in CLX that I would start from scratch.

If you were replacing a horse and buggy, you wouldn't buy a new car and pull the buggy with it would you?

 

[Oakley]

There are so many new features in CLX that I would start from scratch.

I agree totally. You could theoretically do the PLC2 to PLC5 to CLX, but you would still have to do some modifications. You would be better off to take your requirements and design and rewrite the code for CLX.

If you were replacing a horse and buggy, you wouldn't buy a new car and pull the buggy with it would you?

Depends on the car and the buggy!

 

[rdrast]

/agree with the above. At it's best, the 'Conversion' is still not complete, and is poorly documented, and very difficult to troubleshoot.

Start from scratch, and duplicate the conceptual logic in Logix, using intelligent tagnames, and modern concepts.

 

[DwalterE]

I've never seen a program yet that couldn't benefit from a re-write.

Anything that's been around since PLC-2 days must have accumulated a bunch of cobwebs.

I'll go with the rest and suggest a complete re-write.

 

[SLC_Integrator]

I've never seen a program yet that couldn't benefit from a re-write.

Ya aint seen one of mine then


I think you have to be careful though in that a re-write may be nothing more than a "I'll do the same thing but MY way" exercise.

I'm guilty of that too!

 

[curlyandshemp]

Hi Guys,

I have an application to convert an Allen Bradley PLC2 program to Compactlogix. Has anyone experiance in the conversion.

I have read up and there seems to be a program to convert Plc2-Plc5, then i can convert the Plc5 code to compactlogix vial Logix 5000.

However the program conversion for Plc2-Plc5 is illuding me, does anyone know how i can obtain a copy.

I've done this a few times with PLC2s PLC3s and PLC5/250 . I have yet to see a conversion utility work properly. Best way to do is not a total re-write, but a side by side conversion. Meaning have one window open with the PLC2 program printout and the other window open with Logix 5000 and type rung by rung.

First study the program to see if you can chop it up into sections. Nothing burns my but more than going online with a PLC and seeing 2000 rungs of logic in 1 file.

If you have an electronic copy of the program and/or address symbols, you can use Excel to help import symbol names into Logix 5000.

I have used old PLC2 addresses such as :

and converted to Clgx tags as:

be aware though, PLC 2 uses Octal and Clgx uses Decimal for bit addressing

 

[allscott]

I think you have to be careful though in that a re-write may be nothing more than a "I'll do the same thing but MY way" exercise.

I'm guilty of that too!

Guilty as charged

 

[fornhamspark]

Thanks Guys for all your help on this, i was trying to save time buy useing a conversion program.

Rockwell will ive been told do the conversion for you, but i would expect this will be pricey to say the least.

I will do the conversion buy hand.

With regard to the Plc-2 what program is used to get online?

 

[OZEE]

I've tried the Rockwell conversion... it'll do 80% AT BEST. There will still be a lot of things that don't convert or don't convert nicely.

Plus the conversion doesn't nicely handle the conversion from the "fixed data" structure of the PLC2/PLC5/PLC5-250/SLC500 to the "open database" structure of the ControlLogix.


Regarding the program to get online with the PLC2, there are two primary products -- both of the long ago obsolete. One would be the PLC2 version of AB 6200. The other is the PLC2 version of ICOM's programming software. Both of these are DOS products that may or may not run on your computer.

Then you'll have to deal with finding the cable... that's a whole different issue altogether...

 

[Electrically_Bound]

I can't help but read any thread that has PLC2 in its title. I am "fortunate" to have 5 PLC2s under my command. I have also seen the results of PLC2 programs converted to PLC5 and the results aren't pretty.

Two of the PLC2s are on rather simple processes that consits of nothing more than just roughly 40 I/O points. While a couple people think that I should shove a remote I/O adapter into the slot and put the programs into a larger PLC5, I really think this is like replacing one antique with a soon-to-be antique. My desire is to replace these PLC2s with a Mirologix 1100 and a few I/O cards or a Micrologix 1200. Since the programs are fairly short and simple, I'll do the conversion by hand.

 

[curlyandshemp]

Thanks Guys for all your help on this, i was trying to save time buy useing a conversion program.

Rockwell will ive been told do the conversion for you, but i would expect this will be pricey to say the least.

I will do the conversion buy hand.

With regard to the Plc-2 what program is used to get online?

I remember some funky card that resided in an ISA slot and an AB cable that I beleive was 15pin.

There was also another method using a box that had a cassette. PC to box the box to PLC. I think both methods are going to be difficult to source.

Your best bet may be to see if there is a documented copy of the program, or at least the program files. I done my last PLC2 conversions using the symbol *.txt file program to import sybmols/comments into Logix 5000 and a printed copy of the rung logic.

 

[kdburns]

PLC2 conversion

Check out http://www.**************.com they have a conversion utility that will translate PLC2 directly into ControlLogix.