Control a Silvermax motor with a PLC

[gschwab]

I have several Quicksilver control "Silvermax" S23-5-E-01 motors and would like to be able to control them via PLC. I'm thinking of trying a PLC from the Direct Logic line (DL05?)from automation direct.
I one instance i'm going to be doing simple rotary motion ie: a rotary table application and in another an X axis with the motor driving a ball screw.
I already have these motors and the associated documentation that is why I want to use this particular brand. As for the PLC, any advice?
any links to tutorials or programming examples? I am VERY new at PLC's so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
George

 

[gschwab]

I found ....

Ok, I'm a dummy in too much of a hurry. I've answered a couple of my own questions already just by taking the time to look around this site. Found the store and the "learn plcs" link above.

 

[Lancie1]

George,

It appears that the Quicksilver Controls Inc. "Silvermax" is a type of 12-to-48 volt DC Servomotor. Servomotors are not usually suitable for direct control from a PLC analog ouput module.

For example, the smallest SilverMax I found was 16 watts, or 1.3 Amps. Compare this to the typical PLC analog output of 20 milliamps (0.020 amps). Connecting a motor like this directly will probably lead to a burned-out PLC analog output.

Some PLCs have a PWM (Pulse-Width Modulated) voltage output that might be used to drive the SilverMax motor.

 

[gschwab]

Thanks Lancie1,

These are the old silvermax with the built in controller and external power supply. Looking at the command reference http://www.qcontrol.com/SP/OB/SilverMaxCommandReference401.pdf I think I'm beginning to form some understanding of how it can work, I just need to study PLC programming!!
The commands for Position Input Mode(PIM), Analog Continous Read, and the Scaled Step and Direction look like a few that might be of use to me. I think I have a lot of reading and experimenting to do!