Do all PLCs use the same 8 pin mini DIN?

[strantor]

I have studied this... I thought about trying to make a 'fit everything' cable with some sort of black box

I sell 64 different cables and only two are the same, one other is very close Allen Bradley PLC-5 1784-CP10, Automation Direct D3-DSCBL-2 and Omron C500-CN221-EU are all very close to the same.

The issue with the min din 8 and the CPU's listed is that (other then the pin out configuration) the protocol is also different the Micrologix is RS232, IDEC and Twido are both RS485 and Mitsubishi FX is RS422 so even if they fit and the wires were landed on the correct pin the com's would still not work or you would need a switch to change the protocol signal

That's what I'm trying to do. I'm making a mega breakout box to consolidate all these dozens of cables that I tote around, but so far it looks like I'm only succeeding in irritating people. In my original thread I estimated I had around 40 cables, but since then I've sorted and categorized them and I have much more than that. When I squash all the air out of all the little ziplock bags, I can barely stuff them into a full sized satchel bag. And that's only the "less frequently used" lot that I don't carry in my backpack!

Thanks for the info that everybody has provided. I'm going to let this thread rest, and walk away having conceded and accepted defeat on two counts:
1. No, I can't get away with carrying only one 8 pin mini-DIN connector.
2. It's unreasonable for me to expect to be able to do so.

 

[geniusintraining]

I may be able to help a little... I do feel your pain as before I started my current business I was in the same boat

I still buy a lot from here http://www.winfordeng.com/ they have some cool helpful things that I like to have on hand

I also have this cable and is helps with having the adapter for the PM02 and not the full cable
http://www.plccable.com/allen-bradley-usb-1747-cp3-1756-cp3-1761-cbl-pm02/

If you ever make one I would like to see it

 

[geniusintraining]

So I know I am a little slow but it was a lot of work... this is what I came up with http://www.plccable.com/system-integrators-plc-programming-kits/

Its our USB to RS232 adapter with short adapter cables to go with it... we are starting out with AB, AD, GE and if they do good (or OK) I will add Siemens and Omron

I am also selling the short adapters by themselves as I know a lot of people like their USB adapters (Keyspan, Omron, etc) and they should work fine with them but they are a short version and will not take up a lot of room

The CP3 will be ready next week, we are making it angled downward but the others are ready now

I will also look at adding a 485 breakout kit, I have needed to wire up several things in the field and having a 'do it yourself' kit I think would be good

 

[strantor]

Looks cool. Did you change your website? Looks clean. I'm pretty sure I've been to it a few times before, and it doesn't look familiar to me now. Maybe because I'm on a tablet? I see you responded to the demand of the market (me), and that's a great thing to do, but unfortunately in the case of myself, I have already extinguished my demand with the breadboards I was talking about. If I didn't already have the AB, Siemens, and Omron cables I woukd be in the market.

I haven't built the enclosure for my breakout yet, but it's in the works. I still plan to post it when I'm done.

If you had a USB to devicenet cable that didn't cost a thousand dollars, I might be in the market for that too. But I doubt you can make one for cheap enough for me to buy it.

 

[Geospark]

...wouldn't it be silly if AB had 3 different varieties of 8 pin round programming cables?

At one time, or another, there have been. AB's well known programming cable, the 1761-CBL-PM02, among others, are knocking about at Series A, B and C versions. While Series differences can be subtle changes such as better shielding, insulation material, or a change to the plug angle, I remember once upon a time you could not use the 1761-PM02 Series A with a MicroLogix 1200, it didn't fit correctly. You had to use a Series B or C.

I agree with the complexities of forward and backward compatibility over a number of decades, and also with the need to prevent inadvertent mis-plugging of incorrect cables that may use different voltages, protocols, etc. But I would like to think (hope) that industry is slowly converging on a standard industrial Ethernet hardware model. While at the protocol level, Ethernet based communications currently do, and probably will, continue to differ (Ethernet/IP, Modbus-TCP, PROFINET, etc.), they will hopefully all at least use the same hardware media in the future. One or two different length non-proprietary Ethernet leads in the bag? Now that's a compromise I could live with.

Regards,
George

 

[strantor]

At one time, or another, there have been. AB's well known programming cable, the 1761-CBL-PM02, among others, are knocking about at Series A, B and C versions. While Series differences can be subtle changes such as better shielding, insulation material, or a change to the plug angle, I remember once upon a time you could not use the 1761-PM02 Series A with a MicroLogix 1200, it didn't fit correctly. You had to use a Series B or C.

I agree with the complexities of forward and backward compatibility over a number of decades, and also with the need to prevent inadvertent mis-plugging of incorrect cables that may use different voltages, protocols, etc. But I would like to think (hope) that industry is slowly converging on a standard industrial Ethernet hardware model. While at the protocol level, Ethernet based communications currently do, and probably will, continue to differ (Ethernet/IP, Modbus-TCP, PROFINET, etc.), they will hopefully all at least use the same hardware media in the future. One or two different length non-proprietary Ethernet leads in the bag? Now that's a compromise I could live with.

Regards,
George

Haha, sorry I chuckle. Not at what you said (I agree) but at the notion that it might ever apply to me. My job isn't installing new machines, it's keeping old machines on life support. All this new ethernet stuff is a blast and I'm happier than a pig in mud when I get to play with it, but that's a rare delicacy for me. I've been assisting a startup all week commisioning some new sections of an old bottle filler line, integrating it with the old stuff, making ethernet talk to serial and such, and I must say I really enjoy it. But this is way outside the scope of my normal work. More often than not, I'm going to work on something almost as old as (or older than) myself. A respectable chunk of my work is on machines that predate PLCs, physical relay control logic. I just got done providing phone support to a colleague trying to get online with an Omron C28K, using an LK201 module (literally bigger than a house brick) and virtual machine. That's why I have (and need) so many damned cables; I live in the past. Maybe by the time I retire, 30 years after the rest of my peers have thrown out all their cables and been toting a single ethernet cable around in their back pockets, then I won't need the cables.

 

[Geospark]

While I'm not currently based in the integration world at the commercial level, most of my work has been, and will be for the foreseeable, based in the legacy end of the spectrum, so I hear you. I love the challenge of trying to integrate the old with the new. Ethernet is slowly growing where we are and I know if it ever happens that it becomes an industry standard, it may not be in our time, but at least life might become a little easier as the scales slowly tip. Like most modern technologies, it also opens up the options on offer to customers to upgrade or retro-fit the new for the old.

G.

 

[geniusintraining]

Looks cool. Did you change your website? Looks clean. I'm pretty sure I've been to it a few times before, and it doesn't look familiar to me now. Maybe because I'm on a tablet?

Yes its a new site... and yes there is a mobile version, so if you are looking at it on a smart phone or tablet it will look one way, then is you are looking at it on a PC it will look another, I dont use my phone a lot to shop but I have a lot of customers that do, I guess they are in the field ?

If you had a USB to devicenet cable that didn't cost a thousand dollars, I might be in the market for that too. But I doubt you can make one for cheap enough for me to buy it.

Working on it... also a U2DHP

Let me know how your break out box works

 

[FactoryTalktotheHand]

That's just downright irritating.

Even one manufacturer can't even get on the ball with itself, much less manufacturers get on the ball with each other.

Everybody's gotta have their own "oh-so-special" cable that they expect you to pay some outrageous price for. Drives me up the wall!

I noticed the trend is going away from that, though. Especially since companies like A-B are really going all-in with Ethernet and including standard USB ports for programming. What really annoys me are situations like Pro-Face. They put a USB port on their product, "break" the product so that it won't talk to a PC with a standard USB cable, solely so they could sell you their "oh-so-special" USB cable with a black box molded into it with some circuitry to fix the problem.

 

[strantor]

Yes its a new site... and yes there is a mobile version, so if you are looking at it on a smart phone or tablet it will look one way, then is you are looking at it on a PC it will look another, I dont use my phone a lot to shop but I have a lot of customers that do, I guess they are in the field ?




Working on it... also a U2DHP

Let me know how your break out box works

WHA ? U2D.. U2DHP?!? I didn't even bother asking about that because I gave up hope long, long ago. I figured if anybody was going to ever make one, they would have made it already. Better late than never! I am psyched! That one that I don't have; fortunately so far except for once (fingers crossed) every time U2DHP was my only option, customer had the cable. So if you build it, I will come. I know this is probably a stupid question but any idea on price and ETA?

Since I guess you're reverse engineering and starting from scratch, would it be possible to make a EN2DHP (go online to DHP over ethernet)? That's not really a requirement or even a super strong desire, just would be nice; I like ethernet so I can go wireless and be online and also be at any place on the line I want, not tethered to the panel.

 

[T Gibbs]

I thought I was doing well with cables, until I ran upon this brick.