Exploring Alternative PLC Hardware: Seeking Recommendations and Insights

[*rodrigp*]

Greetings All,

I recently decided to start freelancing in Controls and Automation part time, most of my experience has been with Rockwell Automation software and hardware. However, I'm keen on exploring alternative options for controls hardware.

The reason for this is that although Rockwell Automation offers robust products, I'm also very aware that they might come with a higher price tag. Thus, I would like to explore other brands and solutions that might offer comparable performance at a more budget-friendly price point. I am familiar with Automation Direct, particularly their basic hardware such as pushbuttons, power supplies and some sensors and have no issues using them. However, I'm curious about the reliability, performance and ease of implementation of their more complex offerings, particularly their VFDs and such.

Hence, I'd greatly appreciate insights and recommendations from the community regarding alternative PLC hardware providers. Whether it's your experiences with Automation Direct's more advanced hardware, or your successes with other brands, I'm all ears. Factors such as reliability, performance, ease of integration, and overall cost-effectiveness are crucial considerations for me.

Additionally, if anyone has had experiences with lesser-known brands or niche solutions that have proven to be gems in terms of performance and affordability, I'd love to hear about them.

For reference, I'm attaching a picture of a small project I'm currently working on. The objective of this project is to replace the contactors with a VFD and add a Micro 850 with PanelView 800. I'm quoting mostly all Rockwell hardware for this project, but I'm eager to explore other alternative hardware options that will be reliable yet more affordable.

Looking forward to your insights and recommendations.

Best regards,

 

[jaden]

I have used Automation Direct PLC's for over 30 years with no problems. One Click is in an outside enclosure subject to 100+ to minus 10 degrees seasonal swings, and still working fine for 14 years.

 

[OkiePC]

Another vote for the Click and Click Plus families. Red Lion for the HMI. Coming from Panelview Plus to Red Lion is like switching from Atari to PlayStation 5.

The other A/D offerings, I have problems with. Productivity Suite hardware has some cool features but is not as reliable as Click (Koyo) and the software has some really dumb things going against it. The Do-More is pretty good but quite different and takes getting used to. I have only used 4 of the Do-More and it is a great migration path for the DL-250 series and will import Directsoft programs.

All the above recommendations tout free software and the Do-More even has a built in simulator that you can map to comm ports on your PC.

We probably have 100 Clicks out in the field, in some nasty environments and very few failures, mostly due to lightning strikes. They are very comparable to the Micrologix1400 in capability with some features not quite as good, but several that are better, like the PID and HSC functions being easier to set up.

For bigger projects, I still like the Logix 5k hardware and software.