GE 90-30 -> Rx3i Upgrade Notes

[ZestyMozzarella]

Hi everyone, I have an old GE 90-30 I'm looking to upgrade to an Rx3i. I'm very familiar with both platforms and I'm also aware pretty much all the cards in my configuration have comparable IC693 Series -> IC694 upgrades. The cabinet has seen better days but without a machinery overhaul of larger proportions, I figured upgrading the heart of this system (the PLC) is a good thing to do as things have been failing on it over time. I feel like this upgrade should be pretty straight forward but as such, I have a few things in the system I'm curious about and would like to ask if anyone is familiar with and/or could offer advice:

Bus & Counter Resistors Pic: I see there are a couple resistors on my BEM card and HSC module. According to the old manuals, I assume these are the mentioned pull-up resistors. I'm assuming newer equivalent cards likely do not need these in my experience with encoders and such unless the device specifically requires a pull-up?

Bus Controller Pic: An integrator told me the BEM001 card does have a replacement route in the path of a genius gateway via Profinet...recommended card IC695GCG001. While I have not read this manual yet, curious if anyone has performed that specific upgrade and whether it is straight-forward or not or whether there are any specific manuals on it. I'll be searching GE for reference material. I also downloaded a 90-30 -> to Rx3i upgrade/migration manual I need to browse through.

The high density and rack config are just for viewership of what I'm dealing with. When I saw the density cables, I thought I was in for it but also realized they still make adapters for them in the low density plates for newer modules. I could upgrade the PS, CPU and rack utilizing the old cards that still work and just sit on new cards and replace them as they go....we may do that or I can just put all new...we have not decided yet.

Beyond that, the only thought I had was I thought at a time, someone told me you could not use old serial cards on expansion Rx3i racks or opposite, that you could not use Rx3i cards utilizing the PCI lane because the expansion terminal only supports serial expansion only or something? I plan to dig into this as I forget what was mentioned but does the expansion terminal to additional racks limit the use of some cards? I assume I will not have a problem here with old or new comparable but thought it worth bringing up as I continue to dig into this upgrade.

Appreciate everyone's time and thoughts as I sink my teeth into this upgrade. I figured I should bring this stuff up in case anyone has advice like, "Do X or Y before you sabotage yourself." kind of deal In case I'm over-sighting anything.

 

[Steve Bailey]

The resistor on the Genius bus controller is the bus termination resistor. There should be another one at the last I/O drop on the Genius network.

 

[Steve Bailey]

The resistors on the HSC module must be required because of the encoder in use.
The remote I/O drops are Field Control I/O which was superseded by VersaMax remote I/O. Field Control I/O does not have a Profinet interface, so you're probably stuck with Genius for your remote I/O drops. I don't know how long Emerson will support Genius. If you want to convert to Profinet you'll probably have to replace the remote I/O modules. There should be a VersaMax equivalent for every Field Control module.
The other alternatives would be Profibus or DeviceNet but that would mean swapping out one oddball network cable for another. I don't see any advantage to using a GCG001 module. The existing IC693BEM331 Genius Bus Controller will live in the Rx3i rack.

 

[ZestyMozzarella]

Yes, I have not dived fully into the GCG001 module yet. The previous integrator mentioned some kind of Genius Gateway; I assume some type of communications translation from new module to old field I/O interface unit.

I agree with you though, with everything in this system, the BEM001 card is the one I considered just leave and let live. It still operates and can go on the Rx3i rack, so I figured this may be the one module I leave alone and not touch until it either dies or I look into upgrading the entire IC660 series modules on those controller stations. It's good to know Versamax has something comparable.

The 660 Series modules have several stations including a few hundred wires, so where it runs production full time they won't let me touch it anyways until it dies. When there is no option but to upgrade due to death...that is when that system beckons

Thanks Steve

 

[Steve Bailey]

Since you have a lot of obsolete hardware, check out this outfit if you haven't already. They have a good inventory of vintage GE gear.
https://www.cimtecautomation.com/parts/c-37-emerson-automation-formerly-ge-automation.aspx
Genius (IC660) blocks are pretty rugged. How is your Genius Handheld programmer holding up?

 

[rkicklighter]

The GCG001 is an interface device with Profinet on one side and Genius on the other. It was designed to bridge the gap between PLC family upgrade and upgrading the actual Genius field I/O. It works but has it's caveats.

If your Genius is in good working order, I would just move the bus controller from the 90-30 to a new RX3i and keep it running. I have done many upgrades this way. Just keep in mind the I/O change over may not be totally straight forward or fast. As Steve said the VersaMax I/O line is Emerson's replacement for Field Control. the VM foot print is a little different especially for Profinet and the Genius cabling will need replacement with something else, either CAT-5e (6) or Fiber depending on the application.

One last note, since Emerson bought us out, they have moved documents and such to this address: https://emerson-mas.force.com/communities/CC_Home

No word on a forum yet.

 

[ZestyMozzarella]

It is funny you mention Cimtec automation Steve, you may even be familiar with my story also from MA. Our local provider for GE use to be Automatech out of Plymouth MA but then when GE consolidated distributors, they were bummed to lose the hardware end. It all went to a Mansfield MA provider named GEXPRO for us who ships through Rexel Inc. During that time, Automatech has made it known to me they still have a provider through Cimtec now which I guess is a west coast distributor for them but they can source through there should I need them to. Curious if you have dealt with the same.

Also thanks to rkicklighter. I believe for that card alone, I will stick with the BEM001 for now and just move it over as I cannot have this line down more than a day without management prying me off haha. Also thank you for the portal redirection. I was wondering if that was going to move as the old portal site no longer seemed to be updating. I wonder if my account carries over...if not I'll make a new account. I appreciate the heads up!

 

[Steve Bailey]

You will need to set up a new account at the Emerson site. I already have.
There is a forum (sort of). At least it is set up for Q & A, but so far the majority of the posts are from marketing.
https://emersonexchange365.com/prod.../f/plc-pac-systems-industrial-computing-forum


GEXPRO used to be a subsidiary of GE called GESCO (GE Supply Company). GESCO had offices nationwide. Most, but not all GESCO offices were authorized to sell GE or GE/Fanuc PLCs. GE divested itself of GESCO several years ago and it was renamed GEXPRO. There were also independent distributors like Automatech who were authorized to sell the product line.
The rules were that to be authorized to sell the product line you had to maintain an "Automation Specialist" on your sales staff whose primary responsibility was to sell and support PLCs, as opposed to the general line sales staff. I held that position for a distributor in Connecticut who has since gone out of business. My assigned territory was western Mass, southwest New Hampshire and all of Vermont.


Cimtec was another independent distributor. They have become the go-to source for product lines that GE obsoleted like the Series Three, Series Five, Series Six, and Series 90-70 PLCs. This was the case even before GE sold their PLC product line to Emerson.