HMI Recommendation- old SLC500

[Brownhat]

I can't say I have much experience with them, but have you considered a Panelview Component? They are designed for SLCs and Micros and are supposedly priced at a "won't break the bank" level?

 

[OkiePC]

No Okie, I did not miswire anything. I simply plugged in the cable I bought from Red Lion. Perhaps it was the wrong cable, I thought the plc had DF1, but apparently I need the 485. This plc only has 1 port, an RJ45 connector, so I figured I was alright- the worst it could do was not talk- wrong...

Okay, you connected the DH485 (RS-485 electrical specification) port on the SLC to the RS232 port of the G304K, and that took out the CPU. You did it using off the shelf cables, not hand made ones, so not miswired, but not the fault of Red Lion either.

Lots of people have done this with a variety of different hardware, and many a laptop NIC card has went poof because of it.

Here's a good thread on the differences:

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/archive/index.php/t-54696.html

I can't see anything wrong with their response. They have the pinout right on the data sheet, so, I would not be too hard on the Red Lion crew. They can't be expected to warn us about anything that we might plug into their RS232 port.

I was thinking one of those serial ports was isolated (still not sure). I was curious why this damaged more than just the serial port, and how you ended up solving it. Did you get the fixed SLC to talk to the G304K by using a NET-AIC and are there other devices on the DH485 network to generate tokens?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[tommy23t]

No, nothing is fixed, customer is back in the same boat with a running machine but not able to make setpoint changes.

I am not trying to be hard on the Red Lion crew, but I would think that selling a cable for A/B there could have been some factoid. It is not like I plugged "anything" into the serial port, I plugged in a SLC500. I should have dug deeper and am taking the hit, just frustrated with the situation now.

tommy23t

 

[allscott]

No, nothing is fixed, customer is back in the same boat with a running machine but not able to make setpoint changes.

I am not trying to be hard on the Red Lion crew, but I would think that selling a cable for A/B there could have been some factoid. It is not like I plugged "anything" into the serial port, I plugged in a SLC500. I should have dug deeper and am taking the hit, just frustrated with the situation now.

tommy23t

What cable did you buy for A/B that had a RJ45 plug on the end of it?

 

[tommy23t]

Sorry, only 6 pins CBLAB001.

 

[donzeiler]

I've used a SN RIO module with the brick along with a 2 slot expansion rack(1746-A2). The RIO (1747-SN RIO Scanner)connects to a PV terminal. We've also used a EZ display off of the serial port (RS-232) that works pretty well. We've even used the EZ terminals on MicorLogix 1200's with good results. If you have a problem with the display, you don't need a Tech Connect number to get help. The EZ software comes with the terminal and has no license so you can install the software on many computers at no cost.

 

[allscott]

Sorry, only 6 pins CBLAB001.

Ok I'm not an expert on this but I don't even know what that cable would even be useful for.

All AB plc's that I know of that use a RJ45 connector are using it for DH485.

 

[donzeiler]

Right, the SLC-500 bricks use DH-485, so to talk to (program)the RJ-45 you need a PIC adapter. AB has a USB one. I also have a serial port one that's been around for a while. The bricks are old and need DH-485. We've been phasing them out. Replace them with a rack system. That way, if an output relay goes out, you can replace the card without changing the code. Personally, I don't care for the brick processors. You're hemmend in with them. You should seriously think about upgrading them.

 

[OkiePC]

Ok I'm not an expert on this but I don't even know what that cable would even be useful for.

All AB plc's that I know of that use a RJ45 connector are using it for DH485.

It's for G3 (not Kadets) and Df1
http://www.redlion.net/Support/Cable/CBLAB001.pdf

By unfortunate coincidence for Tom, the Kadet uses a DB9 plug for its two serial ports while the his SLC DH485 port is RJ45. The cable above is intended for the G3 and Data Station which use RJ45 for their serial ports and the much more commonly used RS232 Channel 0 port of a SLC500 with a DB9 plug.

So he got the wrong cable but it fit perfectly, although backwards.

I prefer to make my own cables from the pin-out dwgs, especially for an odd combination and to avoid adapters like Red Lion likes to use, but I do recall looking at their offerings and having to study them closely to figure out what I would need for a particular non-standard application.

 

[tommy23t]

Thanks all for comments and suggestions. I will let you know how this all turns out, at least I learned some lessons, although a little costly. I will select products and vendors more carefully. I have been doing this for 25 years, maybe a little too comfortable at times, and haste makes waste for sure.

tommy23t

 

[Jesse Benefiel]

Tommy23t,

Sorry about the confusion. We do include a warning, in the box of the G3, for one other mistake that could be made, but we never considered the one you encountered, e.g. wrong cable, connected backwards. It's obvious how easy it could happen now that it has. The cable did state it was for an Allen Bradley, and the connectors appear identical at first glance. (RJ12 versus RJ45) We'll look at adding an insert for all of the AB cables - after all, a year's worth of inserts are cheaper than a single PLC.

In regard to the driver tweak to support that PLC, it's still on our to-do list. I wish I could be more helpful for your immediate requirement.

Jesse

 

[tommy23t]

Thanks, Jesse.
I was hoping after reading Alaric's post from a few months ago it was imminent- guess it did not get done. I was going to try the cabling suggested, but if there is no driver I won't waste the trip. Are you sure it will not work?

Thanks,
tommy23t

 

[yam785]

I've used a SN RIO module with the brick along with a 2 slot expansion rack(1746-A2). The RIO (1747-SN RIO Scanner)connects to a PV terminal. We've also used a EZ display off of the serial port (RS-232) that works pretty well. We've even used the EZ terminals on MicorLogix 1200's with good results. If you have a problem with the display, you don't need a Tech Connect number to get help. The EZ software comes with the terminal and has no license so you can install the software on many computers at no cost.

Last edited by donzeiler; Yesterday at 07:12 PM.

I agree with EZtouch, definitely awesome. I tried to sign up, to get latest software, and somehow messed it up. I clicked on the option 'contact customer service'. I closed out the window, thinking, try again tomorrow.

To make a long story short, their customer service called me today, and were awesome. They solved all my issues. Kudos to them.

LOL, and no charge

 

[nwboson]

Similar to Ken's suggestion of a used HMI, how about replacing the SLC CPU with a 5/03 (or 5/04)? That's my suggested approach to my customers whenever I run across an old SLC. And then the customer can add new SLC IO cards without replacing the whole system but still get a nice shiny new modern HMI.

Used 5/03's can be had cheap and provide a standard DF1 that will connect to virtually any HMI.

 

[Jesse Benefiel]

Thanks, Jesse.
I was hoping after reading Alaric's post from a few months ago it was imminent- guess it did not get done. I was going to try the cabling suggested, but if there is no driver I won't waste the trip. Are you sure it will not work?

Thanks,
tommy23t

Tommy23t,

We're quite sure that it won't work, however, we're going to add the fix this coming Monday. We have a 5/01 here, and feel that the SLC500 brick will have the same issue. Obviously I'd like you to wait for the fix, but understand if you can't.

Thanks
Jesse