Lincoln Power Wave 455M Devicenet PLC control

[dextaca]

Good day Forum Members
I got a older Lincoln welder and hoping to make it work at our shop. Welder in question is the Lincoln Power Wave 455M with Ethernet DeviceNet option.
I have some PLC/ HMI programming experience but nothing like this. Wondering if some good soul could point me to the right direction , on the hardware / software needed to get a basic Devicenet contoller going ?
kindly all comments inputs are appreciated.

Kindly
P.

 

[GaryS]

Depending on exactly what you want to I would look at a Micro 800 series PLC or a Logix PLC
With either one you can get Device net modules
Keep in mind Device Net has reached the end of life and I would see if there is an ethernet options for the welder

I have done more than a few welder system this was before the welders has networking ability I used isolated analog outputs to control the welders
that still may be an option for you

 

[dextaca]

Good morning Gary , thank you for the details , yes the welder has en Ethernet option installed, it uses Power Wave Manager for management.
Lincoln support person told me that I could used DeviceNet old school or ArcLink XT ethernet for control , problem I cannot find any info on ArcLink Xt or Arclink,, I found fragments on the IP port etc, but nothing else.

 

[GaryS]

Hello

The ArcLink is a proprietary network protocol for Lincoln designed to work with their devices but if you want to connect it to a PLC then I think your better choice would be Ethernet.

If I were you I would contact Lincoln and check with them I believe you can connect Modbus over Ethernet

I may take you a little learning time but I think it would be a better option

They support Device net but as we all know Device net has reached it’s end of life at least with Rockwell while I am sure you still set it up but replacement parts are going to get harder to find. I think the last thing you would want is to get everything running and a years or so down the road and you have a problem and you have to shut everything down to redesign it because the Device net parts are unavailable

Incidentally I have a Lincoln TIG 225 myself I use for repairs and small personal projects. It’s a great machine.

 

[dextaca]

Thank you Gary, the picture is getting clearer. Do you mind if I PM once I'm programming the beast?