Micrologix 1100 and Panelview 800 DH485 communication

[DRB]

Hi all,

I had a setup with 2 Micrologix 1100 connected to a Panelview C300 over DH-485. I was mandated to upgrade the HMI, and proposed to install a Panelview 800, which was the direct upgrade of the C300 recommended by Rockwell. Note that pulling new cables is not an option and we had to keep the same wiring.

We converted the C300 program to a PV800 with CCW (exact same communication settings). The HMI was installed and wired, but doesn't communicate with both PLCs. We re-installed the C300 to see if the issue was the wiring (HMI was moved to a new panel) or the configuration, and it didn't communicate anymore... I disconnected the Orange/White pair at the HMI and at the first PLC to do a point-to-point check, and the wiring was ok. I plugged back the pair as it was, and the PLC stopped communicating with the other one... After power cycling both PLCs, it didn't change anything.

I've attached a diagram of the communication wiring and devices. The wiring between PLCs hasn't been touched, and the wiring between the second PLC and the HMI is identical.

I am not familiar with Micrologix and DH-485 protocol... I must be missing something.

Please help.

 

[RedSoxFan3]

This may not exactly answer your question, but....

If there are any licenses of FactoryTalk View SE already at the facility, then you could potentially just use that copy of SE to run your HMI software. I'm pretty sure that every version of SE now comes with unlimited web clients even the Local Lite version which now comes with 25 screens.

If you have one of the unlimited screen versions, then you can just throw the screens onto an existing SE server and run web clients off that server.

IMO CCW is really terrible software. If you haven't noticed, you can't even test the application on your laptop.

 

[ianingram]

Hi,


There is a note in the manual for the Micro 1100 that you should only connect to one device.

 

[ianingram]

Hi Again,


There is also a couple of technotes to read at the A-B website.
QA6815 (Access=Everyone) shows a different connection for the common.

 

[DRB]

Thanks Ian, I just saw that note this morning in the manual. The C300's manual doesn't recommend having multiple devices connected on the HMI (juste like the 800), but doesn't mention needing an AIC module. I'm going to try connecting the HMI only to one PLC this morning and see if it works.

 

[DRB]

Situation update.

I managed to make it work... The solution was so simple and stupid but not so obvious.

My end-of-line Micrologix needed a comm reboot. The way to do it was to go in the MicroLogix's Menu (from its small display) -> Advanced settings - >DCOMM Cfg - > Enable and then Disable.

That got all my devices to start communicating together again. And although the PV 800's manual states that it is not possible/recommended to have the PV communicate with more than one device, it does work.