PLC 5 Types

[Mark Wilson]

Hello

I am glad I found this forum as I am a recent EE Graduate (May 2013)and I have just started my first job this week.

This is what I would consider a large site compared to some of the places I did Co-Op work.

They have not had anyone in the EE position for about a year and the Maintenance crew has been self supervised. There is a Maintenance supervisor on each shift and a Maintenance Manager but the E&I group will report to me as soon as I get my feet wet.

Looks like everything has ben done with contractors and not documented well

This is all very new and diffrent from the class room experience so I plan on asking a lot of questions here.

From the older threads I have been reading today this appears to be a Treasure Trove of knowledge.

Looks like I have a real mess to deal with as there appear to be little or no backups and very little documentation but it's a huge automated process.

Any advice or tips? It's one of those situations where you don't really know where to start. This is only my 3rd day and I already feel overwhelmed.

There are lots of PLC 5 processors and models. Where can I find the best details on these? They appear to be Obsolete?

 

[Mickey]

There are lots of PLC 5 processors and models. Where can I find the best details on these? They appear to be Obsolete?

See link below. They are old but not obsolete. ( on there way out? Yes)

http://www.ab.com/en/epub/catalogs/12762/2181376/2416247/1239760/PLC-5-System.html

 

[TConnolly]

Greetings Mark and welcome to the forum.

The installation base of the PLC/5 is huge, well in excess of one million. So obsolesce is a long ways off. You can still purchase brand new hardware and new versions of the programming software continue to be released. The processors ending with a 5 (eg PLC/5-15) are standard PLCs while those ending with a 0 (eg PLC/5-20) are enhanced processors. It is a powerful platform, esp. the enhanced models, and even today remains near the top of the pile of power PLC models. The PLC/5 has entered what AB calles silver series, which basically means that it priced in a manner to discourage customers from installing new PLC/5 systems in favor of ControlLogix while offering full support for existing customers. My guess is you have a couple of decades at least before true obsolescence.

If you can begin a program of migration to the ControlLogix platform then do so, however there is not a huge rush to get it done. PLC/5 programs readily convert to the ControlLogix platform, however any time you do an upgrade is a good time to also revisit the process and take advantage of new technology so I generally deprecate simple translation of the software.

I hope you will continue to visit the forum and become a contributor, this is a place where you can find plenty of help and lots of archived information.

 

[James Mcquade]

Mark Wilson,

Welcome to the forum.
i'm in Sumner county.

1. document the plant and assembly lines. learn what they do.
2. document each machine type - processor type, hmi, scada
3. look for any documentation you can find and make copies.
don't get onto maintenance if you find someone hiding a
copy of prints or other documentation.
4. see what plc programs you have
5. what laptops do you have and what programs are stored on
them.
6. REMEMBER you are the new kid on the block. maintenance
guys who have been there for years can be a wealth of
knowledge.
7. ALWAYS REMEMBER maintenance is the engineers best friend or
worst enemy. when wanting to make upgrades / changes to
programming - get with maintenance. there may be
reasons why you can't do what you want to. if so, ask why
and respect their answers. document what they say, then
look at what they said to see if it makes since.

regards,
james

 

[Lancie1]

Looks like I have a real mess to deal with as there appear to be little or no backups and very little documentation but it's a huge automated process.

Get to know the Maint Manager and the Maint Shift Supervisors. Set aside some time to spend with all shifts and go in like you know absolutely nothing about the plant (which is probably not far from reality). After they see that you are trying to learn and need their help, they may at some point start dragging out the old drawings and files with which they actually run the plant.

Try to get copies of as much as they will allow, then set up your own files for the different sections of the plant. As you learn and file, you will gradually learn what you need to know to be of some use in the plant.

There is informantion there somewhere. You just have to be diplomatic enough and persistent enough to find it.

 

[Sidewinder]

Also get the contractors on board, or at least change the contract terms so they have to document before & after, else they don't get paid!

 

[Mark Wilson]

Gentlemen

Thank you for all the words of wisdom. I will put this advice into practice as I try to gather the information needed to manage this enviroment correctly.

 

[just the cowboy]

Coffee and donuts

Start with coffee and donuts for the maintenance gang. I had 10 E&I guys working for me with 35 PLC 5's, and it was a nightmare keeping programs up to date. The first thing I would do is get one tech to backup all plc's, just so you have the programs. We had a change of program form and log book to keep track of changes so documentation was up to date. Changes HAD to be justified by production and E&I dept. We had all programs in one area and you got the program from there to make changes, this way we did not have different copies on laptops.
Remember the maintenance gang runs the show check with them.
Also Collage does not automatically get you respect you will have to earn it.