Siemens Simatic TI505-6660 Replacement

[mdeltat]

Gents,

I am replacing:

1EA - Siemens Simatic TI505-6660, Processor
1EA - TI545-1101, Power Supply
5EA - 24VDC Input Card
3EA - 1/2A DC Output Card
2EA - 24-110VAC Output Card
1EA - Ethernet Module, TC/PIP

Any suggestions as to what unit would be best/cost effective replacement?

Thank You,

 

[mdeltat]

oops...typo, TI505 is Power Supply, TI545 is Processor...D'oh!

 

[Steve Etter]

Wow. With no more than that to go on, your choices are many and varied.

Some of the things I would ask are:

• What PLC software, if any, does your company already own?
• What PLC's, if any, do your people already know?
• What suppliers are already responsive to you locally?
• What is your budget for this?
• What is prompting the switch?

Making the change you describe has other costs and considerations beyond the make and model. Service, support, and perception can weigh in just as much, sometimes more.

Steve

 

[Ken Roach]

Be sure you're aware of the offerings from Control Technology of Knoxville, TN. They build legacy hardware and software independently from Siemens for this venerable platform. I particularly like their Profibus adapters and their dual-stack Ethernet modules for doing migrations that retain the existing I/O.

Steve's comments on vendor support are excellent. I would add just two:

- Are you planning to replace the I/O, or only the controller ?
- How much downtime do you get to perform this change ? You may wish to have a phased migration plan or parallel testing plan in place.

 

[Dravik]

We've used the 2500series processors from CTI where a full replacement wasn't time/cost feasible. Works quite well.

 

[mdeltat]

Sorry, I should have specified that we will likely stick with Siemens. However, I have also heard of the Contol Technology solutions available. My concern is if I change only the controller, what will my options be if/when the I/O fails?

 

[Dravik]

The CTI 2500 processor can happily coexist w/ the older 500 and 505 series IO.

CTI also offers modern replacements for almost all the IO for the 505 series. It is backwards compatable as well. I had to replace a couple 8pt isolated analog cards this year so I just grabbed the new CTI ones and tossed them in w/ my old 505 stuff.

 

[mdeltat]

So what, if any, would be the advantage of upgrading to a completely new Siemens rack?

 

[IPSI John]

We have several customers that have TI/CTI hybrid racks over the course of replacing I/O and communications cards. They play nice with each other and have been very stable. If there is any budgetary concern I would recommend the CTI route. If there is less of a budgetary issue, or if your plant is heavily standardized on something else, I would go with something else.

 

[JesperMP]

Based on that the CPU has 28kW memory, and there is ethernet, and around 200-300 i/o, I say that almost any modern PLC can do the job.

One thing speaking going for Siemens S7 is that there is a converter to port TI code to S7 code. I dont know how good it is. As an example, the S5-to-S7 converter cannot convert 100%, but must be followed up by manual checking and finishing.

In case you do go for S7, then consider either S7-300 with a 315-2PN/DP CPU, or ET200S with an IM151-8 CPU.

My next suggestion would be AB CompactLogix.

 

[briancr]

Based on that the CPU has 28kW memory, and there is ethernet, and around 200-300 i/o, I say that almost any modern PLC can do the job.

One thing speaking going for Siemens S7 is that there is a converter to port TI code to S7 code. I dont know how good it is. As an example, the S5-to-S7 converter cannot convert 100%, but must be followed up by manual checking and finishing.

In case you do go for S7, then consider either S7-300 with a 315-2PN/DP CPU, or ET200S with an IM151-8 CPU.

My next suggestion would be AB CompactLogix.

I will second JesperMP on that CPU, rock solid and has built in ethernet

 

[mdeltat]

What do you think about the S7-1200 with CPU 1214C ??

 

[JesperMP]

1214C is not big enough as a natural replacement for a S7/TI 505 rack.
You may be able to just barely cram the i/o into the 8 expansion slots abvailable on the 1214C, but then the PLC is at the limit. Not sure if the 1214C has memory or performance enough to handle the program.

If you are on a tight budget, I suggest you look at ET200S with an IM151-8 CPU.