Perhaps if the electrician is willing, training could be given on PLC's, I am sure a there is a large percentage here that are electricians ( bubbas as they are sometimes referred to )that are very competent in PLC's.
Sorry to post a little off topic again.
I didn't mean to imply that electricians weren't good with plc programming. My boss is a licensed Master Electrician, and he does all the RSLogix500 and 5000 programming between both plants at the factor I work. At least, until I got hiered. I have a BS in EE, and am currently an apprentice under him, and took over the programming at one of the two shops, to make it easier for him, and quicker so the people at one shop did not have to wait.
It's just that, while for some people (A lot of the veterans on this board maybe?) the basic ideas of Ladder Logic, and simple things they take for granted like Binary, knowing which way the bits are organized in a word, (MSB->LSB) are easy to understand, they just don't come easy to others. The 3rd electrician where I work is a Journeyman (was apprenticed under the boss as well) and has tried to learn and understand PLCs. He just has trouble grasping some of the actual boolean logic when represented in ladder form.
I guess this just shows how a lot of the stuff is on a case-by-case basis, but it's something to think about when you have multiple, sometimes inexperienced, programmers and troubleshooters.
Hey remember me I was the one who asked for a the simple answer, not a debate on which was better. I tried the parallel bit thing but there is a timer also in that rung which is not allowing the parallel bits to continue. Thanks again.......
Hmmm, I think it may be best to try and program it so that these Bits are only true when you want the action to be done. Right now it sounds like they are true when you want the action to start, and stay true long after they are done, probably until the cycle is finished.
If they were only true as long as the action needed to be done, the first bit would time the timer, then by the time the second bit came around the first would be off and the timer would have reset itself.
I really wish I had RSLogix500 at home so I could show you a really nice, very customizable method of programming sequencial machine cycles. I know the method probably has a name, but I don't know the name. It basically uses Bits for the "Do Step" and then once the step is complete, it disables the "Do Step" and holds a "Done Step" bit in until the cycle is finished out, at which time it resets itself and waits for another cycle. Maybe someone else here uses it, I'm sure there is at least one.
Edit: Also, the "Done Step" is also a permissive for the next "Do Step". I'm hoping someone around here uses this method or knows a name for it.
I was the one who asked for a the simple answer, not a debate on which was better. I tried the parallel bit thing but there is a timer also in that rung which is not allowing the parallel bits to continue. Thanks again.......
