SLC 5/05 faulted after lightning storm, not sure how to determine root issue

[defcon.klaxon]

Hi all,

Just got a call from one of my clients, there has been a ton of lightning around me they got hit. Turns out the SLC 5/05 was faulted. Now in previous years, said client has had an issue where if you try to download a program to the PLC it can fault, you guys helped me figure that out (pull off battery, short terminals to erase memory, then reflash). Trying that this time, however, sounds like it's not working. I can't remote into the system since their internet is down, but I'm going to have the lead operator do the memory clearing procedure one more time and then take a look myself. If the fault is still not cleared, my guess is that either the power supply, CPU module, or both have been damaged. I don't want the client having to buy replacement parts unnecessarily since they're not cheap, so I was wondering if anyone here has some suggestions for how to troubleshoot this system and be able to confidently tell the client what's wrong and how to best fix it, instead of just throwing parts at it until it works again.

Any suggestions would be highly appreciated, thanks guys!

 

[TheWaterboy]

Not that this helps any but I just dealt with a PLC-5 in the San Francisco area that got "hit" too. Surge came in through a buried Data Highway cable and took out the DH+ port so it wouldn't talk anymore and I couldn't connect to it to see what happened. Had to replace it.

 

[defcon.klaxon]

Not that this helps any but I just dealt with a PLC-5 in the San Francisco area that got "hit" too. Surge came in through a buried Data Highway cable and took out the DH+ port so it wouldn't talk anymore and I couldn't connect to it to see what happened. Had to replace it.

Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one!

 

[TheWaterboy]

This weather is wild, had a wall of lighting all the way into work out over the water, its now 101 degrees and we just had a downpour. #2020

 

[defcon.klaxon]

Quick update, had the lead operator at the plant check the PWR OUT terminals and she had 24.25VDC, steady as a rock and AC ripple was on the order of millivolts, so the power rail looks to be OK. Back in the day when trying to download to the controller bricked the system it was suggested that the power supply should be replaced so that may happen but for now just to get the system up and running, seems like it may be the CPU module. I'm hoping once I can remote in, I can see what's going on with BOOTP/DHCP and RSLinx.

 

[daba]

I'm hoping once I can remote in, I can see what's going on with BOOTP/DHCP and RSLinx.

Good luck with that, but in the meantime have you even checked (by asking) what the LED's are saying ?

 

[geniusintraining]

We fix them... also sell used/refurbished, just an option

 

[OkiePC]

There are a lot of reasons why a CPU would fault due to a storm and the CPU itself being damaged is low on the list of causes in my experience. I usually find analog input cards to be the most sensitive to damage and any card in the rack that has failed will cause a CPU fault. The first thing to do is check the LED status. If it is solid red, then there are serious problems. If it is flashing then the next step should be to connect and get the fault code.

 

[defcon.klaxon]

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. I have the following to report:

1. Master PLC has flashing fault, everything else is dark. Including ENET (which I'll get to in a minute). Tried having the operator switch the key from PROG to RUN a few times, didn't help. Seems like the PLC has lost its program, which is something that has happened in the past. But we can't seem to get the Fault cleared.
2. Slave PLC has solid green Run, ENET, etc as you'd expect for a properly functioning unit.
3. Despite Slave PLC looking like it's running, it's not able to communicate with the PC either. RSLinx can't find either of them and BOOTP/DHCP isn't seeing the master PLC asking for an IP address.
4. Today the IT support company showed up to work on the system (lightning damaged other things) and through some phone conversations, we determined that the switch inside the master PLC cabinet was damaged. This would explain why master PLC wasn't seen on BOOTP/DHCP, and why slave PLC despite looking good as far as solid green for RUN and ENET, couldn't be pinged or seen by RSLinx.
5. Currently the internet is down as they're swapping out the main gateway, but once that's up I'm going to log in and see if changing the damaged cabinet switch has improved things.

Thanks again for the help, I'm glad I didn't immediately go out and get a replacement CPU module as that doesn't necessarily sound like the root failure here. Still could be, but hopefully not.