SLC 500 L20 Fixed Controller

[gusterminator]

I would like to hook my SLC 500 to my Comunication server or hook it directly to my hub RJ45. Does any body know what product I should buy to make this the easiest?

I'm a newbie

Thanks.

 

[Ken Roach]

Wait ! STOP !

The "fixed SLC-500" controllers, as well as the SLC-5/01, 5/02, and 5/03 controllers have an RJ-45 type connector that looks similar to the very common Ethernet connectors.

They are NOT Ethernet, and have +24V DC on one pin. They will destroy an Ethernet port if you connect them !

 

[JesperMP]

The RJ45 port on the SLC500 is not an ethernet port. It is a DH485 port. You can damage equipment if you connect the SLC500's RJ45 to an ethernet RJ45 port.

There are ways to connect the old SLC500 to a PC. But honestly, it is totally obsolete. Not sure if it is worth the effort.

 

[Ken Roach]

Now that I've got that warning out of the way, we can talk about what you need to accomplish.

That old Data Highway 485 network protocol that Allen-Bradley uses on the old SLC-500 controllers is notoriously difficult to connect to modern packet-switched networks because it uses a (for the era) fast token-passing protocol. You can't use any ordinary serial/Ethernet converter.

There are a handful of standalone gateway modules (DataLink/EquusTek) and modules for ControlLogix platforms, or software interfaces to computers that have serial ports which can support that old protocol (many cannot), and there's Allen-Bradley's USB/DH485 interface.

What is the reason for connecting this controller to an Ethernet network ? Do you want to be able to go online and monitor it with RSLogix 500, or pull data from it into a supervisory software system, or send messages to it from another controller ?

The features you want to use will help determine which hardware and software to use.

 

[gusterminator]

I wanted to get factory talk working and play around with some HMI software. I do have the 1747 AIC converter. I was thinking I could go from the 1747 AIC to my comserver from the DH485 Interface Port. The wire that came with it is only 4 wire. My com server is serial.

 

[gusterminator]

I have a W&T Mini Com Server 10 base T #58211

 

[gusterminator]

Is there any way to repair an RJ45 Port that has been burnt out? I plugged in my 1747 UIC to my AIC how the diagram describes then my AIC to my PLC and the orange wire on my 1747 UIC burnt. I replaced the head but it still won't com with the PLC.

 

[Ken Roach]

Thanks for posting that part number; I was just typing a request for that !

There are two obstacles between that Serial Server and the 1747-L20 controller: the electrical signal and the application protocol.

Data Highway 485, as the name suggests, uses a differential serial signalling system that is based on EIA-485, aka "RS-485".

The serial server you have has, like most devices in its class, a serial port based on EIA-232, aka "RS-232".

These two signalling methods are not interchangeable; they use different wiring methods, voltage levels, and interface chips.

There are many electrical converters available to convert RS-232 to RS-485, and some networked Serial Servers implement multiple electrical standards (RS-232, RS-422, and RS-485). So why not just add one of those ?

The reason is the application protocol.

Data Highway 485 is a type of serial network that uses a "token passing" protocol, and it requires very fast responses from the network nodes. The process of taking a packet from the serial side, wrapping it up in a TCP/IP protocol header, transmitting it over Ethernet, getting a response from a software package, transmitting that over Ethernet, unwrapping it from TCP/IP and sending it out on the serial port..... takes too long.

In fact, even the Windows serial driver isn't fast enough for the DH485 protocol. Rockwell Automation gave up on trying to circumvent Windows as of Windows XPSP3; the Rockwell driver for the 1747-PIC interface module won't even try to run under Vista or Windows 7.

Other protocols that are asynchronous and can allow relatively long delays between packets will work with a Serial Server. The Allen-Bradley DF1 protocol is a good example; you could connect that serial server to the Channel 0 port of an SLC-5/03, 5/04, 5/05 or MicroLogix controller and run DF1 through the "COM Port Redirector" utility just fine.

To connect to this particular SLC, the best thing to use is a 1747-UIC interface. This is a USB to DH485 interface box built by Rockwell Automation specifically to connect to DH485 networks. It performs all the token-passing and network handshaking right there onboard the box and plugs into any USB computer port, with drivers for Windows XP and Windows 7.

 

[Ken Roach]

Let's take a step back, then.

You did not mention the 1747-UIC before, only the 1747-AIC, which is a powered DH485 isolator.

There are very specific cables that are used to connect these devices together, which are described in the 1747-UIC and 1747-AIC user manuals and Installation Instructions.

If you burned up a wire while connecting the 1747-UIC to the 1747-AIC, I'm pretty confident you damaged one or both of them beyond repair.

 

[gusterminator]

yes....I have no way of telling untill I can try out the 1747-UIC on another controller.