SLC5/04 to CompactLogix 5380 Upgrade

[spremo1415]

Hello everyone, I thank you in advance for reading my question!

A little info of the upgrade, and my experience. Please feel free to skip to the question if unnecessary.

I was recently tasked with upgrading a customer’s PLC unit that is currently a SLC 5/04 with a 1761-NET-ENI that communicates with a FactoryTalk view SE client server, to a CompactLogix 5380 (specifically 5069-L310ER) using the Enterprise port in place of the 1761-NET-ENI module.

I have a few reservations with this, as I have only written programs that are “Stand Alone Machine” based, meaning the only communications I have had to deal with have been directly with the HMI, Servos, VFD’s Etc. with Allen Bradley specifically using Factory Talk View ME (currently using Version 11) and PanelView Plus terminals.

The Factory Talk View ME environment is straightforward to me, and I’ve researched that Factory Talk View SE is very similar; if I have to modify any of the screen elements that interface with this particular PLC unit. But again, since I’ve never used the SE software, I’m unsure if there’s something I should be aware of in this type of upgrade.

Now to the question,

Is it possible to use the Enterprise port on the 5380 in place of the 1761-NET-ENI module?

The tags I believe used to interface with the client server are N:7 data registers, could I just use a tag named N:7 as an integer in Studio 5000, or would I need to modify the Factory Talk View SE Project?

Anything else I should look out for when upgrading the code to the new platform?

 

[harryting]

Yes, this is a dual-port PLC and you can use the port however you want it. Note, any ethernet port can talk to multiple clients even the 1761-NET-ENI can do that.

As for the N7 file question, the question is really how you want to convert the program over to a tag based programming environment. There are a lot of similar discussion here on that topic. I would push for a "proper" conversion in my mind, which really require you to understand the tag based programming.

You would have to modify the topic link in RSView SE in any case to point to the new PLC. If you opt to do the conversion by using new tag then you would need to modify the RSView project to change all the tags to the new tag format but this can be done with with search and replace, I believe.

 

[Helliana]

Studio5000 has a feature where you map tags to SLC-type addressing for use with communication systems that do not support tag addresses. You could try using that, but I would probably just fix it correctly in FTview application if that is an option.


Is this going to be a complete rewrite using proper tags, or are you just running the program through the SLC to Compact conversion software?

 

[Operaghost]

Yes, this is a good upgrade. The built-in Ethernet port is a much faster and much more efficient means of talking with the controller. This should drastically improve the update on the FT View system.

I echo what harryting says. A proper conversion should be considered. This means essentially starting from scratch and writing a program that takes advantage of the tag-based system. The conversion tool on the other hand, simply converts everything and uses default naming rules. It does not take advantage of the tag-based system. Its goal is simply to get the program working with the least amount of effort.

Now as for making changes on the HMI, you will probably need to tell the HMI that it is now talking with the CompactLogix instead of the SLC. And of course, the "addresses" in the Logix are completely different from the SLC.

You could potentially configure "mapping" in the Logix controller using arrays and making them appear to the HMI like data files in the SLC. For example, I might create an array called "Tank_Setpoints" that contains fifty integers. But I could make that array look like N10 (N10:0 - N10:49) to the HMI. This would minimize the effort required to get the HMI talking to the controller. But we are sort of kicking the can down the road. At some point we would want to do it properly.

I guess my only concern here is that the 5/04 has a Data Highway Plus (DH+) port in addition to the serial port that the NET-ENI was connecting to. Was the 5/04 communicating with other device on the DH+ port?

OG

 

[spremo1415]

Thank you everyone for the responses!

I planned on doing a complete rewrite of the ladder logic from the SLC system to the CompactLogix. It has multiple Analog I/O as well as DIO that we are transitioning over to Ethernet based devices. I've done extensive work with this platform before, but as noted: since I have not done any work with SE, or even a SE server; I figured I would reach out to the fine folks on this forum!

The plant in question has over 56 PLC system's connected to the SE Server, so not knowing much about the SE platform and the thought of taking down the whole plant because of my ignorance is indeed quite freighting. I also want this to go as smoothly as possible since the other 55 PLC's will be upgraded (over the next few years)if we can do the conversion in a timely and efficient manner with minimal downtime!

Harryting, Thank you for your response. I will look more into the topic link, as I'm unfamiliar with this process!

Helliana, Yes this will be a complete rewrite using proper tags, with separate POU and structure! The old program is quite the spaghetti code currently!

Operaghost, thank you for your responses as well, currently there is no devices connected to the DH+ port. At one time there was a local HMI in the past that used this connection, but all the tags that were associated with it, were used in the SE project and it was removed.

Thanks again everyone!