SLC 5/05 Ethernet Inquiry

We are replacing a piece of machinery with a newer version.
The new assembly has 5 TCs which are closer by far to the operator station than the electrical control cabinet.
The OS has a PV 1500 installed in it and communicates with a SLC 5/05 over Ethernet. Since the OS is closer to the TCs I was messing around with the idea to run the TCs wires into the OS and use remote I/O but as I suspected I can't find any AB SLC 5/05 family products to do this with or so far any 3rd party devices.

I don't have room to put a SLC rack into the OS.

Any suggestions or products I missed while searching the internet today?

I haven't had to think about the SLC platform in some time, but I don't believe it is capable of controlling I/O over Ethernet. I think you are stuck with in rack I/O.

I think you can add remote racks: http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=82813

Are all of you I/O modules the maximum density? In other words, if you have 2 16 point DC inputs, you could replace 2 of them with a 32 point DC input module to free up a slot.

Edit: Another way might be to add a small PLC with the I/O that you need, then MSG the status of the I/O to the SLC.

A Flex I/O 1794-IR8 is fairly small form-factor, and could communicate with the SLC as RIO with a 1794-ASB.

Not sure about whether those items have been discontinued or not, though.

Then again, you're SLC 5/05 ain't exactly the latest tech. And that's the problem: the SLC is going to want to see the thermocouples as RIO. Other solutions, like Point/IO RTDs use ethernet for I/O, but I don't believe there's a way for the SLC to message them.

There is always Red Lion gear that can bridge the gap as long as your process can stand whatever lag might be introduced.

Their Flexedge is pricy but would be more than capable of connecting to the thermocouples and writing the results to the SLC over ethernet. The drawback is that delivery lead times for that product are terrible right now.

Aardwizz said:

A Flex I/O 1794-IR8 is fairly small form-factor, and could communicate with the SLC as RIO with a 1794-ASB.

Not sure about whether those items have been discontinued or not, though.

Then again, you're SLC 5/05 ain't exactly the latest tech. And that's the problem: the SLC is going to want to see the thermocouples as RIO. Other solutions, like Point/IO RTDs use ethernet for I/O, but I don't believe there's a way for the SLC to message them.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately the only new RIO Flex IO you can buy is an ASB that has one 16 point digital input and one 16 point digital output. If you want any other Flex IO modules you have to buy a used or older new ASB module.


Actually nix all that. i just check in Proposal Worx and it's not listed anymore.

The SLC-5/05 does not support I/O scanning on Ethernet.

It does support I/O beyond its chassis via Allen-Bradley Universal Remote I/O (RIO) protocol, ControlNet, and DeviceNet.

While RIO is the simplest, all the RIO products for the SLC platform are out of production and would have to be bought aftermarket. And of course you would need to buy an pull some of the characteristic Belden 9463 twinaxial cable.

You would need:



There aren't any I/O platforms I know about on which you could use user-program non-cyclic MSG instructions to communicate with an I/O module on Ethernet from an SLC-5/05. While that technique is sometimes used with A-B VFDs, I strongly recommend against it except by experienced OEMs.

One method I might endorse is using a small PLC controller that can communicate over Ethernet reliably with the SLC-5/05.

The SLC-5/05 would have to be new enough to support both legacy CSPv4 protocol and EtherNet/IP messaging on the serial port. That means Series C hardware, or an upgraded unit with FRN5 or later. Those would have been manufactured within the past 15 years or so.

The most straightforward small controllers would be the MicroLogix 1100 or the Micro 800 series. To get five thermocouple inputs and an Ethernet port capable of messaging to or from an SLC-5/05, you could use:

Micro 850 24-point controller with two 2085-IRT4 specialty modules

Micro 820 20-point controller with two 2080-IF4U Universal Analog modules from Spectrum Controls

MicroLogix 1100 with two 1762-IT4 thermocouple modules.