How to get AB 5/03 and AB 5/04 on Ethernet

I am trying to figure out a way to get 3 PLCs on to ethernet.

I have:
1 SLC 5/03 with an open serial port (and an open slot)
1 SLC 5/03 with an open DH-485 port (and an open slot)
1 SLC 5/04 with an available DH+ connection (and an open slot)

My question is, how can I get all these PLCs on one network?

The final goal is to be able to reach them remotely (off site) over the internet for troubleshooting.

I know that I could use the 1761-NET-EN1 for one of these that has the open serial port.

But, for the other two PLCs, I'm not sure how to get them connected.

Is there a way to get them all on DH+ or DH-485, then get some hardware to convert that to ethernet?

I thought there was an ethernet module for SLC, but I can't seem to find it. Is it not made by Allen Bradley?

Obviously, I know that I could buy a SLC 5/05 for each, but that is too expensive for this application. I don't think the customer would spend $10,000 for that upgrade.

Can someone offer me some suggestions?

Thanks,

Dave

NET-ENI modules will work, but have to connect through serial (DF1) port, which only helps you with one PLC. However, you didn't say why the other PLCs don't have an available port. If the ports are connected to an HMI or SCADA, maybe they have ethernet drivers, freeing up the ports.

If I were doing it and I have done a few, I would change out the 5/03's to 5/04's then with a DH+ to Ethernet bridge you can get them all switched over, they had all the parts in house so the harware cost was nothing

You can also get 5/05's on eBay for a lot less then 10k, give them that option and they may go for the upgrade... just buy them from a seller that has a return policy or new sealed

Dave does the plant ever plan on upgrading the PLCs. If so you could plan ahead and go with a ControlLogix bridge. Then use that base as a starting point to migrate to a new platform.

I believe you can use the Digi One IAP (which has two serial ports) and not have to upgrade your processors. It also seems to tolerate heavy loading better than the NET-ENI in our experience, but we have not used both serial ports at once.

Maybe this will help. I have not done a price check.

http://www.prosoft-technology.com/content/view/full/399

The MVI46-DFNT provides "programming access" the same way the 1761-NET-ENI and the Digi One IAP do; it bridges the Ethernet port to the Channel 0 serial port on the controller. SLC-5/0x controllers use the backplane exclusively for I/O, not for peer communications like the ControlLogix do.

These legacy controller networks aren't super-easy to connect to Ethernet LANs; that's one of the reasons why the SLC-5/05 was so popular !

If you are investing in network infrastructure, the easy way to connect all of these is to install a ControlLogix 1756 chassis with a 1756-ENBT (for Ethernet), a 1756-DHRIO (for DH+) and a 1756-DH485 (for, well, DH485).

This will allow you to send and receive messages among the controllers, as well as allowing RSLinx Classic to access them all from the local LAN or over a wide-area network, without removing or modifying the devices that are currently using the Channel 0 serial ports of two of the controllers.

Here is a link to allen bradley - 1785-ENET Series ethernet aapter. The module takes one slot which you indicate is available in each rack. I believe the cost is about $2k each.

http://www.ab.com/en/epub/catalogs/12762/2181376/2416247/1239760/1551236/tab2.html#249422

Sorry, got your PLC mixed with another post looking for PLC-5 ethernet

I'll second a control logix bridge. Plug and play and you can browse right through the bridge to go online with the PLC.

Here is a link to allen bradley - 1785-ENET Series ethernet aapter. The module takes one slot which you indicate is available in each rack. I believe the cost is about $2k each.

http://www.ab.com/en/epub/catalogs/1...b2.html#249422

Sorry, got your PLC mixed with another post looking for PLC-5 ethernet

Click to expand...

The 1785-ENET is for a PLC-5, not a SLC-5