sparkytex
Lifetime Supporting Member
Hello everyone,
So today I was sent into a remote first nations village to troubleshoot their well-pump SCADA system. I was sent in with no pictures of the system and no info what so ever. You can guess how much fun it was. upon looking into the issue I realized they had lost 4-4-20ma analog inputs for display on their HMI computer for well #7 (there is well #6 and Well#7).
The analog inputs were for;
- Water level in the well #7
- Conductivity of the water for well #7
- VFD speed feedback for the well pump #7
- Flow rate of water being pumped out to the RO treatment plant for well #7
Well #6 has the exact same analog inputs and transmitters as well #7 and were working just fine. Upon endlessly trying to find drawings I finally came across the schematic for well #6, after asking several questions I found out well #7 was added afterward as an expansion and of course, the drawings were never updated.
Never the less I dug into it more and realized that all of the AI's, AO's, DI's, and DO's for well #6 were terminated on the SCADA pack PLC itself (Scadapack2 plc). All of the AI's, AO's, DI's, and DO's for well #7 were a part of an expandable IO which looks to be a serial comms between all of the cards from the SCADA pack itself. Go figure all of the analog inputs that weren't working were on a 5000 series 5506-8 channel analog input card, only 4 of the channels being used.
I took all of the analog inputs from well #7 and put them in well #6's corresponding Analog input locations and of course, the readouts were just fine on the HMI, leading me to believe there is an issue with the analog card itself. All of the other cards on the expandable I/O are also working fine and communicating with the SCADA pack plc and isn't any issues with actual Hand/Auto function of the well pumps which also points to that card.
I've never dealt with Schneider plc's before and have no idea how to go online with them, I'm exclusively an Allan Bradley guy. Am I wrong to think the analog card is toast?
Note * all of the LED's for each analog input channel were solid red and the SCADA Pack itself showed normal LED conditions. Although the Analog readouts aren't used for anything other than readout, it would still be nice to get this working for them.
If the card does need to be changed out is there anything I need to know other than the dip switches for addressing of the card? does the SCADA pack need to be powered down to change the card?
I attached a few pictures for reference. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
regards,
Tex
So today I was sent into a remote first nations village to troubleshoot their well-pump SCADA system. I was sent in with no pictures of the system and no info what so ever. You can guess how much fun it was. upon looking into the issue I realized they had lost 4-4-20ma analog inputs for display on their HMI computer for well #7 (there is well #6 and Well#7).
The analog inputs were for;
- Water level in the well #7
- Conductivity of the water for well #7
- VFD speed feedback for the well pump #7
- Flow rate of water being pumped out to the RO treatment plant for well #7
Well #6 has the exact same analog inputs and transmitters as well #7 and were working just fine. Upon endlessly trying to find drawings I finally came across the schematic for well #6, after asking several questions I found out well #7 was added afterward as an expansion and of course, the drawings were never updated.
Never the less I dug into it more and realized that all of the AI's, AO's, DI's, and DO's for well #6 were terminated on the SCADA pack PLC itself (Scadapack2 plc). All of the AI's, AO's, DI's, and DO's for well #7 were a part of an expandable IO which looks to be a serial comms between all of the cards from the SCADA pack itself. Go figure all of the analog inputs that weren't working were on a 5000 series 5506-8 channel analog input card, only 4 of the channels being used.
I took all of the analog inputs from well #7 and put them in well #6's corresponding Analog input locations and of course, the readouts were just fine on the HMI, leading me to believe there is an issue with the analog card itself. All of the other cards on the expandable I/O are also working fine and communicating with the SCADA pack plc and isn't any issues with actual Hand/Auto function of the well pumps which also points to that card.
I've never dealt with Schneider plc's before and have no idea how to go online with them, I'm exclusively an Allan Bradley guy. Am I wrong to think the analog card is toast?
Note * all of the LED's for each analog input channel were solid red and the SCADA Pack itself showed normal LED conditions. Although the Analog readouts aren't used for anything other than readout, it would still be nice to get this working for them.
If the card does need to be changed out is there anything I need to know other than the dip switches for addressing of the card? does the SCADA pack need to be powered down to change the card?
I attached a few pictures for reference. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
regards,
Tex
