Progam Improvement

[baylys-SAF]

This post might turn out to become an extended series but here is No1...... By the way, what are Tags ? How are they used on this forum.?

We own a camping ground. We had no choice but to install an treatment plant for the camp sewage effluent. The plant(SAF) has been in operation since December 2016, the controller PLC is a JZ10-11-UA24. In consultation with the design engineer we have written a manual which outlines all critical maintenance of the various aspects of the plant. All but except for the Controller componants!

1. In reading info on the Jazz PLC, I see there is an internal battery which has an approx. life  ten years. If in years to come someone happened turn the main power off or simply power failure and was unaware the internal battery had expired a week before, I have a feeling there would be a problem. - true or false

2. If 1. is true then I need to keep a copy of the PLC U90 software?

3. The JZ-PRG plug in module and software kit, allows the software, OS etc to be copied to a PC?

4. After 10 years will the JZ10-11-UA24  PLC be out of date? If so, would it be a good plan to check this every 5 years ?

Thanks,

mark

[Ausman]

Hi and welcome,

for starters I have attached a general info pdf on Jazz in case you don't have it.  Some of your questions are answered in this, particularly the ability to clone the program and running values.

1).  Possibly, depends on what you have implemented relating to your further questions.

2).  Always a good idea anyway, not just for battery failure.  Gremlins can strike and make even the most reliable things have hiccouphs.  The system's values that might be crucial to running correctly need to be stored as well.

3).  Yes, but you may not be able to get to it, depends on the supplier's thoughts as to whether their program is proprietary.

4).  Possibly, but who knows what will be around then.  And if it ain't broke, don't fix/change it.....just be ready with all your eggs in the basket.  And don't forget where you've put the basket, either!

I don't use Jazz, others do and will surely weigh in with their comments.  They're pretty simple and I doubt that it is doing a lot of stuff.

cheers,

Aus

JAZZ_USER-GUIDE_06-06.pdf

[baylys-SAF]

Thanks for that. I'll contact the supplier and see if they have a plan.

[Ausman]

Before you do that, I'd be looking at getting the U90 software onto a PC and see if you can access the program in the Jazz.  If you can, most of your problems are solved.

https://unitronicsplc.com/Download/SoftwareVersions/U90/U90Ladder_6_6_36.exe

Install this program using Run as Administrator and run the program with administrator rights.

To let the program connect to the Jazz you'll need the adapter that best suits your systems, likely the PRG.  Talk to a local Unitronics supplier about modules you find starting here:

https://unitronicsplc.com/support-technical-library/

Dig down to Jazz Hardware and then RS4 or PRG.

cheers,

Aus

[Joe Tauser]

You didn't mention where you are located, but I am a Unitronics distributor in the US.

18 hours ago, baylys-SAF said:

4. After 10 years will the JZ10-11-UA24  PLC be out of date? If so, would it be a good plan to check this every 5 years ?

I can tell you that I've been selling the product since 2000 (18 years) and we still can get the products from that long, long ago time.  So I think you're OK there.

There is a "Low Battery" flag in the PLC OS.  Hopefully your system developer used it in a display somewhere.  The battery in these units is soldered in and not replaceable.  The good news is the battery generally lasts longer than 10 years - I've had very few go out.

Here's what I would recommend you procure if you want to be prepared:

1.  Electrical drawings for the system.  My experience has been the PLC's themselves are very reliable and the problem is usually in the field components.

2.  A copy of the PLC program.

3. A spare Jazz unit.  If your local distributor is any good he'll load the program for you.  I wouldn't worry about getting the cable unless you really want one.  This requires getting the U90 software and a USB converter set up on a computer and that can be more trouble than it's worth if you're never going to use it.

Joe T.

 

[baylys-SAF]

Thanks for all your advice. I'm emailing the design engineer for his thoughts. The original motivation for this post was to improve/tweek the U90 code for more useful data.  I'd also hoped to be able to observe the system running via wifi through a "raspberry type" mini PC plugged into the PLC  but maybe the JZ10-11-UA24 is not very capable of this.

But regardless of the above, I should have a plan in place involving a hard wired simple improvised backup system, which can be run from a generator and survive a week long power outage, because I'm dealing with sewage. 

But I'll chew through this and maybe further on upgrade the PLC to one which more easily allows comms with a PC. 

Thanks. 

[Joe Tauser]

You can monitor the Jazz remotely on a PC with a JZ-RS4 cable and the Remote Access software, which is a free download from this site.  Depending on the PC you use you may or may not need a serial to USB converter.

Think about what you mean by "useful data".  If you want to log data over time you may want to upgrade to the Vision series, which has 120K of user-defined data tables that can hold a lot of information.  

Joe T.