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John_R

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Posts posted by John_R

  1. Thanks all for the suggestions...

    I'm still leaning for the little Warner clutch/brake power supply, it's compact and plugs into a 8-pin relay socket.

    says its good for 1.25 amps at 90VDC, my little gear-motor says it draws 0.85 amps.....

    image.png.36dcf433d87589a6af853d1e1e426c2b.png

    I'm trying to get away from these little DC drive boards, I have a lot of moisture induced failures with these (the slightest dampness and they shut down, let them dry and they work again,  just a big nuisance...), and they also take up a little more "floor-space" in my limited panel.

    Also, a common off the shelf item....

     

     

  2. Hey All,

    I have a small piece of equipment that I am updating.

    it has three small DC gearmotors,  two of which are variable speed using small 90VDC motor controllers.
    and I am replacing these with 3-phase gearmotors and using AC VFD's.
    the third is a small (1/17th hp) DC motor that is for a mechanical adjustment, and is run full voltage,
    forward or reverse with a selector switch arrangement that switches polarity to the motor.

    I plan on keeping this as-is, but the caveat is that it's power source comes from the Field supply on one of the DC motor controllers.

    All that said, I'm looking for a simple 90VDC supply...

    Warner makes some little 90VDC modules designed for brake/clutch operation, I thought about using something like that.

    Or do I simply feed 120VAC (fused of course) into a bridge rectifier, which without a filter cap yields a little over 100VDC.

    The motor is only run intermittently, so I don't feel the slight overvoltage will damage the motor (and the specs from the old DC controller say the Field supply is 100VDC anyway).

    Anyone have thoughts or suggestions?  😵

    JohnR

  3. Well, the two "spare" modules I had were actually used modules pulled from two other machines that were scrapped last year, stashed away in a box of other misc used parts😡

    One of them worked, but of course the first one I grabbed didn't, and that steered me off looking for a different problem, it wasn't until my troubleshooting brought me back full circle to the module, which I then replaced with the other "spare" that did work....

  4. Aus,

    My analogy is that a schematic is like road map and shows you where you are going...
    so far as the "line diagram" (DIN prints as I call them), compared to a "regular" electrical print;

    When you look at a complete map of the country (regular print), you can see how the highways interconnect from state to state.
    When Interstate 70 (in the US) leaves the left side of Illinois, you can clearly see that it then enters the right side of Missouri.

    But if you grab a Road Atlas, where each state is on it's own page (like the DIN prints)...

    If you are looking at Illinois and follow Interstate 70 where it exits to the left, it does not go to the next page to the left,
    instead it references Missouri, and you have to flip through several pages to get there, with other pages of roads (connection paths) scattered in between....

     

    🤔


    Now so far as the OP's question about Schematic Software, for many years I have been using a simple 2D CAD program.
    I have built a custom menu containing the most common symbols, that I can click & drop into my drawing.
    I have many symbols in my library that I have drawn from scratch, and others that I have grabbed off of manufacturers
    websites (I can import DXF & DWG's into my CAD program, doctor them to my needs and save as a symbol).

    No, it does not create Parts Lists or Net Lists, but it does allow me to create legible drawings for our technicians to use.

    JohnR

  5. Hey All,

    Got a problem that popped up yesterday that I can't seem to wrap my head around.
    Maybe someone else has seen this before...

    I have a freezer that is controlled with a V280, three Type T thermocouples into an IO-ATC8.
    (module four in a bank of five)

    At the points being monitored by the T/Cs I typically have readings between -200 & 40 deg.
    Yesterday, all three suddenly went whack, reading a couple hundred degrees higher that actual temp.

    This morning I tried;
    swapping out the IO-ATC8 module (thinking it went goofy), no change
    reset/init of the PLC (to clear out any whacky numbers), no change
    reloading the program into the plc (in case the module config somehow changed), no change
    wiggle-jiggled the expansion connectors between modules, no change

    Next stop, swap out the PLC, but I can't do that today as the freezer is in use.

    There was an event yesterday morning, where one of my techs said the panels 24V supply
    got shorted (stray whiskers on a terminal block), but the PS came back after he cleared the fault.
    And it is giving me 24volts....

    Thoughts or suggestions anyone??

    JohnR

     

    image.png.cba49526a856fd45cdcb04c733067cd1.png

  6. On 9/11/2020 at 2:01 PM, Flex727 said:
    On 9/11/2020 at 10:14 AM, Flex727 said:

    I also keep a copy of a known good installation for each VisiLogic version on a separate drive (the entire folder from the Programs Files (x86) folder) and copy over the one that's messed up.

    The problem is that requires advance preparation.

    Yes Flex, I keep archived installs also... just seemed odd that it happened when I installed Remote Access

     

    On 9/11/2020 at 2:06 PM, Joe Tauser said:

    Is this Win 10?

    Did you install the latest version of Remote Access or a previous one?

    Yes, Win 10, and just downloaded the latest version from Unitronics website...

     

    On 9/11/2020 at 5:26 PM, Ausman said:

    JohnR, what you are describing is classic case of what I have banged on about before.  I suggest you have a good read of this post/topic and fiddle with the .evb.

    http://forum.unitronics.com/topic/6478-connection-problem/?do=findComment&comment=26158

    And the winner is.... Aus.....😌

    Renamed the .evb file and created new, problem solved....

     

    Thanks guys...

  7. Hey All,

    I'm in the midst of upgrading an older V120 project to a V350.

    The V120 has two installed serial ports;
    I use Port 1 for programming
    and Port 2 for RS485/MODBUS to an AB VFD

    The V350 has one installed serial port along with a USB port.
    The spec sheet says;
    "Note that physically connecting a PC to the controller via USB suspends RS232/RS485 communications
    via Port 1. When the PC is disconnected, RS232/RS485 resumes."

    So, in essence this means I could use Port 1 for my RS485/MODBUS, and can plug into the USB if I need to program.
    I guess the downside is that I would not be able to see the MODBUS data in debug.
    So my inclination is to add in the second serial port.
    But... at some point in the future I may want to add an ethernet card...

    Question is, can I install both a second serial card and an ethernet card?

    JohnR

     

  8. Hey All,

    Just had a strange experience while installing Remote Access onto a PC.

    Now this PC is one I use as my normal workstation, email/office/CAD/etc, but not my PLC stuff,
    but I do have an older version of Visilogic (9.8.31) installed that I use to get online
    to look at something in the plant without disturbing what I'm doing on my programming PC.

    Now I just finished a little project (a water meter using a Dwyer Ultrasonic Flowmeter, connected to a V350)
    that I was going to setup Remote Access for a manager to be able to remote into...

    So, just for testing purposes I decided to do an install of Remote Access on my workstation (yes, installed as admin).
    Install went ok, I opened Remote Access and added the PLC to the Favorites list
    (which already was populated with a half dozen PLCs from the Vision Install),
    but when I select this (or any) PLC from the list and click on the Get OPLC Information button,
    I get a warning message that "No PlC is currently selected in Connection-PC settings".

    If I open up Visilogic and try to check connection with any of these PLCs I get a similar message.

    My instincts are to do a good uninstall (RevoUninstaller) and start over, but thought I'd solicit opinions first.

     

    JohnR

    remote.PNG

    vision.PNG

  9. On 8/15/2020 at 1:01 AM, Thomas Kisanga said:

    I got Jazz JZ20 - T18 to replace to my milk parker machine - I need to create project file and make it work

    Or is the OP saying that he got a new Jazz20 to replace an existing Jazz20 , and needs to know how to get the code out of the old and into the new??

  10. 3 hours ago, Isakovic said:
    On 8/11/2020 at 7:41 AM, Kieran B said:

    yes my sample projects attached work great

    I like your style.

    It's more efficient, I have separate bit for every Modbus command. Will give this method a try.

    Kieran

    I would like to see  your "style",  I sometimes do MODBUS and I always feel my code is clunky....

    But I can't seem to download your sample projects, as though they are now dead links...

    Regards,

    JohnR

  11. 11 hours ago, kratmel said:

    ...... And everything I talk about magically appears in advertising.

    My wife tells me this from time to time, she'll be talking to someone about some not-to-common subject, next day there will be references to that subject on her phone.

    this I why I avoid all the "smart" things my phone can do... I text, take pics, use the calculator, oh and sometimes talk.... I avoid IoT also....:huh:

     

    Also, not my joke.....

    My wife got her eyebrows painted on

    I told her they were too high

    she looked surprised

  12. As I've mentioned somewhere here before, I've taken to the habit of drilling holes in the corners of the snap-in modules (I've made a little drilling template that lays over the module), and securing with screws.

    For a few years now, the creators have provided screw bosses on the PLC case, but they still don't put the holes in the modules?

    this doesn't prevent someone from bending a pin, but it sure keeps the snap-in module from falling off due to machine vibration....

  13. Or even the perception of what your own voice sounds like...

    I remember as a young man, just getting into music, recording myself on a tape recorder (yes, reel to reel  😏),
    and being so surprised what I sounded like (that's me?)....

    I did go on and play in a couple of bands in my youth, and one "soundman" we had really loved to over-use the delay.
    Yep, really hard to sing when your own voice is slapping back at you two words later...

    JohnR

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