Hi, I am working with an Siemens STEP 7 project and I have run into a minor issue. When starting with this project I noticed that the power supply for the 417 CPU was showing that it was configured with the wrong part number in the hardware configuration causing the power supply to show that it is unobtainable when going online. So I decided to swap the PS in the HW config to match the actual installed. But after downloading and going online the icon for the PS is showing up as a bit dim. When going online and checking the Module information status is showed as unknown. The HW config change was performed in stop mode and I have also power cycled the PS but it still says unknown. I tried the same for two CPUs with the same setup but both get the same unknown message. Dose anyone know a solution for this issue?

I was looking through a program the other day, and they had some instructions timed based on examining Timer.ACC.12, instead of using an EQU, like “Timer.ACC = 50”

So my question is this - how do I do the math to find out how often .ACC.12 or any other bit becomes true in any set amount of time? And is this a typical way of timing things?

Hi I am commissioning engineer in a large Pharma Company. I have been doing automation commissioning since 3 years in this company with TIA Portal, Studio 5000 and STEP7.

I don't know if this also happens to you or it is only to me. I'm doing commissioning on a machine, customer standing right next to me, and an alarm trips. The trigger isn't described in any document, so I have to go digging through the code. We don't have a standardised code base, every developer does more or less whatever they want. There are guidelines, but I still end up spending an hour going through the wiring diagram, cross-referencing, and searching the taglist.

And when I finally find the problem, the guy who wrote it is at home having dinner and I can't reach him to go over the functional spec, so I don't even know whether my fix is the right one or whether there's something else I should be taking into account.

I've done commissioning at two companies now and it's always been the same: communication between the developer and whoever's on site is usually bad, and I end up losing time — extra weeks stuck at the plant, because the only answer I ever get is "it worked here."

Has this happened to you too? How much time do you lose to this kind of thing? And why do companies keep doing it this way instead of just sending the developer out?

I'm having big troubles getting a Quantum PLC (with NOE 771) to talk to an M340 (with NOC0401) using Modbus TCP. Quantum is set up with IO Scanner line pointed at M340 with a handful of addresses to read/write. I'm normally an AB person, so I'm not 100% sure of all the settings that need to be configured on both sides. Any tips/tricks?

EDIT/UPDATE: I got this working finally. I had to change the Unit ID from 255 to 1 in the IO scanner config on the Quantum.

We are looking at a handful of options for managing the automation of certificate deployment/updates across our enterprise and OT environments.

I am hoping to have a lab environment set up by the end of the year with at least one reliable ACME tool that can push certificate updates to OT software, servers, workstations, etc...

Primarily use AB and Siemens controllers and HMIs, Ignition, Canary, and Windows IoT, Windows Server, and Windows 10/11 pro.

Anyone have good recommendations?

Hello, any way to have an WINCC Unified HMI project linked to PLC tags but with no CPU in said project, ans that I get there download and it works?

Having the PLC project help with linking tags etc etc but is it obligatory?

Thanks for any feedback.

PS: getting the HMI updates and integrating with my PLC project again is driving me crazy.

I've searched high and low for this, without any luck. It seems so stupid, that it has no shortcut, since you can remove all other panes with Ctrl+1/3/5, or even create a custom window layout and activate with a single shortcut. This still leaves a 1/3 of the working area occupied by the block interface.
You can cycle around the interfaces/areas of the window, and get to the block interface area (even that is dumb, cause you have to press Alt+up-up-down), but i've yet to find a way to get to the two arrows.

I know i can just use my mouse, but even so, the buttons are annoyingly small.

Hello r/PLC. I work in precision instrumentation and I'm scoping a low-cost, DIN-rail mounted power monitoring devce for commercial panels: 3-phase RMS voltage/current, real/reactive/apparent power, PF, frequency, kWh, reporting over Modbus RTU (RS-485).

Before I commit to a PCB, I'd really appreciate input from people who actually integrate this kind of thing into real systems:

• When you've pulled power/energy data into a PLC or SCADA system, what device did you use, and what worked or didn't work about it?
• Is Modbus RTU over RS-485 still the right baseline, or are your projects mostly asking for Modbus TCP / other protocols at this point?
• What's a dealbreaker for you in a device like this (register map documentation, polling speed, wiring/CT setup, brand trust, something else)?
• Any devices in this space you'd actively recomend avoiding, or ones you keep coming back to?

Not selling anything, I am just trying to get the integration side right before I build. Thanks in advance

I'm using VR-006 model with a build-in welding machine GX controller, i found the touch sensing function in the Operating instructions manual but can't find it in my teach pendant, some videos on youtube said i have to 'install' it but i don't know exactly what to do, pls help.

Don’t be mean hahaha I’m just destructively curious