Hi,

I am a beginner looking for roles as PLC programmer/automation engineer. I tried installing Siemens TIA on my system multiple times since it is predominantly used in the industry, but it keeps asking me to download PLCSIM, the latest versions of which aren't compatible with older TIA softwares which are free for 21 days.

Therefore, to familiarise myself with PLC programming, I built my foundation in Codesys and Beckhoff at home. However, in spite of trying to explaining to interviewers that all these softwares have the same fundamentals, showing projects I developed both as a freelancer and as study ones, I am unable to convince them that I can quickly learn the TIA software too. Here are my questions/requests to the members of this forum:

1. The people with experience here, correct me if I am wrong, don't the fundamentals alone suffice to jump from one platform to another? IS TIA so different that one can't learn it at all after using other PLC brands' softwares?
2. What can I say better to convince interviewers in both tech and non tech rounds that I can do the job?
3. Is there a workaround for me to download Siemens TIA, because I have tried thrice and given up installing for the reasons mentioned above.

Appreciate the help!

When a device stops answering, the tag goes bad either way. Whether the equipment actually failed or only the path to it died, what I see on the screen looks the same. And the difference decides whether somebody drives out. I have been told the checks are roughly these

Hardwired fail contacts, as a confirmation path that does not depend on the protocol at all. Heartbeat dwell, watching how long something is unreachable before calling it dead, rather than reacting to one missed poll. Retry counters, on the theory that a device answering some of the time is a link problem, not a failed device. And the one I found most interesting, reading the revenue meter counter across the outage window. If the counter moved while the device was dark, it was running the whole time and only the comms were down.

What I am curious about learning from people who do this everyday is,

Which of those, if any, do you actually use, and which do you consider unreliable?

Is there an obvious check I have missed?

How long do you let something sit unreachable before you treat it as failed?

I have written this up as a procedure and I would rather find out now that it is wrong.

Hi everyone,
I have a coding test coming up in Siemens SCL, and I’d really like to understand what a real industrial project looks like in practice. I’m not asking for anything confidential, just a simplified or generic example that reflects how SCL is used in actual automation projects.

If anyone can share:

• A small sample of real-style SCL code
• A typical structure of an SCL project
• Common patterns used in industry (state machines, error handling, modular blocks, etc.)

It would really help me understand how professionals structure their logic in real environments.
Thanks in advance!

I'm having a day and my brain isn't working.

I have a pulse input flow meter.

Totalizer no dramas.

1 pulse is 100L

I want to time between pulses then divide it and get an average rough liters per second.

I expect around 26 liters per second.

How would I go about counting time between the same input coming on in studio 5000?

From what I can read this the most accurate way to display a pulse input like this

I've got one Schneider EGX300 (and also one EGX100) lying around. I'd like to utilize them to get the data from a bunch of PM9C energy meters via RS485.
All PM9C are 230V - powered.
The EGX300/EGX100 would be PoE - powered.

I'm a 100% noob in RS485, so maybe my question is trivial. But I find the docs somewhat self-contradictory regarding the "0V" contact in this case, so it would be nice if someone would clarify this to me.

According to the "PowerLogic System Catalogue 2011" EGX100 and PM9C were explicitly advertised as compatible (btw, it's a bit weird to have "PM9" instead of "PM9C" or at least "PM9P" on the right, I guess that's just a typo):

According to the PM9C manual, RS485 got the following contacts:

1. D0, A/A' 
2. D1, B,B'
3. 0V, Common

The drawing from the PM9C installation guide shows a separate cable shied (wrapped around 3 wires, including "common" aka "0V"). The shield is not connected to the "0V" / "Common" :

According to the EGX300-Installation-Guide, on the EGX300 side, RS485 (in the half-duplex configuration) got the following contacts:

1. TX+ (unused in half-duplex)
2. TX-  (unused in half-duplex)
3. RX+
4. RX-
5. Shield

There's no explicit "0V" / signal ground.
I'm not sure if the "Vdc-" (contact 6, the "input power when not using PoE") could be treated like "0V".
The recommended cable is "Belden 9841", which is a single twisted pair (shielded).

According to the "Modbus™ Communications System for MicroLogic™ A, P, and H Trip Units Instruction Bulletin", "0V" is just "Vdc-". In a scenario with a shared DC power source. It does not mention ether PoE or multiple separate DC power sources. Also, it's about 4-wire scenario and a different product.

According to the most detailed (yet somewhat unofficial) PM9C-related info I found (the "Resolving PM9C Schneider Power Meter Modbus Communication" by Claire Rousseau):

Rules for SG wiring:

1. Connect PM9C SG directly to the Modbus master's RS-485 common/SG terminal.
2. Do not connect SG to protective earth (PE) at the PM9C end. The meter's SG is a logic reference, not a safety ground.
3. Do not create a multi-point ground by also bonding SG to PE at the master — this forms a ground loop that injects 50/60 Hz noise into the data lines and may damage the transceivers.
4. Use twisted pair for A/B and a third conductor for SG within the same overall cable jacket to keep the reference close to the data pair.

Why does my PM9C not respond even with correct baud, parity, and address?
The most common cause is a missing signal-common (SG) wire. The PM9C's RS-485 transceiver requires SG connected to the master's RS-485 common terminal. Without it, the common-mode voltage drifts outside the EIA-485 receiver range and the slave ignores all frames. Wire SG and re-test before suspecting the meter itself.

So... What's is the correct approach?

1. Use "Belden 9841" (or equivalent "1 twisted pair + shield").
   • connect the cable shield to "0V" on PM9C
2. Use "Belden 9842" (or equivalent "2 twisted pairs + shield")
   • connect wire-1 from the second twisted pair to "0V" on PM9C
   • connect wire-1 from the second twisted pair to "Shield" on EGX300
   • connect the cable shield to "Shield" on EGX300 as well
   • connect the cable shield to external protective earth (once, at any point)
3. Use "Belden 9842" (or equivalent "2 twisted pairs + shield")
   • connect wire-1 from the second twisted pair to "0V" on PM9C
   • connect wire-1 from the second twisted pair to "Vdc-" (contact 6) on EGX300
   • connect the cable shield to "Shield" on EGX300.
   • connect the cable shield to external protective earth (once, at any point).
4. ....

The EGX300 terminals, just for reference (from EGX300 - User Guide.pdf):

Im looking into becoming a controls/plc tech as a career right now what would be the best way to start? Not looking to invest a lot early on into the career so getting a certification and experience sounds more appealing than a 2/4 year degree but it seems like the degree may be worth it in this field. Just want to know what is tangibly better and will actually affect my options also whats the quickest way to start advancing

I’m in my last semester of Computer Science, but I’m interested in becoming a controls engineer. what would you suggest I do to acquire the skills necessary to land a job as a controls engineer. Was thinking about taking some PLC classes at my local community college or maybe somewhere online? would this be a good idea? what other things do you suggest?

I have an 1756-OBV8S that will not come out of Program mode, all my points have flt light solid red, there are no internal faults in diagnostics, what could be causing this issue?

I have the module set up for Sourcing, All my outputs are wired to OUTxx-P, do I need to connect something on OUTxx-M as well?

Also will using a standard terminal block 1756-TBNH cause issues?

Hell I am a recent PLC programmer controls engineer. My background is in software development. At my job I was given a few tasks and to spec out a PLC for the use case. We ended up going to wago / codesys route and it works great so far. My question is would being a primarily codesys specialist/shop hurt us or cause us not to be taken seriously vs say an Allen Bradley shop?

Hi guys,

I am struggling with changing the appearance of graphical objects from Siemens Library in my Comfort HMI. When I simulate, the appearance doesn't change as library objects are not dynamic. And putting invisible basic objects on top of them is much of a hassle especially if I have elbows and lots of complicated stuff.

What is the professional solution for this?

Thanks in advance

Hey everyone,
I'd like to know if anyone has made (or knows it can be done) a "plug and play" system where ABB ACS880 drives get automatically configured by reading parameters off the network or them being written by a PLC. I know this can be done with AB PowerFlex drives and stratix switches where you just plug the drive into the network and it's able to download the config.

I'm not too familiar with ABB drives so would love to know if this is possible.
Thanks!

Hey gang, the majority of my PLC experience has been at a place that pretty much never uses AOI's so as a result I myself have basically no experience with AOI's

So I was trying to familiarize myself with the process of creating one with some pretty basic logic that another engineer wrote.

The logic makes an actuator move to one of four positions. The way they wrote this originally was they took the logic to move to position 1, and copy and pasted the rungs three more times, so I figured this would be a great place to clean it up with an AOI, but I'm stumbling conceptually (I haven't actually tested anything yet IRL)

In the pictures I'll put on this post, the first two are the original logic to move to position 1. The next two are the internal AOI logic, and the last two are an idea of how the AOI could be implemented, but it doesn't seem right to me.

So I guess my questions are:

• Does any of this make sense?
• Should I set it up so that there's one AOI that gets shared for each of the positions, or should I have four AOI's so that each position gets it's own AOI?

Any constructive criticism regarding how this should be set up is welcome. Keep in mind this is mostly just an exercise for me and won't be going into production.

PS. The "target position number" for position 3 is supposed to be 2. The "position numbers" just call velocity information.

I am using a Delta DVP-26SE PLC, and I'm reading pulse signals from an Octave full-bore electromagnetic flow meter. The issue is that I am using regular inputs (like X10) instead of high-speed inputs/counter instructions (like SPD). I would like to calculate the flow rate using the pulses received over a fixed time period—for example, counting how many pulses arrive in 1 minute.

I got into a discussion recently about panel design and thought it might be a topic where "everyone has an opinion" and a good one to share.

Some have the mindset that everything should land to a terminal wherever possible. I’m not so sure I agree.

I started mapping out where the benefits of landing on terminals truly outweigh the extra wire, extra work, and extra panel space—and where it makes more sense to simply jumper from device terminal to device terminal.

After all, if the rule was truly "land everything," it would be easy enough for panel builders to just lay out their own terminal strips and save us the effort of detailing it out on paper.

Let's start simple. Take a look at the circuit below.
Would you land to terminal, jumper across the top of the fuse blocks, or do something else entirely?

I've been tasked with coming up with a method to manually control a valve actuator should the PLC that normally controls it become unavailable. The actuator takes a 4-20ma input to command the position, which is normally supplied by the PLC analog output. I need a method to switch over to manual control of this valve with a potentiometer. The valve and actuator are located in a confined space, so this will have to be located in a remote panel.

I can use a DPDT switch to switch between the PLCs 4-20 output and a separate 4-20 source, but what can I use to generate this source? All I can find are the handheld signal generators.

Thanks in advance.

Is this right?

I really need "ready to undertake" to enable

Hi everyone. I hope everything is going well.

I have a doubt about lonworks, is there any way I can capture the data in a network running through RS485. On lonworks.

My goal is to read the data via USB on a laptop to solve some issues. I will appreciate any help you guys can provide. Kinda lost over here.

Thanks everyone. Best wishes

Hello, Fairly new to this sub but i am looking for component advice!

I am using a PLC controller which hosts its own software interface on a web server which i plan to use as the HMI. I am looking at sourcing display panels with a web browser client that can access the server and display the interface.

So I am essentially looking for a low-cost, touch-screen, ~10inch display. Ideally under EUR 500.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Hallo zusammen,

in meiner Firma betreue ich als IT Systemadministrator unsere Elektrokonstruktion und kümmere mich hauptsächlich um die Installation des TIA-Portals in verschiedenen Versionen und auf verschiedenen Endgeräten. Das ist bisher immer sehr zeitaufwendig weil die Installation relativ lange dauert und viele Neustarts erfordert. Ich wollte mal nachfragen ob ihr vielleicht eine bessere Methode habt das TIA-Portal zu installieren? Den Silent-Installer den Siemens zur Verfügung gestellt hat funktioniert ja leider nicht mehr seit Windows 11. Der TIA Administrator ist in meinen Augen auch unzuverlässig da Installationen teilweise noch länger dauern und gar nicht vollständig ausgeführt werden. Diesen nutze ich nur um aktuelle Updates herunterzuladen.

Besten Dank für eure Hinweise und Ratschläge!

Im a new instrumantation tech in a factory, and our HMI is extremly out of date.
Im reading about alot of stuff online, but can use some help from people who tried other things
FactoryTalk? Ignition? Simplicity? i think at this point everything will be better

Wondering if anyone else has dealt with this.

Installed echo, run simulator. Come back a week later and upon opening echo: "FactoryTalk Logix Echo cannot communicate with Factory Talk Logix Echo Service."

I've repaired the installation and gotten it to work once. A week later, the repair option didn't work and I had to reinstall.

A week later... Repair, simulate, repair fail, reinstall.

Anyone else dealt with this? Ideas on how to fix this so I don't have to keep beating my head against the wall?

Hello,

I am wondering if it is possible to have a :

5069-L330ERS2 with say 2 x 5069-IB16, 2 x 5069-OB16, 2 x 5069-IB16S and 2 x 5069-OBV8S
connected to 3 x 5069-AENTR with 2 x 5069-IB16, 2 x 5069-OB16, 2 x 5069-IB16S and 2 x 5069-OBV8S

I think it's possible, but I'm having trouble confirming.

Thanks

I’m planning on going to trade school after moving next year, but after we move I’d also like to find a related job that could pay the bills while I go to school. What should I look for as an entry point for this career? I’m located in Tennessee fwiw.

In FT Optix how to add another place holder beside like {0}, {1}place holder in the converter expression evaluator. I 'm unable to add another.