ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area PLC control topics

hi, I would like to talk about the PLC with all of you here , I think that the PLC are widely used and as a electrician, we may contact the PLC often. so if someone like to talk about the PLC such as Allen-bradey, I would like to share my experience with him.

Stanley,

I think PLCs are a great thing for an Electrician to know. Years ago, I signed up for a course at a Trade School, but it was cancelled "for lack of interest"

How did you learn about them?

Bill

Hi, Bill,
I learn the PLC all by myself, I have bouht the PLC training books , and I have got the PLC Programming software. so I can study them at home. and also, my company offer me the chance to use the PLC.
it more easier to make your control idea come true when you use PLC.

Bill,
As an instructor in an industrial technology collge we do not like to cancel classes. But the school system sometimes feel like it needs to be a buisness instead of a service. And with the big budget cuts that are in the news these days I think a lot more techinical classes will be lost. We offer a good mix of classes and we try to hold classes even if 2 or 3 people sign up. Hard to justify to upper management sometimes.

Stanley,
Your right more electricians are comming in contact with the PLC. I remember the first one we installed on a job had to hire the programmer to program it, $$$$. Way to go on tring learn it on your own nothing like hands on training.

Hi Stanley,
My "regular" job is as an electrician in a hot strip mill. We've been installing plc's for about 15 years. Started with the GE Series 1 Jr., also the Series 1, Series 6, 90/70 and Allen Bradley/Rockwell PLC 5/15. Some guys in our shop had no interest in learning them but I really like to program. We all learned by doing. It's nice to have a reference book handy but I think it would be hard to learn if it was strictly from books.
I've only worked with GE and Allen Bradley and I like Allen Bradley much more than the GE plc's.
Over the last couple of years, I have been working at the plant's process water treatment plant. I'm the only guy there and get to do all the programming, tweaking things here and there and playing what-if with the code. Like I said, I really enjoy it.
What do you do with plc's?
Don



[This message has been edited by donles (edited 03-21-2002).]

donles
I always liked the GEs better than the ailing-badley. But when they came out with the SMCCC series those were great. I got as far as the A-B PLC-5 series even went to their school but this is about 10 years ago now. The slickest system I've seen was the one A-B installed in the City at the Steel mill for their new continuous castor maching it was a combination of the advanced 5 series called Pyrimid integration system.
If you can convince those guys who dont like PLCs they had better because this is the wave of the future. Alot of places are using PLCs for the ladder logic and PCs for the programs and they both work together for different jobs and types of material.
-Mark-

I worked with PLC's at a company I used to work at using Graysoft software, similar to Modsoft. The input and output modules were Gould (modicon). We used them to control wiremaking machines.

I am very glad to see that so more people here likes to talk about the PLC.
Hi, Donles, I am now seeking for a job related to PLC, AC/DC drives or PC-based electrical control system design, programming, commissioning, troubleshooting and maintenance. I am familiar with various PLC(SIEMENS,AB,OMRON),my last lost job was to program AB slc-500 PLC for different control system. I think that to use PLC good is not a easy thing. some times the PLC are always connected with AC drivers and Operator Panels.and in advanced applications,like Robots control system, it may also related to CNC programming and servo motor control.
all to gether, I would like to tall about these with all of you, to discuss the problem we meet in the work,I think that it would do our good to raise our experience in that field.

I like PLC's as well. I don't know much about them, but our company has installed, and worked on a few. We installed an AB PLC 5. for a conveyor system. Relay logic is slowly becoming a thing of the past. I have a friend who works for a traffic signal company, and he says that all new traffic signals that they install have a PLC in them with a modum so troubleshooting and signal ajustments can be made from a remote location.
Programmable Logically Yours,
Doc

We have bid a couple of jobs with PLC control subbing out the programming. In each case the cost difference to go with PLC was about 30k higher. (the application is motor control for a grain elevator).

In both cases we ended up going with hard wired start/stops.......
this makes for huge control panels that are difficult for operators to learn/understand.

How can we break into the PLC business without breaking the bank?

I am a "techie" and like programming, but I am time and resource limited. I need to invest where I can get the best return, so far that has been running pipe and wire.

GJ

[This message has been edited by golf junkie (edited 03-22-2002).]