Fanuc 90-30

[Pulsar2003]

Hello, First I'm more familiar with AB's products than GE. I have a problem that happens once in a while. I begin to wonder if their is not a problem with the CPU. It is a pulveriser for plastic pellets. There are five steps for the start up: Mill, Fan, Air lock, Sifter, and Feed. This is done manually via a Quick Panel and there is, except for the Mill a delay of 20 seconds. The Mill needs about a minutes as it strats the motor in a Y connection and later on switches secondary contactors to be connected as Delta. Once the hopper is filled up it automatically shuts down: Feed, Sifter, Air Lock, Fan and finally the Mill. There is a preset timer for a delay 20 minutes in between each process. This works fine except once in a while where the Mill doesn't. What happens it that due to vibrations of the 125Hp motor some pellets drop into the milling chamber and once the 90 degrees elbow is filled the powder is blown out by an air intake as the main fan is off. We endup having a huge mess every time this happens not to mention the lost of material and money. Doesn't matter the time of year, it can be cold or warm where it is located. Now I wonder why this happens. There is also another problem that happens once in a while: A melt down!!! This means that the whole pulverising chamber gets filled up by the grinded palstic and as it can't be sucked out by the fan because the particules are to heavy it ends up in a sirup (This is because too much material is dropped in the chamber). The grinding process is monitored by a thermocouple (analog input with a signal conditioner) and shurely uses a PID to control the amount of pellets that fall into the grinding chamber(analog output to a SCR relay). There are some values that we can modify in order to obtain the results we wish. Is it possible that there is a problem here too with the CPU? Same thing as for the timer? CPU freeses. I don't have the programming software (the name ofthe software eludes me as I write these words. Versa View?). I have contacted my local GE dealer, as I read on these forum that we can have a limited version for free, just need to reinstall. But my dealer told me that I needed to buy a "Startup kit" (software and a PLC). I told him that this was not what I was being told. But it ended there. Thank you again. Edited June 23, 2012 by Pulsar2003

[Steve Bailey]

I doubt if your problem is with the PLC hardware. All brands of PLC have pretty reliable built-in error detection. If they detect something amiss, they generally shut themselves down completely, turning all of their outputs off. The software you're looking for is probably Versa Pro, although that's no longer being sold. The current software is called Proficy Machine Edition. If you can get a copy of the Versa Pro installation CD, you can install it and the software will be fully functional for a four day evaluation period. After that you won't be able to save any modifications you make. You can uninstall and reinstall to restart the four day clock. The real challenge is getting a copy of the CD. It sounds like your distributor is unwilling to give you one. My experience with intermittent problems is that they are a response to intermittent anomalies in the operation. By that I mean that the program successfully accounts for the way the operator runs the macine most of the time, but every now and then something happens slightly out of sequence. It could be the operator pushes the buttons in a slightly different order. It could be that a photocell is blocked a little longer than usual due to a box being slightly out of position on a conveyor. For whatever reason, the difference is enough to cause problems. It's possible that your problem with timers is in the way the original programmer wrote the program. If he was unfamiliar with the 90-30 he could have made a common error. GE timers work a lot like AB timers, but the 90-30 memory map doesn't include a predefined timer area like AB's T4 memory. Instead, each timer uses three words of %R memory. %R memory in a 90-30 is similar to N7 memory in AB. If the programmer didn't keep track of his memory usage, he could have assigned the one or more %R addresses to two different timers. You might get away with the overlap if the two timers don't have to be timing at the same time, but if both are active simultaneously you'll get unexpected results. Its something to check for once you can get the software and take a look at the program.

[Pulsar2003]

Glad to hear that the problem is not with the PLC/CPU. So I will need to find the software and study the ladder and the logic in the program. When I call the dealer I should as for Proficy Machine Edition and not Versa Pro. Do you know any dealer in the US that will offer the trial version? I include the link that I found so one can see how it looks like: http://www.orenda-automation.com/product.php?id=6 . I'm the only one who orerates this machine and there is not much else than the touch screen. The veriaty of sensors are limited: a thermocouple, an inductive sensor to indicate that the lid is in place, three capacitive sensors for levels and finally a current transformer for the mill motor current. There I don't see how these can alter the progress of the ladder and the timers. I found this web page: http://www.ge-ip.com/products/2825 unfortunately the downloads don't work. Thanks.

[Steve Bailey]

There is no "trial version" of the programming software. The trial is simply the four day period during which the software will be fully functional without having to be licensed. After the four day trial period, if it can't locate a license, the software will not let you go online with the PLC, nor will it let you save any changes you might make while offline. Any distributor can choose to give you a copy of the installation CD. It all depends on the relationship you have with them. If you buy stuff from them on a regular basis, they will be more likely to do you a favor. If the only time they ever hear from you is to complain about how the stuff they sell is s**t compared to their competitor's products, they'll be less likely to help.

[RussB]

You can order a demo DVD from www.GE-IP.com http://www.ge-ip.com/products/2825 Write them and ask for the Demo DVD of Proficy Machine Edition.