New to Siemens

[AndrewG]

I've used Allen Bradley for 10 years but never used Siemens, I might have to work on a Siemens project soon, it's supposed to use the S7. May be a stupid question, but what do you guys suggest to help learn Siemens programming/troubleshooting? Any articles/links etc would be appreciated, thanks.

[Joe E.]

I got started with Siemens when my company sent me to Siemens' programming 1 class, then a lot of OJT and experience.  I've since taken their "tools & troubleshooting" 1 and 2 as part of having our electricians trained but didn't get anything new out of them.  If you're going to be programming, the programming class is what you want.  Be sure to get the class you need for the software you'll be using: Simatic Manager or TIA Portal.  From what I've seen, a lot of the Simatic Manager information will carry over, but there are differences.

[Bryll]

First of all, register to the Siemens Support forum if you haven't already.

You will find a lot of answers there, if not, ask a question.

It can be hard to find some functions/settings you are looking for in the software. Install the software as soon as possible and take a look at it.

What CPU are you going to use ?

 

[bagged2drag]

I am in a similar boat as you AndrewG.   The basics of the siemens software isn't so much different than something like logix5000.   Navigating and finding where the functions are is not near as intuitive, from what I've found.  The integrated HMI software is pretty nice however, but again, seems to be a bit difficult to do what is normally considered mundane functions (data logging, etc).   I have also found much less response to the Siemens platform vs AB - this could be a regional issue however.   I wish I had more to offer, but I am learning as well.