Should we have an AC Drives Secrtion ?

[Sleepy Wombat]

[TimWilborne]

I voted no. Similar arguements as in the SCADA poll HERE. Do we need another section. Of course with the way Chako has the General Topics section layed out now this isn't much of a problem But more importantly this is a PLC site and we have a Control Panel Section that could be used for this. Also there is not a large volume of drives question here. The only two I can remember recently are THIS one which is mine and THIS one about the shipyard by rajsiyer who is requesting this section I think we need a larger volume of drives question here first but that is just my 2 cents. Of course I got out voted on the SCADA so... Perhaps Moltra could advise on this too since he did recently start a drives forum that no longer appears to be in service.

[geniusintraining]

I voted maybe...I figured that no one else would...just wanted to be different... Ok, seriously, TW said, I would agree but the vast majority of us including yourself are doing it all, there are not very many motion, drive or general awh hell I don't have a clue site's out there, so it would be nice to have another tool in our pockets So again maybe, 'I vote put it on the site', but you can put it where you want, just put it where I can get to it...by the way anyone know how to down load to a Danfoss VLT5000, I wrote a simple single axis program that I need to down load, but I cant figure out how... I read the manual(s) but just can't get it

[Sleepy Wombat]

It would be nice, like the SCADA section i suppose...but i think that we would need a lot more questions on drives to keep coming to justify a section so i voted Mabey so At the momment i use the following site for drives and info..... drive site

[gravitar]

I think its a good idea, but instead of just "AC drives" it should be the broader topic of "motors and motion control", including servos, DC drives, steppers, etc. Having gone to the A-B Kinetix motion control classes last week, I can see that the distinction between "PLC" and "motion" is quickly blurring. Drives have embedded PLCs and PLCs have integrated motion instructions. Seems like a completely appropriate topic of discussion for this place. Heck, they've even selling STARTERS with embedded logic now!

[TimWilborne]

Yes, including Motion Control in it. Good idea Gravitar

[ssommers]

You can add my thread to this discussion. I spent a lot of time looking for a possible place to ask this drives question. Here at MrPLC, there are a whole slew of people who integrate drives with old relay equipment as well as PLCs. I didn't necessarily need someone to give me The Answer. All I really needed was a place to talk it thru and get a sanity check. So I've voted Maybe. Let's see if there's any more calls for a Motion Control section. Thanks for being here, Susan

[geniusintraining]

I agree, the drive that I'm working on now has 8in and 8out standard that can be expanded to 16(plus I'm sure even more with a rio.. How did you like the class? I wish that more companies would offer more training on programming motion, I have many single and multi axis controllers, but the resources are limited, even some of the newer ones don't offer much, but try and find info on the older ones forget it...

[TimWilborne]

No doubt, the distinction between a "Servo Controller" and a PLC is all but gone. Used to PLCs couldn't do motion and Servo Controllers were awful at logic. Not the case anymore

[pseudoquas]

Hmm...problem with another category is that I fear the browsing traffic will be less than if you just tossed it into the general category and see if you get a bite. Personally, I will typically browse the Allen-Bradley category, since like most of us, I spend most of my time developing applications for PLC's. Then I will jump to the General category to see what else is up. As was mentioned above, the Drives questions will be relatively few in number, so I would think that even the experts may frequently skip a distinct drives category during their morning scan. Frankly, even though I've blown up and rebuilt a variety of drives, and so could be considered something of a resource on the subject, I don't see myself going beyond the General Category to find these questions..

[gravitar]

Could it be, though, that the drives questions are few in number because there ISN'T a drives/motion forum? Personally I would like if there was a resistance welding forum, but I know better than to ask :)

[TimWilborne]

Now we're talking, put me in on the yes column of that

[gravitar]

I think there'd be atleast 3 or 4 of us. Is that enough to start a group?

[TimWilborne]

Only one participates in the Industry News section so it should be

[ssommers]

Count me in! I've got a mix of resistance & induction welders. Granted, they don't give me much problems, but it's nice to know where there are people to ask when they do.

[TimWilborne]

Well I don't think Susan was in Gravitar's 3 or 4 so I guess we are up to 4 or 5. Who else?

[geniusintraining]

I hate welding…to me that is a 'controlled direct short' but I am certified (was, expired now) in mig, tig and arc in structural, pipe and pressurized vessel But I'm changing my vote from maybe to yes …I would like to see a drive/motion control, we may get a few experts to stop by and make it a good learning experience, I know a Yaskawa guy that may help, Peter will also help (I would think) I would talk to SEW to see if they could have someone stop by every once in a while Drives and motion are fun, they expand your way of thinking, I love the way I feel after making a good program for a PLC, but when I make a good PLC program and it incorporates a drive with some motion (smooth motion) well…I feel like a kid again

[TimWilborne]

So is that a maybe of our Resistance Welding Forum?

[Sleepy Wombat]

LOL

[geniusintraining]

So what’s the verdict…is there going to be a drive/motion?…I’m kind of slowww sometimes and just don’t want to miss it…well, ok not slow…just way to much caffeine, so things blur together a bit...

[Chris Elston]

You guys are KILLING ME.....LOL....I'll wait it out....see what the votes do.

[TimWilborne]

What about the Resistance Welder Forum? We may not have enough for a section yet but at 4 or 5 I think we can call ourselves the Resistance Welding Posse at this point, what do you think?

[TimWilborne]

After a PM I have decided we need to change the name to lure a few more members Welders Most Have Never Heard of Posse

[rajsiyer]

Hi fellas & susie... I'd no idea that I will get taken so seriously. Basically what you mean is that we are free post our headaches anywhere on this virtual property and can have real hopes of actually finding relief. I've found that it works in the past and know that it will certainly work in the future. Thanks guys. Next....would you believe this? In July, I've actually retrofitted a Sciaky make(1980) flash butt welder with a Modicon Micro PLC. Some part of the employer's money is still with the customer as the welds are not satisfactory. Why I'm telling you this is because It has a drive as well as resistance welding. It is the resistance welder control actually, that is the problem. A guy sold us a PCB with SCRs and conduction angle control which is wired in the primary of the welding transformer. The problem I face at present is that the welding current is so high that it burns up the job or too little for fusing. The welding current is controlled by this PCB, which has a pot. Is such a circuit OK or you people use other Ideas? Next a friend from Egypt, wants a HMI fitted to his steel rolling mill. The chap has a Siemen's S5 and a stand motor driven by a Monitor drive. Will somebody give his opinion as to how best this could be done? His PC has 2 com ports, COM! & COM2 each connected through a separate ADAM 6520 to the PLC & Drive respectively. My question therefore.... How would you use InTouch ver9.5 with the above system. What sort of driver is available for the S5.. and for Monitor.(Gawd I don;t even know what protocol) So Raj S. Iyer

[Ron_Smith]

You can count me in too. I've got about 30 resistance welding machines on the production floor ranging from 60 to 800 amp. I'd imagine the R/W Forum would start off slow but if we all pooled our knowledge we could build a decent knowledge base.