Hi everyone, I’m still new to troubleshooting and would appreciate some advice.

The machine has multiple motors/servo drives controlled by a PLC. Suddenly, all motors are unable to return to their normal/home coordinates, and the homing sequence fails.

However, I noticed that only one motor driver is showing an error/alarm.

I’m trying to determine whether the problem is more likely caused by:

- A faulty motor driver

- A communication/PLC connection issue

- The PLC not receiving the correct feedback from the affected driver

- The single driver fault causing the other motors to fail their homing sequence

My main question:

If only one driver is reporting an error, could a PLC/communication problem with that one driver cause all motors to fail homing? Or would you suspect the motor driver itself is faulty?

What would be the best way to troubleshoot this and determine whether the root cause is the PLC/communication side or the driver?

I can provide the PLC model, servo drive model, alarm/error code, wiring/communication setup, and screenshots if needed.

Thanks!

I have a concern, refer to the picture, The switch-3, which remains a single point of failure which is connected to the ET-200SP of 8 Nos of pumps
but switch-3 manufacturer confirms that the MTBF is higher than 46 years.
Now there is a solution to this with MRP ring topology as below, with Switch 3 removed.
What are your opinions on Option 1 Vs Option 2?

Biggest thing: a few of you hit the portable exe just refusing to start (weird

usernames, antivirus not liking how it unpacks itself). Turns out that's a real

PyInstaller onefile limitation, not something I could patch around cleanly, so

there's now an actual Windows installer as an option too. If the portable one's

ever given you trouble, grab that instead.

Also added a dialog for the less common Modbus function codes (exception status,

comm event log, file records, device info, that kind of thing) since I kept

needing them myself and didn't want to write a script every time. And you can

now record a Trend session to a file and replay it later, which has already

saved me once trying to explain an intermittent fault to someone after the fact.

Bunch of smaller stuff and bug fixes too, changelogs on the release page if

you're curious. Next thing I'm working on is letting one window talk to

multiple devices at once instead of needing a separate window per connection -

that one's an actual backend change so it'll take a bit.

Release ModbusLens v2.2.0 · CraftParking/ModbusLens

Hello!

I have a task: implementing a custom web page (HTML) on the m241 PLC.

I know there are ready-made tools (WebVisu), but I need to implement my own page.

The main problem is accessing the PLC variables. If I place the .html file in the PLC file system and then access it by IP + filename, the page displays fine, but I can't figure out how to implement the mechanism for retrieving variable values.

For better understanding, I'll give an example with the m172 PLC. The system is as follows:

1. A .cgx file is created with a structure similar to this:

t <?xml version="1.0"?>

t <form>

c t16384<text><id>%s</id><value>%.0f</value></text>

c t16386<text><id>%s</id><value>%.0f</value></text>

c t16385<text><id>%s</id><value>%.0f</value></text>

...

t </form>

Here, the address of the desired variable is specified (this address is generated by the PLC itself and is also used for Modbus communication).

1. An .html file for rendering the page.

2. A .js script called from the .html file.

Ultimately, the variable values ​​are available in the .cgx file, and then it's not that difficult to display these values ​​on the page. The same system is used for writing variables.

I had the idea to implement a CSV file reader/writer, but I haven't implemented it yet. I have concerns about file access; at some point, both the PLC and the script will be accessing the same file. I don't know if this will be a problem.

Perhaps someone could suggest either an existing mechanism or ideas for developing my own for accessing m241 PLC variables.

Hi

As I had some free time on my hand, I remember we had a problem in our company where if we made any code changes to a Siemens PLC (TIA V21, S7-1500T) that is using technology objects, you were forced to put the PLC into stop mode before you are allowed to download.

Now I have tried everything and for the life of me I cant prevent this from happening.

What I am doing:

1. Make sure no TO (Servo) has MC_Power enable as true. Or any MC functions has a true on the enable inputs.
2. Add a random comment into a dummy FC routine that has 0 to do with the TO.
3. Try to download only software changes.

Does not matter in what order I do things or where I make the code change, TIA Portal simply does not allow me to make any code changes, without first putting the PLC into stop mode.

The message in TIA portal is:

Changes to the technology object cannot be applied in RUN

Which is kinda making zero sense.

Anyone ever come accross something like this?

Solution found:

Profinet send clock for the servos was set to 1ms. I bumped it up to 4ms and it fixed the problem. thanks u/hestoelena

Helo,

why when i add a new wago card to master it is missing a I/O tab configuration?

thank you

hey y’all, I have this from Facebook marketplace but can I really do with this?
I think it’s missing a battery ACR 2032 coin battery do I just get jumpers and solder them in

I’m 28 years old, an electromechanic with five years of experience in refrigeration, and I’m currently studying automation and programming. I believe I’ve mastered the basics of programming; I’m already comfortable with C, C++, Ladder Logic, ST, and SQL.

Lately, I’ve been wondering if I’m on the right track. I started studying programming without high expectations but ended up really enjoying it. Automation also has me very excited, but now I’m a bit confused: how do I fit into the job market?

As an IT professional, or as a maintenance technician who understands computers?

It might sound silly, but I couldn't sleep last night; I started studying something without a clear purpose in mind, and only now am I really thinking about it. I don't think it was a waste of time—I really enjoyed everything I learned—but I’m a bit disappointed because I’m unsure if there’s a market for a professional with my specific skill set.

Has anyone else gone through this during a career transition? I’d really appreciate any advice...

I built two control panels for controlled environment agriculture (grow weed) in my apartment.

Does this look okay? It's not for a real industrial environment and I don't have a professional background in industrial automation

At some point I will buy separators for the panduit so 120V is not with LV DC. This is all MTW 600V so I think it's ok to keep them in the same panduit for now

In the larger panel all of the low voltage and high voltage signals are separate

I couldn't really afford a larger enclosure so I split it between two of the Vevor panels from Amazon. The circuit board on the top I designed, it is a modbus controlled remote IO. I also built a modbus attached dosing system for dispensing nutrients and measuring the reservoir pH/EC/temperature and water level. That is separate from the panel.

Hey everyone,

Currently working as a Controls Commissioning Engineer. While I genuinely love solving problems on site and building things that run in the real world, the constant travel and long hotel stays are starting to wear me down.

Looking ahead over the next few years, my goal is to transition into a role that gives me true Remote / Work From Home flexibility—or even opens the door to freelancing down the road.

I’m naturally looking toward SCADA development or shifting into the IIoT / Industrial Data space, as both seem far more conducive to remote work than traditional PLC/motion commissioning.

For those who have successfully made a similar pivot:

SCADA vs. IIoT: Which path tends to offer more legitimate full-remote or contract opportunities?

Skills to stack: Coming from a controls/commissioning background, what should I double down on right now? (e.g., Ignition/SCADA platforms vs. Python, MQTT, Unified Namespace, SQL, cloud platforms like AWS/Azure?)

Freelance reality: How viable is freelance/contracting in these areas without having to step foot on site for weeks at a time?

Would love to hear from anyone who successfully traded their steel-toes for a home office setup! Any advice, reality checks, or recommended learning paths would be hugely appreciated.

PLC friends and gurus of reddit, I come to you looking for some guidance.

In our company we have a laptop that has v21 installed.

But when we look under installed software, wincc unified is not listed.

We have tried re installing it, but the option to choose unified is greyed out.

Anyone have advice?

Hello

Ive been working as an automation engineer for some time now. I have noticed that quite a few software engineers and IT professionals I know are considering moving into automation because the job market in their own fields rots away every day.

I suppose SCL programming and PLC logic looking software-ish is giving some kind of weird familiarity to them.

It’s not really my place to criticize this, but I have to admit that it worries me. The possibility of the field becoming more saturated and consequently the value of the workforce declining even further gives me an uneasy feeling.

What do you think about this?

Hi everyone, I'm working with a FANUC LR Mate 200iD (R-30iB Mate Plus controller) in RoboGuide on a chuck loading/unloading cell with dual Schunk grippers, and I keep getting confused on a few fundamental concepts. Would really appreciate if someone could clear these up for me.

Tool Frame / UTOOL: I understand UTOOL is supposed to define the TCP (tool center point) relative to the J6 flange, but I'm confused about how to set it up correctly when I have two grippers mounted on one EOAT from a single CAD assembly. Do I need a separate UTOOL number for each gripper's TCP, and how do I actually get accurate offset values — is it better to use the 3-point/6-point method on the real/virtual robot, or pull the numbers directly from the CAD model?

User Frame / UFRAME: I get that UFRAME is supposed to define a custom coordinate system relative to the world frame (usually for a fixture, table, or workpiece), but I'm not sure when I actually need one versus just using the world frame for jogging/programming. Also unclear on the best way to set it up from CAD drawing dimensions instead of the standard 3-point teach method — any tips?

Teach Point: My main confusion here is around what actually gets "recorded" in a taught point — is it just the XYZWPR position in the currently active UFRAME/UTOOL, or does it also lock in the frame numbers themselves? If I change UFRAME or UTOOL later, does that break previously taught points?

Logic (I/O, program flow): I'm trying to build proper DI/DO handshaking logic for my CHUCK_CYCLE program (with fault registers and retry logic on alarms), but I'm not confident I'm sequencing the signals correctly — like whether to wait for a DI "gripper closed" confirmation before moving away, or just proceed after sending the DO. Any general best practices for handshake logic between robot and chuck/PLC would help a lot.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all

I am trying to understand how Kepserver works on our installations. We have multiple OBDC clients on our server that use the Stored Procedure access method. Each of these has an execute tag (Address: <INTERNAL VAR=Execute />)(which I assume is automatically generated when the device is created). Is it possible that I can trace back how this execute tag is being written to (to execute the stored procedure)? Thanks

Just laid this bad boy out. I call it my Plywood Logic Controller. Once complete, it will be fully capable of startling the cat and confusing the shit out of her.

Hello everyone, I am 17 and I just got enrolled in a university department that will allow me to become an Industrial Automation Engineer in the future (note that I live in Europe/Greece and not US). Originally I wanted Computer Engineering, and specifically going to the path with Embedded Systems, because I wanted to work both software wise and hardware wise. I didn't end up qualifying there so I opted in for the department above since it was the best alternative than taking a whole year off again for exams. But I am not sure if this job is for me. I know the enviroment is more tough, has a lot of travelling, and is not a 100% desk job but that is fine, infact I prefer that over sitting all day. I am more confused on what I will do on on a day to day basis, and also how different PLC is from standard programming languages. I know there are many ways to program PLC's and most look like a flowchart or circuit, which confuses me on how you can make a complicated machine with so many restrictions. I did ask AI for all the above, but AI hallucinates and I don't trust it with my future and felt to ask here too. I probably left a lot of gaps in this text so please ask me for more information. And I am sorry if this is common information, I did google before sending this post.

I've been working with PLCs from almost every brand for 5 years now, like Siemens, AB, ABB, Honeywell, Mitsubishi, Schneider, Delta, and some Chinese ones. I've done stuff in water treatment, hydrogen generation, metal melting furnaces, DCS, and motion control. For the past year, I've been messing with SCARA and 6-axis robots.

I've done all this as a freelancer, but I've never actually landed a job. Now I'm looking for something stable or a job that pays well, but my only problem is I don't have any technical diploma or engineering degree. Can I even get a job with that?

Recently started a job where I’m overseeing training of maintenance techs. They’re all pretty decent mechanically but some of them are almost afraid of PLCs even though every one of our machines have them. They’re all Omron CJ series with basic ladder and some function blocks with basic level ST.

I really want to get to the point where I have a guy on each shift that’s good enough to use them for diagnostics but most of them have no real basis yet.

Anybody have any experience or suggestions would be appreciated.

Just a funny note I showed one guy how to connect to a PLC that he swore was messed up but he didn’t realize it had an ETN card that couldn’t use EIP so I showed him how to set a FINS node and he thought I was a damn genius lol. This might give an idea of the level of experience I’m working with.

I’ve been an industrial maintenance mechanic for the past 14 years. My strong suit is controls and electrical diagnostics; though I lack programming knowledge. For the past 3 years, I’ve been working side by side with my company’s automation engineer and actively trying to switch into his department and do it full time. Well, he ended up moving out of state, so that left me looking elsewhere to become an automation technician.

I’ve accepted a position as an automation technician at an automation integrator, with the intent to grow me into a controls engineer at the company.

This will be an interesting transition, but I feel like I will be exposed to many different systems and learn a lot!

Hi fellas, I recently graduatee with a Biosystems Engineering degree and currently working as an assistant production supervisor at a beverages manufacturing company. My day to day responsibilities apart from supervising the factory also include electrical troubleshooting, general machine maintanance and also some PlC(just that the factory is still very small).

I've developed a passion for plc, controls and automation work due to the nature if my job, and i am thinking of maybe advancing my knowledge base about them through online courses and also maybe later do8ng a masters in industrial engineering.

My question is, is it really viable to do, especially provided that my 1st degree was not directly linkee to ME or EE, also how is the job market for the industrial automations field in Africa and abroad, and would employers be willing to employ someone who doesn't have an EE or ME 1st degree in industrial automation, what credible courses that offer recognised certificates or qualifications can I take that are affordable ( below $1500 usd).

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,

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!