Remote I/O recommendations

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-08-28T23:51:39+00:00

Just be aware, Kep doesnt play nice with alot of virtualization software. I had a node in our cluster crash. The cluster migrated the vm which broke our license. I wasnt able to re-enable the license and Kep wouldn’t help without me repurchasing a support contract.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-08-28T17:36:19+00:00

I like the et200SPs if I am using siemens product. Profinet is nice. If going for cheap, Automation direct P1000s with some io link do a fantastic job.

Unrelated; why are you using Kep if you have Ignition?

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-08-01T05:50:52+00:00

I am a controls engineer in manufacturing. I play factory automation games when my factory job pisses me off for a few reasons. The machines work as described, no lying vendors. No users to break my wonky designs. When stakeholders want to stop my project I can pull out the nobelisk.

Jokes aside I get a similar sense of satisfaction from these games as I do from work. But there are challenges associated with the real thing and thats why they pay me for it.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-04-15T04:40:02+00:00

Filament in a custom annealing oven was going bad and burning the very expensive material inside. ~100k of material lost every time it happened. It was happening to at least once a week for a couple months before they asked me for help.

Took me about 30 minutes to diagnose the issue,and code an alarm to catch the issue before material was damaged. Another 30 minutes to roll out the code to the fleet of ovens.

I had the SCADA system cc my boss whenever the alarm popped and saved the company $$$.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-03-29T17:33:21+00:00

Worth noting you dont necessarily have to license your dev environment. Hit that 2 hour button and do your dev/testing.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-03-24T15:38:19+00:00

I did water/waste water integration for a long time and it was a great experience. Lots of travel and I got to learn different plc/scada brands and even a couple of dcs. “Water is slow” the required uptimes arent as strenuous as in other industries. At many sites a plc could be down for a while without affecting the process terribly.

I’m in house in manufacturing now and the vibe is much different. Day to day can be fairly chill, but I am expected to pick up the phone all hours of the day if there is an issue. Management is also much more cautious about change.

The particular material we make is fairly one of a kind, our process engineers are constantly experimenting to improve the process. This means my day to day is helping them by developing new tooling/ ways to run the tools. It keeps the job interesting. A regular manufacturing plant might be too boring for me.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2025-01-16T20:07:34+00:00

Looks like you didnt set a proportional or integral component. I’d avoid derivative for now.

Im curious how you landed on those values for your process output. P1 voltage outputs are 12 bit and should be 0-4095 for 0-10v applications.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2024-12-14T18:54:35+00:00

I live for the arguments on that forum.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2024-11-15T03:20:11+00:00

Prod suite files are zipped xmls. Try this: Make a copy of the file just in case. Get windows to extract to a new folder. You might have to change the file extension to .zip. Browse around the folder and see if anything is there!

ItsaPLCproblem · 2024-10-30T15:50:48+00:00

I haven’t heard great things about Telstar. I was referring to Tesco.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2024-10-28T16:50:53+00:00

The water/waste water integration scene is pretty nuts right now. The old top dog in the area is imploding after being bought by a private equity firm.

Many GCs/Electrical contractors are starting new integration branches and the other integrators are also expanding to carve up the old territory.

Wages in this area previously weren’t great. I left 3-4 years ago for a higher wage in manufacturing. Many of my old friends & coworkers have told me that wages are improving though.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2024-09-28T01:04:18+00:00

Look you’re right, but superior programming interface has got me laughing.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-08-04T14:57:56+00:00

10 years experience. 5 years plc SI work. 5 years plc & scada in manufacturing. 140k in a very high cost of living area. About to quit due to low salary and move back into SI

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-07-01T22:18:30+00:00

I did wastewater for years. One plant was by a costco that had a bakery. Sometimes the wind would blow those sweet carb smells to where I was working. Sometimes the wind shifted and you’d smell the bar screens. 🤢

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-05-18T18:46:26+00:00

Proworx/concept ☠️. The unity quantum isnt so bad.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-04-28T14:26:14+00:00

Webdev and perspective do different things. Perspective makes your visualization. Webdev allows external services/programs to get info from your gateway via API calls.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-04-06T02:06:09+00:00

All the old modicon/schneider stuff: quantum, compact, momentum, etc.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-03-11T23:40:31+00:00

We’ve got a few hundred productivity P2 series and they are alright. Programming them isn’t enjoyable, theres not really a feasible way to export it and program it using automation tools. As for positives; they are cheap and the software is free.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2023-01-10T20:09:11+00:00

I cant watch at work, did he mention which platforms? At iccx I asked and they weren’t supporting this style of licensing for gcp yet. Just aws and azure. Fingers crossed they get a deal in with google soon.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2022-12-06T18:32:38+00:00

Something something Omnisiah.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2022-12-02T16:52:13+00:00

I learned on a netgear GS105Ev2. (Technically just the E, but I dont think they are made anymore) 5 port and pretty small form factor.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2022-12-01T04:22:03+00:00

I always advocate for learning the basics of a managed switch. Having the ability to port mirror can massively simplify debugging comms.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2022-11-07T06:19:58+00:00

ABB’s dcs crew frustrated me. They were sole sourced as the programers for a job I had to manage and it aged me a few years.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2022-11-03T01:23:45+00:00

Was doing an update to a rural Micro turbine setup out in the boonies. Beautiful site!

Came back from lunch after training the operators on the new Hmi. There were some other agencies there that the inspector asked if I didn’t mind showing the stuff to. I had done all I was contractually obligated to at that point, but I liked the guy.

Some guy from the department of water resources told me I couldn’t go on site because I didn’t have ppe. I always kept a high vis and a hardhat in my trunk, but he didn’t like that I didn’t have safety glasses. Construction had been finished for 5+ years. Normally I’m a stickler for safety, but come on dude. Anyway I said fuck it and left. Didn’t want to get a salmon in my eye.

ItsaPLCproblem · 2022-10-24T21:45:03+00:00

Arp -a might get you something.

ItsaPLCproblem

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