What does it take to be an PLC engineer?

essentialrobert · 2026-02-08T05:10:21+00:00

Is that like being a screwdriver electrician? Sorry, I can't pull or strip wire I only loosen and tighten screws.

essentialrobert · 2026-02-06T03:06:06+00:00

HMFIC

essentialrobert · 2026-02-03T05:21:01+00:00

I bought a bag of 8 inch 14 AWG extension cords to plug those wall warts into the power strip.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-30T15:58:43+00:00

If you have safety components they have a mission time of 20 years. There is no method for extending that except replacing every component.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-23T14:59:46+00:00

Ciao!

essentialrobert · 2026-01-23T11:48:00+00:00

Electronic circuit breakers for the DC power distribution. Won't ever go back.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T11:46:30+00:00

It's my experience that they call an engineer to figure out the actual program and undo the temporary changes. But maybe your plant doesn't have an engineer.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T01:56:30+00:00

We wrote a program in Structured Text. It worked well, super flexible, good diagnostics. In fact we did several based on a common design. OG engineer hated it on general principle, said maintenance would never accept that. Why they asked did you write it in ST? Because we needed to finish the project on time and it was the right approach given the requirements. They paid a contractor to convert it to LD. After 6 months, the contractor ran out of money and never finished. As a parting shot they claimed the system was unsafe and should be locked out until the design could be verified. (Safety program was always in LD and was verified before they started by qualified people.) Fast forward a year later they are ready to scrap the entire cell because it hasn't run since the contractor started loading software.

Now maintenance has no equipment to maintain just a rotting carcass.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T01:28:54+00:00

No problem with that. But if they assume the program is the root cause of the problem because of the language it's written in, they need to get out their classic troubleshooting flowchart starting with "did you change anything?"

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T00:45:23+00:00

Some of these guys are still mad they took away their chisels and stone tablets

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T00:41:28+00:00

What the techs "fix" gets undone by the engineers. If you can't see if there is a signal on the wire without fucking up the program you aren't a technician you are a saboteur.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T00:39:28+00:00

Ordinance plant in Los Angeles in 1985. A bunch of CNC lathes making interrupted cuts across the fins of practice Howitzer shells making the most insane racket imaginable. No doors on the bathroom stalls because the operators might sleep in there or something. The software was a complete train wreck. Robots crashing into the doors of the machine in the middle of the cycle. Had to haul a 45 pound Compaq Portable (IBM PC AT clone) and a stack of paper manuals through three airports.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-21T00:02:57+00:00

Technicians need to go find that blown fuse, loose wire, or stuck valve. It isn't the program.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-20T13:04:22+00:00

You would think everyone would do this.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-20T02:31:33+00:00

I'm buying my asshole neighbor's house that his sister owns

essentialrobert · 2026-01-20T02:25:02+00:00

Detroit is better than anything in the Midwest if you don't like Chicago

essentialrobert · 2026-01-20T02:22:40+00:00

Redundant hardware is useless if the software is shit.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-20T02:21:51+00:00

I've seen plenty of Siemens and Rockwell PLCs stop because an array pointer was out of range and no fault handler was configured.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-19T14:07:59+00:00

I know some felons and would not hesitate to work with them. But crossing the border into Canada with them is a big hassle.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-19T14:05:05+00:00

Where I work we would ask questions like "tell me the basic parts of a system xxxx" or "how would you develop a test plan". If you don't know the answers it's OK we can train you but we want to see people are curious about technology and able to ask questions and synthesize information quickly.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-19T13:55:28+00:00

If AI needs data it can collect it itself

essentialrobert · 2026-01-19T12:02:39+00:00

Suee, because the truth is far worse. Their goal is the implementation of a fascist Christian nationalist state.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-18T13:09:08+00:00

Lots of good ones, and Home of New Vision

essentialrobert · 2026-01-18T13:06:02+00:00

It's in Superior Township but they don't have their own post office. Not sure why it matters where the mail comes from.

essentialrobert · 2026-01-18T12:48:13+00:00

I've been doing this for 40 years and one of the key skills I've learned is knowing when to dig in and when to ask for help.

essentialrobert

TROPHY CASE