got a job in a bind, need to send 4-20mA to a plc to read live tank levels. clean fuel, slow level changes from pump inlet / outlet (no foaming or churning) , no explosion proof req'mt, ambient pressure and room temp, nothing crazy.

the engineers and contractors, in all their glory, spec'd and approved a sensor that wont fit in the tank. the correct sensor intended on plan set is a magnetostrictive float on a rod, but is 8-12 weeks out. plc vendor says they dont care what instrumentation is used, long as it sends 4-20. I have a radar level sensor in stock , IFM LW2720 . fits the bill, cut sheet says it'll work.

question is, before I play the hero and swap in radar, anyone have a reason to caution doing this?
the measurement task is really simple, far as demands from instrumentation, but I havent used radar before.

i've found other issues with using ultrasonic transducers drifting, or being fiddly, i've had submerged pressure transducers drift over time. never had issues with magnetostrictive, other than having to be sure to order the exact size for the tank ( exactly the issue here).

so i got this radar sensor to play around with to see if we can stock these as standard cause they'll work on every size / shape tank we integrate with so we dont have to rely on garbage info from plans / others. i just havent had time to put it through paces to be confident i wont shoot myself in the foot.

We have a global manufacturing footprint and as such, use a global SI who is supported at each location by local SIs.

In any given month 5-10 different engineers can access a sites PLC to make project edits or improvements. We manage it well in terms of security and such but we’re completely loosing the change management. Sadly our change logs are excel sheets and there’s just too many to keep up with given the various sites. I’m seeing too many edits that are being made and not correctly recorded. If a change needs rolled back, we’re missing the detail as to why it was applied, potentially re introducing a bug that was fixed. It’s like managing children who don’t want to open an excel sheet!

We’re mainly Rockwell focused but some sites use Siemens. We have Rockwell asset center but it seems it’s fairly easy to bypass. We’ve explored Version dog, now Octoplant and there’s no way I’m getting that through the budget at £20K a site, even with bulk pricing it’s still a clean fortune.

Any other solutions you lot have come across in your fields? I need something that engineers can’t bypass but can still allow online edits and multiple users online at once. Any thoughts?

Thanks for reading. One frustrated maintenance director.

I keep seeing these wireless preventative maintenance sensors online that capture motor vibration and temperature.

I was wondering if any of you guys had any experience implementing these sensors on the shop floor. I’m looking for a similar sensor, but it plugs back to the PLC where the alarms are generated and handled.

Does anyone have any suggestions. I see that automation direct has some analog vibration sensors and that IFM has one that connects via IOlink.

Thanks!

I'm having trouble connecting a Delta DVP-14SS211T PLC to a Yaskawa SGD7S-120A servo drive.

I want to use the PLC to generate the control pulses for the servo motor. However, connecting it directly could burn out the servo drive's input, and I'll be using other PLC outputs to trigger relays. Is there any problem with connecting the 0V from the 24 VDC power supply to the 0V from the servo drive’s internal 12 VDC power supply at the common terminal of the PLC’s outputs?

Hi all, I'm looking for advice from anyone who has solved this cleanly in the Beckhoff ecosystem.

Context

• We have a TwinCAT 3 solution made of a PLC project, a TwinCAT HMI project and a TwinSAFE project, running on Beckhoff IPCs.
• The system is portable and is marketed as a product. Think of a mobile solar + battery + generator system on a trailer.
• More and more units are going out to the field.
• The units are usually offline (no internet) or on networks we don't control.
• Each unit can have its own configuration, managed through TcRecipeManagement. That configuration must survive the update.
• End users will run the updates, not our engineers.

Requirements

1. Simple for a non-specialist to run.
2. Reliable: atomic, or at least able to recover. It should never leave a unit half-updated.
3. Idempotent: running it twice, or re-running it after a failure, should give the same result.
4. Keeps the unit's configuration and recipes.
5. Works offline.

What we've looked at

• Connecting with TcXaeShell over the network and activating/publishing. This works for us internally. It isn't realistic for end users.
• Beckhoff Service Tool (BST). This would mean shipping USB sticks to every site for every release, which would be an operational nightmare at our scale.
• Automation Interface + PowerShell script that copies the individual parts (PLC boot project, HMI publish output, and so on) into the right places on the target. I've tried this the most and had the least success. It often leaves the system in an unknown state I can't trust, and it feels fragile across TwinCAT versions. I call this the Rube Goldberg method.

Beckhoff support confirmed these three options. They didn't have anything more elegant.

What I'm used to

I come from a general software engineering background. There I'd expect a versioned, signed artifact (an installer, a package, a container image, anything similar) that moves tested code to production safely, can be checked, and can be rolled back. I'm surprised I can't find an equivalent here. This can't be an uncommon problem for Beckhoff OEMs.

Questions

1. How do you package and ship TwinCAT updates to field units? Do you use an installer, a script, BST, remote access, or something else?
2. Has anyone got a reliable offline, end-user-run process covering PLC + HMI + TwinSAFE together? The safety project is the part I'm least sure how to handle without XAE.
3. How do you keep recipes and configuration through the update? Do you export and re-import them, store them outside the boot folder, or rely on persistent data?
4. Does anyone use an A/B or rollback approach, for example keeping the previous boot folder and switching back if a check after the update fails?
5. Have you hit any problems with mismatched TwinCAT runtime or HMI server versions between the build machine and field units?
6. Is there a Beckhoff feature or product I've missed that's meant for this?

Any war stories, or "don't do what we did" lessons are very welcome. Thanks!

I'm curious if any of the more seasoned folks can shed some light on this design choice, or have a theory as to how this came to be.

I'm chasing a gremlin in a high volume low mix filler installed in the early 2000s. This machine has many instances where an output point will run to a relay contact or some switch, then back to an input point in the same rack. Then that input will be used in a permissive for a different output point, which will then run through some contacts to an input point. Currently I am 3 Output back to Inputs deep in my investigation. Why not just run 24V through the device to an input and write normal ladder?

1st Edit:

Processing img 3ldbrziwxpwh1...

2nd Edit: First PLC logic: Contains mostly run permissives that have to do with the machine main machine drive. Middle PLC logic: Has to do with the pump that the section of the machine needs to be able to function contains some run permissives. Last PLC Logic: Uses an MAOC (Rockwell Electronic Cam) for timing, this sets when to actuate the final solenoid.

Gremlin: Machine will randomly stop feeding for an amount of time - allegedly the exact same amount of time. The machine continues to cycle, just does not feed, so it's an interlock thing of some sort. These operators are legit and put a high speed camera on the machine so I do believe them.

This seemingly comes from a downstream machine, as the downstream machine does show a fault on their MES, but it doesn't actually catch a fault code.

This issue has been going on for a few years at this point from what I can gather.

Hi everyone!

I work as a PLC programmer at GM, and my new role requires me to work with Siemens PLCs. My background is mainly with Rockwell Studio 5000, so I already have experience with PLC programming, troubleshooting, and industrial automation.

I need to learn Siemens STEP 7 as quickly as possible and become confident enough to work with it professionally.

I have access to STEP 7 Classic (SIMATIC Manager) and can dedicate about one hour per day to studying.

My main priorities are:

• Understanding the Siemens programming structure and how it differs from Rockwell.
• Becoming good at troubleshooting and online diagnostics.
• Learning how to navigate and understand existing projects.
• Being able to modify and develop PLC logic confidently.

If you were in my position, what would you do to learn as quickly as possible?

Would you focus on official Siemens documentation, practical exercises, online courses, or studying real projects?

Are there any specific resources, exercises, or learning strategies you would recommend?

Since I already know Rockwell, I don't want to waste time learning basic PLC concepts I already understand. I want to focus on the Siemens-specific concepts and become productive as quickly as possible.

I'd really appreciate advice from people who have made the transition from Rockwell to Siemens!

Thanks!

Hi this might be a bit basic but i cant find any way to do this in Kinco Dtools 4.5. When the HMI restarts from power loss i want to be able to see data stored in USB1 in my graph, but all i get from googling it refers to the pro version, if there is a way to progam it from macros it would be fine to. Sorry if this is not the right sub for this question but its the closest active one i can find to it.

we upgraded the software of one machine and i asked the programmer to give me the programme so i can read at home but it not opening in my pc , i have V19 and i think that programmer had V20 or V21. What can i do to get access the programme? Thanks

I'm a 2026 CSE graduate and having a hard time getting my first job in software development.

I've been learning full-stack development (React, Next.js, Node.js, MongoDB, etc.), but the job search hasn't been going the way I expected. So lately, I've been thinking about whether I should explore other fields instead of focusing only on software development.

I came across PLC programming, HMI, SCADA and industrial automation, and it seems like an interesting career option. I'm considering learning these skills and trying to get into automation engineering, but I'm not sure if it's the right move.

Since my degree is in computer science, I don't have much knowledge of electrical engineering or industrial systems yet. I'd be starting from the basics.

I wanted to ask people who are already working in this field:

• Do companies hire CSE graduates for entry-level automation jobs, or is an electrical/instrumentation degree usually required?
• How difficult is it to get your first job in this field as a fresher?
• What's the actual work like? Is it mostly programming, or does it involve a lot of site visits, wiring and troubleshooting?
• How are the salary and career growth compared to software development, especially in India?
• If you were in my position, would you recommend learning PLC, HMI and SCADA, or would it make more sense to look into industrial software development?

I'm not expecting this field to be easy or a shortcut to getting a job. I just don't want to spend another year learning something without understanding the actual career opportunities.

Would appreciate honest advice, especially from people who have made a similar switch or regularly work with freshers in the industry.

Thanks!

I’m attempting to communicate with my buildings HVAC system using the BACnet driver in Ignition, but for unknown reason it cannot connect. I can ping each controllers IP via the server Ignition is hosted on, I can connect to all of the controllers using Distech Controls XpressNetwork Utility on the mini-PC that the contractor left, but for the life of me I cannot get it to communicate with Ignition.

The contractor has ghosted us and no one up the chain of command is responding to any of my calls/emails, so I’m on my own here.

Has anyone here connected Distech Eclypse controllers to Ignition yet?

Thank you guys for your advice concerning my last post. It was very helpful. But now as this panel is no longer done by Siemens I would like to change it to something more recent. which one do you advise me knowing that the new panel should have the same characteristic

Hi guys. I was online on a Siemens PLC and I forced an output. Righi after forcing, my PC turned off due to an update. After going back online with the TIA, I could not see any forced output in the forced table despite having the CPU in Maint mode since there is the said output still being forced. How can I de-force it? Did it happen to someone of you guys? Thanks

Hi everyone

Following AI instructions (terrible idea, i know), i did a factory reset con a Cognex Dataman 260 in order to bypass the password in the setup tools software and lost the configuration needed to communicate with a Logomat DS03 Code Reader. Everything is mounted on a PMX CAM Cartoner.

I've been trying for two days now to hit the right settings but there are too many variables and AI, once again, was not able to help. I'm definetly bitting off more than i can chew here so I'd be gratefull for any help.

I'm working as a trainee engineer at a lithium ion battery plant, the plant itself is very new, just about 10 employees since there's no production as of yet. There is an assembly line, chinese, and it has chinese PLCs as well, how can i explore this on my own as i want to dive into the PLC and automation side. There will be more installation in the future so I'll be getting hands on experience on that as well but right now since there's not much to do, i want to explore PLCs since idk much about these things, a little help would mean a lot thank you.

I graduated 5 years ago as a control engineer and I'm based in Saudi Arabia. Here's my experience so far:

• Automation engineer at a packaging factory (1 year):** Mostly maintenance. I didn't gain much real experience.
• Automation engineer on a project (3 months):** I programmed a Siemens S7-1500 PLC in TIA Portal, but I wasn't the main engineer. I only did minor tasks and a little programming.
• SCADA engineer at a station (current):** My job is mostly monitoring, and I'm learning almost nothing from it.

In total, I have only about 2 years of real work experience. I feel like I know very little, and I've always been the "third wheel" on my teams. I don't feel I've added value at any job.

I feel lost and don't know what I want to do. I'm also considering low current / ELV systems (fire alarm, CCTV, access control, BMS) as a possible direction. I'd really appreciate advice on:

1. How to build real, practical skills from where I am now
2. Whether low current is worth moving into, or whether I should stay with PLC/SCADA in Saudi
3. Books, courses, or certifications worth my time

Thanks in advance.

In a Simatic Step 7 project I have to rename some addresses in a UDT (they are currently labelled as spares).

This UDT is instanced 120 times in a data block.

I have to retain the current values of the 'actual values' in the data block before downloading the modified data block to the cpu.

What is the easiest way to do this? 

The only way I have is to do the following:

1. Copy the online DB to Offline project
2. Generate a source of this original DB
3. Modify the address names in the UDT.
4. Modify the address names in the DB source to match the UDT. To do this I will use the 'Find' and 'Replace All' function as there will be 120 replacements of each name change.
5. Compile the data block from this source which will be ready to download. 

Is there an easier way? 

Thanks

All I can find on the ABB site are libraries that are v13 that aren’t able to be opened in v21. Without installing older TIA to try and bring forward, anyone know of other routes to get those blocks for use in current TIA Portal versions?

What are the possible reasons?
Physical connection is fine

Road trips can be stressful on their own, but I discovered a few things I can do that make a big difference to my well-being when I'm on the road:

1. Get out and do something every day that you can. It could be the end of a 12 hour day and all you want to do is crash in your hotel room until it's time to wake up and do it all again, but getting into a rut where your entire trip is just jobsite-hotel-jobsite-hotel and then you're having a nervous breakdown over a blown fuse. As often as you can, spend a few hours outside of that grind. Go to the grocery store and get stuff for lunches. Go for a run. Go out to dinner. Go to a movie. Go do a tourist thing. Whatever it is, break up the monotony.

2. Only wear your work boots when you have to. A lot of people like to think "oh my work boots are comfortable. I'm just going to wear them all the time." There's no getting around it, safety toes add weight. Work boots are always heavier than casual shoes. They might not feel heavy on your feet after a day of wearing them, but once you take them off and put a pair of cushioned running shoes on, you'll feel the difference. I will actually change into my work shoes at the job site at the beginning of the day, and then change back out of them on-site at the end. I've found doing that right before a drive gives me a bit of a spring in my step, and starts the recovery process that much earlier. So I have more motivation to do #1 when I get back to my room.

3. Only carry what you need with you. Go through your bag and evaluate what you're bringing compared to what's needed to do your job. If you can't conceive of a realistic scenario in which you would need that item with you, leave it at home. The heavier it is, the more you should scrutinize it. Am I really going to use that external keyboard and monitor? Do I really need multiple USB-C cables? If you've got a bag of serial cables and you're commissioning a bunch of CompactLogixes, leave it at home. Take the time to make a list of what you'll need, empty your bag, and put only what's on that list back in your bag. I guarantee you there's stuff in there you forgot about.

What else do you do in the field to make it more bearable?

I'm not a controls engineer by trade. I come at this from the security side and I've been learning the plant side, so apologies if any of this is basic.

I've built a test harness that watches engineering-session connections on a Windows host. It picks up the process, the executable, the destination and the protocol for connections a tool like Studio 5000 makes, and I've been testing it against a simulator. What I can't get right without a real bench is the identity side.

The question, when Studio 5000 connects to a CompactLogix or ControlLogix, is there anything in the tool's own network traffic that identifies the controller it's talking to, and can that be tied back to one session and one process on the workstation?

I know ListIdentity returns vendor, product and serial, but my reading is that it may go out on a separate probe from the application's own connection to the PLC, so the identity in the reply would not be bound to the flow that actually matters. Is that right, or does the tool's session carry something that does bind it?

Two more things I'm curious about. Has anyone here captured this on a real bench, and is the traffic readable at the workstation rather than needing a mirror port? And does a reconnect or an online-edit sequence look different enough to tell apart?

If someone has done this and is willing to say what they saw, it would save me weeks, TIA.

Here’s what’s in my bag. Feel free to share yours too! Thanks!

Quick question for anyone polling a lot of Modbus TCP devices.

I've got about 40 power meters on their own VLAN going through one Modbus gateway, polled by our SCADA on a 5 second scan. Random meters time out every scan, maybe 5-10% of them, never the same ones twice. If I drop to 10 meters the problem goes away, so I'm guessing I'm just pushing too many requests through the gateway at once.

What's the usual approach here — throttle the polling, split across two gateways, or just live with a longer timeout? Curious how you all handle this at scale.