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!

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.

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?

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!