Ethernet/Ip Question

icehube

Member
Join Date
Nov 2005
Location
ohio
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86
Hi all, I am running controllogix version 20. I have my powerflex 40 drives and Ethernet cards all communicating and everthing is working as it should. My question is when I replace a drive will the parameters download into the drive automatically as it does on devicenet? I haven't been able to try this yet and was wondering. Thanks.
 
It can, but it is not default.

In the Drive Properties - on the "Drive" tab - you will need to select ADC and enable it.

Then make sure to upload the current drive setups into your project.
 
ADR v ADC

icehube said:
....powerflex 40 drives ..My question is when I replace a drive will the parameters download into the drive automatically as it does on devicenet?...

No. I'm afraid not.

ADR

DeviceNet Scanners can use Automatic Device Replacement (ADR) to recover or replace nodes on a DeviceNet network. Full ADR uses a two step approach to achieve this...

1. Auto Address Recovery (AAR) will continuously look for nodes at the out-of-box node address of 63. If a node has gone offline and a new node is detected at address 63, and its Electronic Keying matches the node that has gone offline, then AAR assigns the new node the same address as the missing node. Then it checks the Electronic Keying again and moves on.

2. Configuration Recovery (CR) then downloads the configuration for the missing node, which was stored in the Scanner's memory, into the new node, and the Scanner then resumes communications with the replaced node.

DeviceNet ADR is not available for Ethernet devices.

ADC

Auto Device Configuration is a feature available in RSLogix 5000 v20 that takes advantage of device Add On Profiles, which were introduced in v16. As the AOPs can store the database or parameter data for a PowerFlex drive, certain compatible drives may use ADC to allow them to be replaced in a "deskilled" fashion.

For a compatible replacement drive, ADC, and Firmware Flash Supervisor, can assign the correct IP address, check and/or flash the correct firmware, and download the stored drive database or parameter data to the drive.

However, at present, only PowerFlex 525 and 750 series drives, and certain other Allen Bradley devices, support Auto Device Configuration (ADC).

PowerFlex 4 Class drives using a 22-COMM-E or PowerFlex 7 Class drives using a 20-COMM-E DO NOT SUPPORT ADC.

I am sorry to say, but for a replacement PowerFlex 40 you would have to assign it an IP address, manually flash it if needs be, and download the drive database or parameter data from the AOP in RSLogix 5000, or using DriveExplorer or Drive Executive to restore a backup copy of the database.


Another option?

The PowerFlex 4 Class drives do not allow Datalinks, but you could use explicit messaging to READ out the parameters to storage tags which could be used later to WRITE them back in, or, hard code WRITE MSG the parameters to the drives each time they are power cycled. You would need one CIP message per parameter though, so that's a lot of MSG instructions and a lot of extra traffic.

NOTE: The write to these drives' parameters, using explicit messaging with a CIP Generic "Parameter Write", is a write to their internal EEPROM, which is retained through a power cycle. The EEPROMs on the PowerFlex 4 Class drives are good for about 500,000 writes, so you cannot continuously write to them.

You also have the option of using a CIP Generic "Set Attribute Single" MSG to write to parameters and store in RAM only, which is not retained through a power cycle, but saves the EEPROM.

However, on the PowerFlex 4 Class drives, even if you use a Set Attribute Single to write to RAM only, it will still write to the EEPROM, unless you set parameter COMM WRITE MODE=1 (RAM Only). The default is "0".

This is applicable for the PowerFlex 4M, 40 and 400. The older PowerFlex 4 does not have this parameter, so you cannot prevent writes to the EEPROM, regardless of which CIP message type you use.

Again, there is a bit of work in setting that up, especially if you have a lot of drives to consider. Whether you would be bothered or not is, I suppose, down to the question of whether it is critical that these drives can be replaced quickly, or is it just more of a convenience, for you, or for a customer that is not well versed in swapping these drives out and configuring them?

We've started defaulting to PowerFlex 525 drives for most small to medium applications now for the above reasons, and others.

Regards,
George

PowerFlex_ADC.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply' sits not critical at all and is on a test bench. I am getting familiar with Ethernet/Ip and looking to enhance my knowledge.
 
Ah ok. When you mentioned drives and cards all working away I had a picture of an existing live network in my mind.

Further,

As the drives are configured using their AOP under the I/O Configuration in RSLogix 5000, they form part of the Ethernet network configuration. This means that once you build a drive database on the Drive tab of the AOP, the database is saved as part of the ACD project file. Although not automatic, this helps make the drive's configuration available for a relatively quick replacement. This suits most setups where an automatic replacement is not critical or is not required.

If you want have a play around with replacing a drive and using the AOP to configure it.

Regards,
George
 

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