PLC installation

practices, Editing and

troubleshooting
EENG 500- Industrial systems automation

Dr. Ihab Makki

Fall 2019-2020
 Objectives

“
 Outline and describe requirements for a PLC
enclosure
 Identify and describe noise reduction techniques
 Describe proper grounding practices and
preventive maintenance tasks associated with
PLC systems
 List and describe specific PLC troubleshooting
procedures

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Introduction
 This chapter discusses guidelines for the installation, maintenance, and
troubleshooting of a PLC-controlled system.
 The chapter gives you information on proper grounding that ensures
personal safety as well as correct operation of equipment.
 Unique troubleshooting procedures that apply specifically to PLCs are listed
and explained.

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1-PLC enclosure
 The design of PLCs includes a number of rugged features that allow them to be
installed in almost any industrial environment. However, problems can occur if the
system is not installed properly.
 Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) require protection against temperature
extremes, humidity, dust, shock, and vibration or corrosive environments. For these
reasons, PLCs are generally mounted within a machine or in a separate enclosure as
shown in the figure.

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PLC enclosure
￮ An enclosure is the chief protection from atmospheric
conditions.
￮ Based on the degree of protection of an enclosure, the
National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has
defined enclosure types.
￮ Typically, metal enclosures are used because metal
enclosures provide shielding that helps minimize the effects
of electromagnetic radiation that may be generated by
surrounding equipment.

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Heat problem
￮ Every PLC installation will dissipate heat from its power supplies, local I/O
racks, and processor. This heat accumulates in the enclosure and must
be dissipated from it into the surrounding air.
￮ For many applications, normal convection cooling will keep
the controller components within the specified temperature operating
range.
￮ The temperature inside the enclosure must not exceed the maximum
operating temperature of the controller (typically 60°C maximum).
Additional cooling provisions, such as a fan or blower, may be required
where high internal or ambient temperatures are encountered.

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Master Control Relay

￮ A hardwired electromechanical master control relay (MCR) is normally

included as part of the wiring for a PLC system.
￮ The master control relay provides a means of de-energizing the entire circuit
that is not dependent on software.
￮ The internally programmed MCR of a PLC is not sufficient to meet safety
requirements. The hardwired MCR is connected to interrupt power to the I/O
rack in the event of an emergency, but still allow power to be maintained at the
processor.

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• A power disconnect switch is provided so that,
when required, the PLC can be serviced with the
power off.
• The step-down transformer provides isolation
from the main power distribution system and
decreases the voltage to the 120 V required for
the controller power supplies and DC power
supplies.
• The momentary start button is pressed to energize
the master control relay.
• Pressing any one of the emergency-stop switches
de-energizes the master control relay and thus
deenergizes the I/O devices.
• Power to the processor of the PLC remains on so
status LEDs can continue to provide up-to-date
information.
• Emergency stop buttons use normally closed contacts
wired in series for fail-safe operation. In the event a wire
is broken or comes off a terminal, the MCR relay is de-
energized and power is removed.
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2- Electrical noise
￮ Electrical noise, also called electromagnetic interference, or EMI, is
unwanted electrical signals that produce undesirable effects and otherwise
disrupt the control system circuits.
￮ EMI may be either radiated or conducted.
￮ Radiated noise originates from a source and travels through the air.

￮ conducted noise travels on an actual conductor, such as a power line.

￮ The controller should be located away from noise-generating devices such

as large AC motors and high-frequency welders.
￮ Malfunctions resulting from noise are temporary occurrences of operating
errors that can result in hazardous machine operation in certain applications.

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Noise reduction
The following reduce the effect of electrical interference:
• Manufacturer design features
• Proper mounting of the controller within an enclosure
• Proper equipment grounding
• Proper routing of wiring
• Proper suppression added to noise-generating devices

When inductive devices are energized or de-energized, they can cause an

electrical pulse to be backfed into the PLC system. The back-fed pulse,
when entering the PLC system, can be mistaken by the PLC for a
computer pulse.

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General guidelines for PLC wire routing:

 Use the shortest possible wire runs for I/O signals.

 When possible, conductors that are run from the PLC enclosure to another
location should be in metal conduit as the metal can serve as a shield
against EMI.
 Never run signal wiring and power wiring in the same conduit.
 Segregate I/O wiring by signal type. Route AC and DC I/O signal wires in
separate wireways.
 Low-level signal conductors such as thermocouples and serial
communications should be run as shielded twisted pair and routed
separately.
 A fiber optic system, which is totally immune to all kinds of electrical
interference, can also be used for signal wiring.
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3-Leaky Inputs and Outputs
￮ Many electronic devices with transistor or triac outputs exhibit a small
leakage current even when in the off state.
￮ This so-called leakage is typically exhibited by two-wire proximity,
photoelectric, and other such sensors.
￮ Often, the leaky input will only cause the module’s input indicator to
flicker. However, a large enough leakage current can activate the input
circuit, creating a false input signal.
￮ Leakage current may also occur with the solid-state switch used in
many output modules.

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Solution for leaky inputs/ outputs
￮ A common solution to the problem of leaky current is to connect a bleeder
resistor across or in parallel with the input or output.
￮ The bleeder resistor acts as an additional lower resistance load, which
allows the leakage current to flow through the lower resistance path.
Typically a 10 to 20 kΩ resistor is used to solve the problem.

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 4- Grounding
￮ Proper grounding is an important safety measure in all
electrical installations. Most manufacturers provide
detailed information on the proper grounding methods to
use in an enclosure.
￮ A properly installed grounding system will provide a low
impedance path to earth ground.
￮ These connections should exhibit low DC resistance and
low high-frequency impedance.
￮ A central ground bus bar is provided as a single point of
reference inside the enclosure to which all chassis and
power supply equipment grounding conductors are
connected. The ground bus is then connected to the
building’s earth ground.
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Grounding
￮ Ground connections should be made
with a star washer between the
grounding wire and lug and metal
enclosure surface.
￮ Any protective ground wires must
have a resistance value of less than
0.1 Ω.
￮ The resistance from the system
ground to the earth ground must
have a value of less than 0.1 Ω

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Ground loops
￮ Ground loops can cause problems by adding or
subtracting current or voltage from input signal
devices.
￮ A ground loop circuit can develop when each
device’s ground is tied to a different earth
potential thereby allowing current to flow between
the grounds.
￮ If a varying magnetic field passes through one of
these ground loops, a voltage is produced and
current flows in the loop.
￮ For this reason, in shielded cables, each shield
should be grounded at one end only, as a shield
grounded at both ends forms a ground loop. 16
5-Voltage Variations and Surges
￮ If voltage fluctuations exceed the range that the PLC power supply is
designed to sustain, then a system shutdown will occur.
￮ In areas where excessive line voltage variation or extended brownouts are
anticipated, installing a constant voltage (CV) transformer may be required to
minimize nuisance shutdowns of the PLC.
￮ A normal practice is to place the PLC power supply and I/O devices on a
separate transformer that may also serve as a step-down transformer to
reduce the incoming voltage to the desired level.

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Voltage Variations and Surges
￮ An additional external suppression device is recommended if an output module is used
to control devices such as relays, solenoids, motor starters, or motors.
￮ The suppression device is wired in parallel (directly across) and as close as possible to
the load device. The suppression components must be rated appropriately to suppress
the switching transient characteristic of the particular inductive device.

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 MOV- Surge protection device
￮ The metal oxide varistor (MOV) surge
suppressor, is the most popular surge protection
device. It functions in a manner similar to two
Zener diodes connected back-to-back. The
operation of an MOV can be summarized as
follows:
• The device acts as an open circuit until the
voltage across it in either direction exceeds its
rated value.
• Any greater voltage peak instantly makes the
device act like a short circuit that bypasses this
voltage away from the rest of the circuit.

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6- Program Editing and commissioning
￮ Editing is simply the ability to make changes to an existing program
through a variety of editing functions. Using the editing function, instructions
and rungs can be added or deleted; addresses, data, and bits can be
changed. Again, the editing format varies with different manufacturers and
PLC models.
￮ Commissioning is preparing a control process for start-up. It involves a
series of tests to ensure that the PLC, the ladder logic program, the I/O
devices, and all associated wiring operate according to specifications.
So before commissioning any control system, you should have a good
understanding of how the control system operates and how the various
components interact.

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General steps to be followed when commissioning
a PLC system:
￮ Before applying power to the PLC or the input devices, disconnect or isolate any
output device that could potentially cause damage or injury.
￮ Apply power to the PLC and input devices. Measure the voltage to verify that
rated voltage is being applied.
￮ Examine the PLC’s status indicator lights. If power is properly applied, the
power indicator should be on, and there should be no fault indication.
￮ Verify that you have communication with the PLC via the programming device
that is running the PLC programming software.
￮ Place the PLC in a mode that prevents it from energizing its output circuits.
Depending on the make of the PLC, this mode may be called disable,
continuous test, or single-scan mode. This mode will allow you to monitor input
devices, execute the program, and update the output image file while
keeping the output circuits de-energized. 21
General steps to be followed when
commissioning a PLC system:

￮ Manually test each output. One way you can do this is by applying power
to the terminal where the output device is wired. This test will check the
output field device and its associated wiring.
￮ After verifying all inputs, outputs, and program addresses, verify all preset
values for counters, timers, and so on.
￮ Reconnect any output devices that may have been disconnected and
place the PLC in the run mode.
￮ Test the operation of all emergency stop buttons and the total system
operation.

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7- Programming and Monitoring
There is two types of programming:
 offline programming, which involves writing and storing the program in
the personal computer without its being connected to the PLC and later
downloading it to the PLC.
 online programming the program can be modified, the modifications can
be tested, and finally they can be accepted or rejected while the PLC is
running.
￮ However, offline programming is the safest manner in which to edit a
program because additions, changes, and deletions do not affect the
operation of the system until downloaded to the PLC.
￮ An online programming mode permits the user to change the program
during machine operation. Any modification made is executed immediately
on entry of the instruction. Therefore, the user should assess in advance
all possible sequences of machine operation that will result from the
change. 23
Monitoring
Two useful monitoring tools provided with PLC programming packages
are data monitor and cross reference:
￮ Data monitoring functions allow you to monitor and/or modify
specified program variables.
￮ cross reference function allows you to search each instance of a
particular address

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Cross reference
￮ When troubleshooting a PLC, it may be
necessary to locate each instance of a
particular address in the ladder
program. The cross reference function
searches all program files to locate
each instance of the selected address.
￮ The contact histogram function allows
you to view the transition history (the
on and off states) of a data table value.

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8-Preventive Maintenance

Although PLCs have been designed to minimize maintenance

and provide trouble-free operation, there are several preventive
measures that should be looked at regularly:
￮ Any filters that have been installed in enclosures should be
cleaned or replaced to ensure that clear air circulation is
present inside the enclosure.
￮ Dust or dirt accumulated on PLC circuit boards should be
cleaned. If dust is allowed to build up on heat sinks and
electronic circuitry, an obstruction of heat dissipation could
occur and cause circuit malfunction.

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8-Preventive Maintenance
￮ Connections to the I/O modules should be checked for
tightness. Loose connections may result not only in improper
function of the controller but also in damage to the components
of the system.
￮ All field I/O devices should be inspected to ensure that they are
adjusted properly.
￮ Care should be taken to ensure that heavy noise- or heat-
generating equipment is not moved too close to the PLC.
￮ Check the condition of the battery that backs up the
RAM memory in the CPU.
NB: To avoid injury to personnel and to prevent equipment damage,
connections should always be checked with power removed from
the system.
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9- Troubleshooting

￮ In the event of a PLC fault, you should employ a careful and systematic
approach to troubleshoot the system to resolve the problem.
￮ If a control system has been operating, you can be fairly confident of the
accuracy of the program logic. For a system that has never worked or is
just being commissioned, programming errors should be considered.
￮ When a problem occurs, the first step in the troubleshooting procedure is
to identify the problem and its source. The source of a problem can
generally be narrowed down to the processor module, I/O hardware,
wiring, machine inputs or outputs, or ladder logic program.

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Troubleshooting-Processor Module

￮ The processor is responsible for the self-detection of potential

problems. It performs error checks during its operation and
sends status information to indicators that are normally located
on the front of the processor module.
￮ LEDs found on a processor module are used to identify
processor problems as follows:
RUN (Green)
• On steady indicates that the process is in the RUN
mode.
• Flashing during operation indicates that the process is
transferring a program from RAM to the memory module.
• Off indicates that processor is in a mode other than
RUN.
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Troubleshooting-Processor Module
￮ FLT (Red)
• Flashing at power-up indicates that the processor has not been configured.
• Flashing during operation indicates a major error either in the processor,
chassis, or memory.
• On steady indicates that a fatal error is present (no communications).
• Off indicates there are no errors.
￮ BATT (Red)
• On steady indicates the battery voltage has fallen below a threshold level,
or the battery is missing or not connected.
• Off indicates that the battery is functional.

￮ Most PLCs incorporate a watchdog timer to monitor the scan process of the
system. The watchdog timer circuit monitors how long it takes the
CPU to complete a scan. If the CPU scan takes too long, a watchdog major
error will be declared. 30
Malfunctions:
￮ If the controller is operating in the RUN mode but output devices do
not operate as programmed, the faults could be associated with any
of the following:
• Input and output wiring between field devices and modules
• Field device or module power supplies
• Input sensing devices
• Output actuators
• PLC I/O modules

￮ By comparing the actual status of the suspect I/O with controller

status indicators. The problem source can be identified.

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Example of input malfunction
￮ When input hardware is suspected to be the source
of a problem, the first check is to see if the status
indicator on the input module illuminates when it is
receiving power from its corresponding input device
(e.g., pushbutton, limit switch).
￮ If the status indicator on the input module does not
illuminate when the input device is on, take a voltage
measurement across the input terminal to check for
the proper voltage level.
￮ If the voltage level is correct, then the input module
should be replaced.
￮ If the voltage level is not correct, power supply,
wiring, or input device may be faulty.
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typical input device troubleshooting guide

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Output Malfunctions
￮ Electronic protection, is used to provide
protection for the modules from short-
circuit and overload current conditions.
￮ In the event of a short-circuit or overload
current condition on an output channel,
that channel will limit current within
milliseconds after its thermal cut-out
temperature has been reached.
￮ All other channels continue to operate as
directed by the processor.

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 Typical discrete output module troubleshooting
guide:

• If an output rung is energized, the module status

indicator is on, and the output device is not
responding, then the wiring to the output device or
the output device itself should be suspected.
• If, according to the programming device monitor,
an output device is commanded to turn on but the
status indicator is off, then the output module or
processors may be at fault.
• Check voltage at output; if incorrect, power supply,
wiring, or output device may be faulty.

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Ladder Logic Program

￮ Many PLC software programs offer various software

checks used to verify program logic.
￮ The ladder logic program itself is not likely to fail,
assuming that the program was at one time working
correctly. A hardware fault in the memory IC that holds the
ladder logic program could alter the program, but this is a
PLC hardware failure.
￮ The temporary end (TND) instruction, is used when you
want to change the amount of logic scanned to
progressively debug your program.

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Suspend instruction
￮ The suspend (SUS) instruction, is used
to trap and identify specific conditions for
program debugging and system
troubleshooting.
￮ When an instruction does not seem to
be working correctly, the problem may
be an addressing conflict caused
by the same address being used for two
or more coil instructions in the same
program. As a result, multiple rung
conditions can control the same output
coil, making troubleshooting more
difficult.

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￮ Questions?

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