Reliability of Automation Direct DL06 PLC

I have maybe 10-12 of these out in the world, so far so good. The units are strangely sensitive to their power grounding but no real problems yet. They have been in operation maybe 2 years in a fairly good enviornment. Don't know how they would do in harsh conditions.

There were some issues to start with...the grounding I mentioned. The PLC's would fault and insert a rung of "trash" in the program. The cabinet it was in had a floating neutral off the control trans. Tech support said ground the neutral and that would go away. We did, and it did.

One other thing, I'm sure you wouldn't do this but...one of my large clients has a machine builder that will stick a PLC in a cabinet either sideways or flat on its back at the bottom of the can. These PLC's (DL105's) die in short order probably from overheating.

Steve Cothran wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Thanks for the info Steve. I'll note the grounding issues. Everything is DIN mounted in our cabinets (why would you not?). There should be ample room for air circulation. A fan / filter could be installed if needed. The environment would be a pretty clean machining facility. We typically use AB or Siemens, but this is a VLB (very low budget) project, and I only need 11 in and 7 out. This thing is over $100 cheaper than either the AB or S7-200 and I can get an operator interface for

I have used several of the DL06 and 250 PLC's in 24/7 machines, both stand alone and networked, and have found them quite reliable.

The oldest has been going for about 5 yrs now and has had no dramas related to the PLC unit. The DL06 tolerates mains supply bumps and output shorts pretty well, I have never tried mounting them other than DIN rail. They live in standard sealed cabinets in a fibreglass dust contaminated environment, one is regularly about 50 dec C.

We are not a machine builder but a manufacturing facility who makes our own machines - I have yet to be convinced that higher priced PLC's deliver any benefit to me. I also use AD pneumatics, encoders, optical & proximity sensors; most of which live unprotected in very dusty conditions.

Fulliautomatix wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

Thanks for the info.

We are in the same boat, a manufacturer of what is basically becoming a commodity product, but we build our own machines to make the product. Most of the machines we build are high-speed, extreme precision CNC machining equipment with robotic integration, so high end PLC/CNC controls are usually needed. This particular application is a simple material handling situation though.

If you do not know the service location. I have found a double regulated power supply will save your ass in a lot of situations. I also install surge protection when ever I am unsure of the installation. I hate going back for nonsense issues.

Use VIPA, 100% Siemens compatible at 40% off.

thanks.

No worries, it will sit there and chug away for you.

I haven't tried the 'on board' screen but the Uniop EPad06 is a useful thing as a cheap HMI; and AD's through beam optical fibre sensors are good for repeatable positioning to 0.5 mm.

High speed...precision...clean!...not dusty you say? mmmmm