Created Date: November 27,2002

Created by: LOTL

Thanks for the reply Kevin.

There is a button on the PLC, but it is in the correct position. Unfortunately i dont have a spare OP-1500.

I also heard back from directautomation support and they had suggested the following:

Thank you for your questions and interest in our products. There are a few

things you can check that could be causing the loss of communications

between the panel and the PLC.

1) One common problem we see is the Mode switch on the PLC. This should

always remain in he TERM position. It commonly gets switched to the RUN

position after a power failure of if problems occur in the system, people

have a tendency to relocate the switch and this halts all communications

through the comm ports.

2) Password protection. if a password has been placed into the PLC it will

react very similar to having the switch in the RUN position. You may use a

Password, but it must begin w/ the letter 'A ' and be followed by seven

numeric digits. i.e. A1234567.

3) It sounds like you covered most of the other options, Dip Switch settings

(should all be off) which are for panel addressing and only used if in a

multiple panel system.

4) Cable pinouts is always a good place to start on a system that was

working fine then all of the sudden stops. Check the connections, the

integrity of the cable and pin the cable out to verify that some of the

internal strands have not been severed or shorted together.

5) The baud rate that you had mentioned is all internal settings of the

panel configuration. These should not have changed on the panels side. You

will need the DirectSOFT software and the OP-WINEDIT software to verify the

comm setup for both the panel and the PLC.

6) and last would be the actual configuration of the OP-1500 has either been

corrupted or erased. This is not a common occurrence but it is possible. It

could be caused by a power surge, lightening strike, or extremely high

amount of electrical noise.

Take a look at these possibilities and let me know if you have any further

questions.

Here was my reply:

I didn't check for shorts on the cable, but i did ring out each lead end for

end, and saw no problems. But your right it is possible that two are

shorted.

Im thinking that for $15 i should just order a new cable.

Your right this machine had run for years, and no one has touched the program or modified passwords.

I did check the Run/Term switch, and it was in the TERM position.

I noticed there was a repaired sticker on the Optimate, so that's why i

thought it may have failed again.

Is there a way to determine if the configuration on the OP-1500 has been

corrupted or erased without the need for the software and laptop hookup?

Created Date: November 28,2002

Created by: KEVIN FENG

because this PLC is connected to a equipment,you should check if there ia a switch in your equipment except in PLC to forbid inputting the parameters.many equipment manufactory make this setting usually.

if your equipment work normally with the present parameters now,this mean PLC and other input&output signal from the equipment are fine,except the input from the Optimate OP-1500 to PLC fail.

if your equipment is just in standby situation,can not run normally.this mean there is maybe some fault in your equipment,especially input&output signal from the equipment.

does the Optimate OP-1500 connect PLC-CPU UNIT straight with a cable?or it is through a input unit between OP-1500 and PLC-CPU UNIT.in this situation you should check the input unit as most important fault resource.

maybe it help me to find more probability that you take some pictures about the equipment and PLC if you have a digital camera.

you can fix the situation that the OP-1500 has been corrupted or erased.it need the electronics cleaning liquid which is bought in any electronics store.

I agree the steadily connection of the cable is very important.so you shoud be sure that in-plug and out-plug between the cable and the OP-1500 and PLC is fine.

Created Date: November 26,2002

Created by: LOTL

Hi All,

Im trying to fix a machine of ours that uses the Optimate OP-1500 connected to a DirectLogic 205.

The OP-1500 keeps flashing the HOST COMM FAIL! error afetr powering up.

I checked for the 24VDC on the back of the OP-1500.

I verified the pinout for the interface cable, and checked continuity on all leads.

The dip switches are all in the "Off " position, and the RX LED is a solid red, and the TX LED is a flashing green.

I am able to run the machine, but cant access any parameters or machine functions through the OP-1500.

Im suspecting that the the OP-1500 is at fault here, but would like to diagnose further.

I have downloaded the entire manula for bothe the OP-1500, and the DL205, but its still not clear to me in what position to place the dip switches for the 9600 baud rate.

I dont think anyone has gone in and change them, but i would like to confirm this if possible.

Any help would be appreciated.