cwr25 (Customer) asked a question.
Communication between these devices has worked for roughly 5yrs using the ECOM module ethernet connection with a 5 port switch, and then it stopped working and we received this error. We have tried everything we can think of to fix the issue, including installing a new DL06 PLC and modules, new EA9 Panel, new switch and communication cables with no success? It does not appear to be a hardware issue. We have talked to some technical support and they have advised that it may be an IP address issue, but we need more help and direction as to exactly how to find the issue and resolve it. Also, we would like to switch the connection between PLC and Panel to a serial port connection (from Port 1 on panel to Port 1 on PLC). Please help, we are desperate to get this resolved ASAP. Thank you.
My fast way to troubleshoot LAN Issues is to Grab my Lap Top, and what ever is needed to hook it to the LAN, and then see what will hook to what.. Command Ping Works if you know how to do that..
COMPLETE Architecture of the LAN is ALWAYS Necessary BEFORE trying to Troubleshoot..
Assuming you have the C-More Software, And you know the IP Addresses Involved, see if you and where you can hook to the C-More, and where you cant.. Or just Type in the IP Address of the C-More into your Browser ( On the Same Sub Net SOMETIMES required ) and see if you get the Web Page for that C-More Displayed..
I Prefer a LAN Connected C-More, as it allows me to connect to it from My desk for any 'Work' that needs to be done..
Cap
The quickest way for me would be to put the PLC and HMI on a dedicated communication cable, either serial PLC-to-HMI, or a dedicated ECOM module, directly connected to the HMI, with fixed IP addresses. I do not come from the IT world, and working with a company's internal IT department, or working with a company's contracted IT service company can be very time-consuming (to say the least). And they change IP settings whenever they want to. We have always used dedicated PLC-to-HMI communication for this reason. For remote access of the EA9 HMI we used the (1) Ethernet port, and we used the serial port for the PLC communication, as the EA9 has just the (1) Ethernet port. (some of the new HMIs have more than (1) Ethernet port, for example the CM5-T10W has (2) Ethernet ports) If the HMI is in the same cabinet as the PLC, we would use the pre-made RS232 HMI cable, or dedicated Ethernet. If the HMI is remote from PLC, (too far for RS232), we would use RS485, or dedicated Ethernet.
If wanting to switch to using a serial connection, I suggest using cable EA-2CBL or equivalent.
https://www.automationdirect.com/pn/ea-2cbl
In the C-more project, you'll want to go into Panel Manager, select DEV001 that is currently using the ECOM protocol and change it to use K-sequence.
One way to re-assign tags that is fairly easy. After Adding a New (K-Sequence serial) Device for HMI COM Port 1, (DEV002 for example), Export your tag database to a spreadsheet, open the spreadsheet (using Excel for example) and change all the tags with "DEV001" (Ethernet Device) with "DEV002" (Serial Device) using Fill Down (or other method of your choice), and save changes. Then Import Tag database back into the HMI project. Now all your tags should have the Serial Device name (DEV002 for example).
If your using the PLC Port 1 for programming, and you're not using PLC Port 2 for other purposes, you could also connect the HMI to PLC port 2 using EA-2CBL-1.