AB PLC system users

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Thread Starter

jimmy

Thought I would throw this out there to see what sort of response one would obtain... Very popular and well received PLC system, however any end-users wish to comment on what they do not like about AB PLC if anything; numerous PLC controllers, firmware issues/updates, programing, etc?
 
The usual complaints are:

1) Expensive (hardware and software).

2) Doesn't interface easily (or often at all) with anything not from AB (or one of their licensees).

In addition to those, people who are used to other PLCs consider AB PLCs to be either:

a) not complicated enough (people who like Siemens PLCs), or

b) too complicated (people who like most other PLCs).


On the positive side, people usually like the following:

1) Good distributor network (at least in some geographical areas).

2) Long support life (although I'm not sure that will remain true for their newer products).


You will get different opinions about AB from different people because they place different weights on the various factors. The most common complaint you will hear here relates to the high cost of buying and maintaining their programming software.
 
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curt wuollet

Other than a batch of faulty Micrologix that caused some headaches, I'd have to say that the AB stuff is really pretty good. They know it and price it accordingly. It makes it really hard to "sell" a new project because costs mount up so quickly.

The software is "really" spendy and like most big brands there is a lot of gadgetitis and you'll accumulate a lot of spendy gizmos and cables to cover a range of platforms. They are probably the easiest to work with and a clear choice when cost is no object.

They are my second choice for things that I can't do with Automation Direct's rather generic PLCs. I have not had a chance to work with their newest stuff and so, can't really comment on that. I don't mind working on AB stuff at all if I don't have to defend or justify the pricing.

Regards
cww
 
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Trevor Ousey

Overall the AB PLC is fairly good, maybe that's because I use it everyday and it is familiar.

Down side, some pricing is costly, sometimes you need to have too many software packages. For example, if you have a Controllogix you need RSLogix5000, RSlinx (normally supplied as lite) and RSNetworx if you need to have a second rack on Controlnet. If there was an easy way to have more than one user in a project offline that would be handy at the moment, although with a little care we can have multiple users in the online environment.

Plus side, no need to worry about converting word types as it is all handled inside, for example in a ControlLogix I can have an INT and Multiply it by a REAL (or float) and put the result into a DINT, and then easily use the BOOL or Bit part of the SINT, INT or DINT in logic. This is so easy and common on most of their platforms. AB and third party companies support numerous modules making some projects easily achievable.

With ControlLogix firmware upgrades you just need to be aware of the
availability of compatible firmware for modules. This has been a little issue when we end up working with existing installations. For example, a ControlLogix running version 12 firmware with a Devicenet Bridge 1756-DNB/Ser A, and we need to install a new second network which uses a 1756-DNB/Ser C and cannot be flashed down low enough to be compatible, an the series A cannot be flashed up to the higher firmware. We had to disable keying.
 
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Bob Peterson

AB has about as good a PLC line as you could ask for. It took a while for the Controllogix line to get there, but its pretty good and pretty stable these days.

Some of the common complaints about AB are perceived high costs, especially of software and ongoing support.

For most people who are not doing one off projects, the hardware cost for AB is comparable to any of the low end PLCs. For people who use less of it, something like Automation Direct is often less costly, at least hardware wise.

The AB software runs rings around everything else I have used, and I have used most of them. It has quirks, but it is oriented around programmer productivity. Once you get used to it you can bang out code PDQ. That's not of all that much value to people who don't use it a whole lot. Its also not as big a deal to people doing stuff for in house projects because the cost of programming and debugging is often so obscured no one really knows what it is. For an integrator, its crucial because many times you are basically selling code, and the more you can pound out and test in a given time, the more profitable you are. Its one of the reasons OEMs and integrators tend to think so highly of the product, while end users who are usually far less skilled and experienced with the product don't understand the attraction.

I think the general perception of AB motion control products, including those directly integrated into PLC systems, is that they are not quite as good as other things that are available out there. I think that is probably a fair assessment, although I have not used much of anyone's motion control products for a while. But, for all but the most demanding applications they are serviceable, and very few applications are all that demanding.

AB communications products are pretty good. They mostly support foreign protocols through gateway type products rather than directly, but that's not all that uncommon in the PLC world. There is some kind of gateway, either OPC based, or 3rd party hardware, for just about anything you could want to talk to these days.
 
R
I have no complaints about their PLCs however I have had nothing but grief with new VersaView HMIs, 4 failures for 4 purchased so far. The last one the mounting brackets didn't match the holes in the HMI.

I will say this though, they do replace them pretty smartly and once replaced they seem reliable.

I get the impression that one group is firing them out the door and another group are following on behind to pick up the pieces.

Roy
 
In reply to Roy Matson: The larger vendors don't design or make many of their own products. The products are designed and manufactured by someone else, and the vendor just buys them and puts their label on them.

They still seem to have "core" products which they have kept the design capability for. The definition of "core" seems to keep getting smaller and smaller each year though.

At one time if you bought a product from a major vendor, it was "their's" and they stood behind it 100%. Those days seem to be long gone though (along with the engineers who could actually design products).
 
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Gerald Beaudoin

As far a hardware goes, in 20+ years of using AB products, the only failures I have seen are a few output relays. Some would say it is very costly as compared to some of the others. I think reliability has its price.

Software is quite another matter. Although the PLC programming software is easy to use and has great features, it does have some issues. Cost is certainly one. Firmware/hardware/software compatibility issues are always lurking and difficult to control. Support is expensive and not always very responsive to the customer needs. Newer products tend to have long lag times to work out the bugs. Stay away from the versions 1.XX. Product evolution is not easy to follow either...seems the names and compatibility issues change on a an ongoing basis. But....once you get that all sorted out....it does run pretty good.
 
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