Mark5 and ABB DCS Communication

I am using two GE Machines with Mark 5 and ABB DCS.
One Machine is communicated through Modbus and Machine-2 in GSM.
Recently we have updated the HMI CIMPILICITY.
I am getting a group of alarms in CIMPLICITY HMI and ABB DCS while Machine-1 is running.
Checked no Hardware error in Mark-5 and ABB DCS.
After Master Reset Alarm were cleared. But it appearing intermittent.
The alarms are all GT Trip Signal but Machine operation not interrupted at all so far.
Anybody can guide what are the possible causes of this bunch of alarms appearing.
Thank you in advance.
 
1) We presume the comm links worked fine before the CIMPLICITY upgrade. Please confirm.

2) Who did the CIMPLICITY upgrade? Site personnel or a GE service provider or a third-party service provider (someone who sells or has experience with CIMPLICITY)?

3) Was the HMI hardware (CPU) upgraded at the same time?

4) Please confirm the unit which is having communication issues is the unit which uses MODBUS to communicate with the ABB DCS.

5) What was the previous version of CIMPLICITY?

6) What is the new version of CIMPLICITY (including Service Pack number)?

Seems like the CIMPLICITY upgrade is when the problem started, and so that makes it the place to start the troubleshooting.

You would need to provide a LOT of information for us to be of good help. BUT, if the upgrade was performed under a contract you need to get them to help with the troubleshooting and resolution. (We're presuming you are one of the site personnel and not an employee of the contracted firm.)

MODBUS with GE has been and is a moving target. Some versions of GE Mark* HMIs used a proprietary implementation of MODBUS; others used a CIMPLICITY implementation. And, upgrading HMIs--even using GE Mark* HMIs--has been, and continues to be, fraught with problems (of all kinds--including MODBUS, and even GSM). Don't let the provider off the hook--meaning, make them (whoever "they" are) resolve this issue.

If you or someone at your site performed the upgrade of CIMPLICITY, you should know that there is a LOT involved in the upgrade. Often, it involves upgrading TCI (the proprietary service which runs in the background on a GE Mark* V HMI), or the TCI service software. More often than not, it's much more than just upgrading CIMPLICITY. CIMPLICITY as implemented on a GE Mark* V HMI involves several "work-around" executables. It's not for the faint of heart or the non-GE person without access and information. And, even when GE is involved, it quite often goes wrong and requires some assistance from the factory--which is becoming more and more difficult these days with all of the organizational changes which have occurred in GE. And, not surprisingly, GE is subcontracting a lot of these kinds of projects these days.

Good luck in resolving this problem. It's probably a simple fix, but it might not be. It may be resolved in a short time, and it may not be.
 
Hi WTF,
Thanks for the reply. Below some more info.
1) We presume the comm links worked fine before the CIMPLICITY upgrade. Please confirm.
Yes. it was working fine. Once we started Machine-2 upgrade job, there was lot disconnection on Arc net.
Machine-2 upgrade completed and all the connections normalised.
But the alarms still coming in DCS/HMI in approximatley12 hours interval.
the Machine-1 upgraded last year it is using MODBUS and Machine-1 is communication is GSM.


2) Who did the CIMPLICITY upgrade? Site personnel or a GE service provider or a third-party service provider (someone who sells or has experience with CIMPLICITY)? Upgrade done by GE.

3) Was the HMI hardware (CPU) upgraded at the same time?
Yes
4) Please confirm the unit which is having communication issues is the unit which uses MODBUS to communicate with the ABB DCS.
The Machine-1 using MODBUS comm to DCS. Which giving these false alarms intermittent.

5) What was the previous version of CIMPLICITY? 9.5, Windows XP

6) What is the new version of CIMPLICITY (including Service Pack number)? 9.5, PC Windows 10.
 
I have two possibilities. I have worked on several sites with MODBUS comms over the years, and the DCS side of the link was often unable to handle the amount of data requested and supplied by the Mark* causing errors and comm failures. People had added more than one thousand signals to the MODBUS list and requested the data for all of them at a once-per-second rate, and then the DCS hardware and software couldn't handle the data at the rate it was being delivered. And, the Mark* got the blame for the problem EVERY TIME.

Second, it's very possible the MODBUS list in the upgraded Mark* HMI has some errors in it. Or, the way the MODBUS is being handled in the upgraded HMI isn't compatible with the way it was handled in the old GE Mark* V HMI. If you haven't done so already, you need to compare the MODBUS lists for the old GE Mark* V HMI and the upgraded GE Mark* HMI to find any differences or errors. And, if that doesn't yield any problems, then you need to get GE involved to make sure the way the upgraded GE Mark* HMI is compatible with the ABB DCS method of MODBUS comms.

Best of luck.
 
If the problem is logic signals, it's a good bet to look at packed register signals for any abnormalities before and after the upgradation--on BOTH ends of the MODBUS link.

I find it VERY interesting, also, that one unit communicates with MODBUS and the other unit uses GSM.... Things that make one go, "Hmmmm...."

Again, the problem could be at either end. You haven't said if any work was done on the ABB DCS during the upgradation of the GE Mark* HMIs....
 
Hi WTF,
Thank you very much for the reply.
We have normalized the machine running on GSM after the upgrade and the unit is running.
After normalizing no errors alarms appearing on the other machine for past one week.

Suspect the Arcnet was open somewhere during the upgrade, it may create some noise the network.

Any idea to check the noise in Arcnet or coaxial cable network.
I have Honeywell TPS3000 DCS, in which we can check the UCN cable noise counts and reset also.

One more time thank you for your time and reply.
 
Good news; thank you for the feedback!

There used to be some executable files in the G:\EXEC folder that began with ARC, ARCWHO.exe was one of them I believe. That was sort of useful for finding ARCnet network problems.

Sometimes. It doesn't upset anything to run them. They have to be run from a command prompt (i.e., a "DOS window"). You can find the ARC*.exe files using MS-Windows Explorer and then open a command prompt window and just type the name of the executable you wish to run and it should run without having to switch to the G:\EXEC folder (because G:\EXEC should be in the PATH statement and any files in the directory should run from any folder/location/directory).
 
Hi VinodM,
Could you kindly share the software configuration of the recently upgraded HMIs Win 10 based?
Cimplicity is 9.5 (any Service packs?)
Cimbridge Version?
TCI Version?
Do you have installed as well the Control St?
Thank you,
 
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