Hello A-Listers
My plant has expanded rapidly in recent years. All of the new MCCs have power logic monitoring devices and I want to propose putting in a network to make use of the devices and get some control over our power use.
I have met with Square D reps and got some steep prices for the equipment needed to complete a network.
Some of my questions are;
Can I do the upgrades on the CMs myself? Do I have to use the EGX200 or EGX400 gateways from Square D or will another kind of modbus gateway work? Has anyone done one of these systems or one similiar? What were the results? How have you measured the payback?
Regards, Mark Ray (mavray(AT)netscape.net)

 

Mark,
It all depends on what kind of field device you have. Some of the devices (i.e. the CM2xxx) do not communicate via Modbus, only a Sy/Net subset called POWERLOGIC. Others use data rates that are not compatible. Respond with more info.

RAH

 

The newer POWERLOGIC meters (CM3000, CM4000, Power Meter, Enercept, BCM, Energy Meter, Powerlink G3, etc.) use normal Modbus RTU. You can use most any Modbus/TCP <> Modbus RTU bridge for networking these devices.

Older POWERLOGIC meters (CM2000, CM200, CM100, Powerlink AS, 810D, etc.) use versions of the Square D SY/MAX serial protocol. You need special network devices that specifically support these POWERLOGIC slaves such as the Square D EGX and ECM or Niobrara PEN. All of these will support the older and newer POWERLOGIC slaves on the same serial drop as well as generic Modbus RTU slaves.

Scott Henson
Niobrara Research & Development
[email protected]

 

The MARC Omnii-Comm product can convert the Power Logic Circuit Monitors to Modbus in many applications. You can see a data sheet here http://www.miille.com/din266-p00.pdf

The Omnii-Comm product pricing ranges from $900.00 to $1,400.00 depending on the number of serial ports you need.

Please contact me off list at [email protected] to discuss your application.

Jerry Miille

 

Randall

Our units are CM2150 and the proposal includes upgrading them to CM2350. Some do not need upgrading. We will add two CM3350 units. Hope that helps.

Mark