3easymeasuresforgoodPLCsystemmaintenance

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3easymeasuresforgoodPLCsystemmaintenance(onphoto:SIEMENSPLCsystemwithSimaticS7inpanellocatedintunnelcredit:tunnelservicegroup.de)

PLCsystemmaintenance
WhyneedforPLCsystemmaintenancewhentheyaredesignedtobeeasytomaintainandtoensuretrouble
freeoperation?Well,severalmaintenanceaspectsshouldbeconsideredoncethesystemisinplaceand
operational.Certainmaintenancemeasures,ifperformedperiodically,willminimizethechanceofsystem
malfunction.

Thistechnicalarticleoutlinessomeofthepracticesthatshouldbefollowedtokeepthesystemingood
operatingcondition.

1.PreventivemaintenanceofPLCsystem
2.Spareparts
3.ReplacementofI/Omodules

1.Preventivemaintenance
Preventivemaintenanceofprogrammablecontrollersystemsincludesonlyafewbasicprocedures,whichwill
greatlyreducethefailurerateofsystemcomponents.PreventivemaintenanceforthePLCsystemshouldbesched
uledwiththeregularmachineorequipmentmaintenance,sothattheequipmentandcontrolleraredownfora
minimumamountoftime.

However,thescheduleforPLCpreventivemaintenancedependsonthecontrollersenvironmenttheharsherthe
environment,themorefrequentthemaintenance.

Thefollowingareguidelinesforpreventivemeasures//

1.Periodicallycleanorreplaceanyfiltersthathavebeeninstalledinenclosuresatafrequencydependent
ontheamountofdustinthearea.Donotwaituntilthescheduledmachinemaintenancetocheckthefilter.
Thispracticewillensurethatcleanaircirculationispresentinsidetheenclosure.
2.DonotallowdirtanddusttoaccumulateonthePLCscomponentsthecentralprocessingunitandI/O
systemarenotdesignedtobedustproof.Ifdustbuildsuponheatsinksandelectroniccircuitry,itcan
obstructheatdissipation,causingcircuitmalfunction.Furthermore,ifconductivedustreachestheelectronic
boards,itcancauseashortcircuit,resultinginpossiblepermanentdamagetothecircuitboard.
3.PeriodicallychecktheconnectionstotheI/Omodulestoensurethatallplugs,sockets,terminalstrips,
andmoduleshavegoodconnections.Also,checkthatthemoduleissecurelyinstalled.Performthistypeof
checkmoreoftenwhenthePLCsystemislocatedinanareathatexperiencesconstantvibrations,which
couldloosenterminalconnections.
4.Ensurethatheavy,noisegeneratingequipmentisnotlocatedtooclosetothePLC.
5.Makesurethatunnecessaryitemsarekeptawayfromtheequipmentinsidetheenclosure.Leavingitems,
suchasdrawings,installationmanuals,orothermaterials,ontopoftheCPUrackorotherrackenclosures
canobstructtheairflowandcreatehotspots,whichcancausesystemmalfunction.
6.IfthePLCsystemenclosureisinanenvironmentthatexhibitsvibration,installavibrationdetectorthatcan
interfacewiththePLCasapreventivemeasure.Thisway,theprogrammablecontrollercanmonitorhigh
levelsofvibration,whichcanleadtothelooseningofconnections.

2.Spareparts

Itisagoodideatokeepastockofreplacementpartsonhand.Thispracticewillminimizedowntimeresulting
fromcomponentfailure.Inafailuresituation,havingtherightspareinstockcanmeanashutdownofonlyminutes,
insteadofhoursordays.

Asaruleofthumb,theamountofasparepartstockedshouldbe10%ofthenumberofthatpartused.Ifa
partisusedinfrequently,thenlessthan10%ofthatparticularpartcanbestocked.

MainCPUboardcomponentsshouldhaveonespareeach,regardlessofhowmanyCPUsarebeingused.Each
powersupply,whethermainorauxiliary,shouldalsohaveabackup.Certainapplicationsmayrequireacomplete
CPUrackasastandbyspare.

Thisextremecaseexistswhenadownedsystemmustbebroughtintooperationimmediately,
leavingnotimetodeterminewhichCPUboardhasfailed.

3.ReplacementofI/Omodules
Ifamodulemustbereplaced,theusershouldmakesure
thatthereplacementmodulebeinginstalledisthe
correcttype.

SomeI/Osystemsallowmodulestobereplacedwhile
powerisstillapplied,butothersmayrequirethatpowerbe
removed.Ifreplacingamodulesolvestheproblem,butthe
failurereoccursinarelativelyshortperiod,theusershould
checktheinductiveloads.Theinductiveloadsmaybe
generatingvoltageandcurrentspikes,inwhichcase,
externalsuppressionmaybenecessary.

Ifthemodulesfuseblowsagainafteritisreplaced,the
problemmaybethatthemodulesoutputcurrentlimitis
beingexceededorthattheoutputdeviceisshorted.

Reference//PLCStartUpandMaintenancebyIndustrial
Text&VideoCompany

PLCSimaticS7300I/Omodule