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Problem with 2 Automation Direct DL-405 PLC's

Mike_K

Plastic
Joined
Nov 20, 2019
Hey,

I've done some PLC programming but its been a very long time. I have two old Automation Direct DL-405 PLC's both with 8-position bases and D4-450 CPU's. I am testing them before selling and they are both giving me an E206 PS failure (non-fatal). I was getting a FATAL error originally on one but was able to get it to display non-fatal with a little messing around. I figured what are the odds that they would both have defective power supplies?

I've changed the original I/O configuration on both and tried to get it to recognize the new configuration which one did for a few modules but not all. I had the same issue (not PS failure) with a DL205 (D2-250 CPU) and was able to get it to go from FATAL to recognizing all modules correctly.

The DL405 manual for an E206 error says: Name: User 24V power supply failure, Description: The 24VDC power supply being used to power output modules has failed. SP45 will be on and the error code will be stored in V7756. Run AUX42 to determine the slot and base location of the module reporting error.

I'm not sure how to access V7756 or run AUX42.

BTW I'm using their old software DirectSOFT32 - Programming version 4.0(Build 16)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Can you verify what your 24VDC power is reading with a multi-meter? Maybe it is under-volting under load. Could be fine while idle, but programming or switching outputs could cause it to dip.
 
Right off the terminal strip I am reading 24.5VDC. I have nothing wired to the PLC except 120V as I am just trying to be sure all modules get recognized in the Configure I/O.

Under PLC - Diagnostics - I/O Diagnostics I get: Base 0 Slot 1 E206 User P/S Failure
Base 0 Slot 2 E206 User P/S Failure
Base 0 Slot 3 E206 User P/S Failure

Under PLC - Configure I/O I get:
Slot Module
0 32pt input mdl which is correct
1 16pt input mdl which is not correct, it's an 8ch AI
2 16pt input mdl which is not correct, it's an 8ch AI
3 32pt output mdl which is not correct, it's a 2ch AO
4 16pt output mdl which is correct
5 16pt output mdl which is correct
6 Shows a D4-DCM which is not correct, it's an F4-4LTC Temperature Controller
7 Shows a D4-DCM which may be correct, it's an Ethernet Link H4-ENET

Thanks,
Mike
 
More info for what it's worth.

The following is the state of the Indication lights after powering up the PLC:

CPU PWR: light is on, which is ok according to the manual
I/O: light is on, which is a self-diagnostic error
CPU: light is off, self-diagnostic good
Diag: light is off, self-diagnostic and local bus good
TXD/RXD: lights flashing back and forth when laptop connected to PLC.

Am able to write to the CPU ok.

Slot 0 32pt input mdl., light on at A-B and light switches to C-D when using the switch on the mdl
Slot 1 AI 8ch mdl., no lights on but don't believe it has any
Slot 2 AI 8ch mdl., no lights on but don't believe it has any
Slot 3 AO 2ch mdl., 24V and CH1 lights on and when flipping the switch on the mdl to CH2 its light comes on
Slot 4 DO 16pt mdl., no lights on
Slot 5 DO 16pt mdl., no lights on
Slot 6 Temp Controller F4-4LTC lights constant flashing back and forth between TB and 24V, OK light on constant
Slot 7 H4-ENET Ethernet mdl.,no lights.

Thanks,
Mike
 
I'll check that out.

Thanks,
Mike

It's certainly the first thing to check on any power supply when things get iffy. Usually the electrolytic capacitors dry out/bulge/leak. With a backplane, there might be secondary rail voltages to check (+/- 12vdc, +/- 5vdc) that may be out of spec, but will just point back to the primary 24vdc being poorly in some way. The apparent randomness of issues with the modules would indicate a source power issue.
 
Thanks for all that kinetiq.

It turns out it was my long time being out of the PLC world probably.

Since slots 1, 2 & 3 were the only ones showing PS failure I thought maybe they were requiring a separate 24VDC power to power them. I assumed they would be powered from the bus which they are to some degree. But finding 24V terminals on each of the 3 modules I wired them from the 24VDC supply built into the PLC and that resolved the non-fatal error.

But I was still a little confused when looking at the I/O configuration with the DirectSOFT32 software that the modules that were installed were not matching what I was seeing with the software.

Turns out I was wrong there too. Slots 1 & 2 are 8 CH analog input modules and they were being identified as
D4-450: 16PT INPUT MDL. So when I looked in the manual for that module (F4-08AD)it says that it uses 16 digital input (X) points. So that's what the I/O config is using to identify it.

In slot 3 is a 2CH AO module and the I/O config was identifying it as a D4-450: 32PT OUTPUT MDL. Same thing the manual shows it using 32 DI (X) points.

In slot 6 is a Temperature Controller mdl F4-4LTC so it has inputs and outputs. The I/O config shows it as a
D4-450: D4-DCM. Manual says I/O points req'd 0, and that it uses high speed intelligent parallel dual port memory interface.

I'm assuming the newer software would identify them by part number to eliminate that confusion.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Thanks for all that kinetiq.

It turns out it was my long time being out of the PLC world probably.

Since slots 1, 2 & 3 were the only ones showing PS failure I thought maybe they were requiring a separate 24VDC power to power them. I assumed they would be powered from the bus which they are to some degree. But finding 24V terminals on each of the 3 modules I wired them from the 24VDC supply built into the PLC and that resolved the non-fatal error.

I would assume that industrial I/O modules would produce isolated power for themselves to protect the CPU and other I/O modules. So the modules could be taking a common 24vdc bus voltage and then creating their own isolated power from that. You're likely bypassing the isolation and maybe backfeeding by bridging your power that way. Probably going to cause more damage. It could be the power supplies in the various modules are the issue instead of the main cpu power supply.
 
Hi,

Here is information from the D4-405 Analog I/O module manual.

The first excerpt is specifically from the F4-08AD module info found under Connecting the Field Wiring.
I have 2 of those modules installed:

The F4-08AD module requires a separate power supply. The Series DL405 CPUs,
D4-RS Remote I/O Controller, and D4-EX Expansion Units have built-in 24 VDC
power supplies that provide up to 400mA of current. If you only have a couple
analog modules, you can use this power source instead of a separate supply. If you
have more than four analog modules, or you would rather use a separate supply,
choose one that meets the following requirements: 24 VDC ±10%, Class 2, 100
mA current (per module).

Another analog I/O module I have installed has these power specs:
Internal Power Required 280 mA at +5 V dc Maximum from base power supply
External Power Required 75 mA at 24 V dc, ± 10%

Thanks,
Mike
 








 
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