I setup a lot of temperature control systems for various furnaces but I am getting into more complicated/custom installations that require more than w hat the manufacturer of my temp controllers can provide (i.e. Eurotherm). Is there any particular product that someone might recommend which has some of the features of a standard temp controller but provides the ability to develop some custom code and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for adding add itional inputs? Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?
getting into more complicated/custom installations that require more than what the manufacturer of my temp controllers can provide (i.e. Eurotherm). Is there any particular product that someone might recommend which has some of the features of a standard temp controller but provides the ability to develop some custom code and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for adding additional inputs? Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?
What kind of control algorithms do you require?
You may be better off doing coms to a dedicated controller or controllers.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
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"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
getting into more complicated/custom installations that require more than what the manufacturer of my temp controllers can provide (i.e. Eurotherm). Is there any particular product that someone might recommend which has some of the features of a standard temp controller but provides the ability to develop some custom code and doesn't charge an arm and a leg for adding additional inputs? Are there any PLC's that allow you to write custom code?
All PLC's allow you to write custom code, that is the whole idea behind it.
PLC's are expensive in nature but they offer lots of things you can do. You can use a cheap PLC or intelligent programmable rely module to interact with the Heat controller or, you can go full out and use a PLC to do it all.
Most venders of PLC's offer TC/RTD etc. modules to be added and a variety of IO. Code is done in ladder format for most.. Some use basic and others use a form of gate array logic.
Some of the low end PLC's do not have TC/RTD modules, but you can get signal transmitters to convert a TC/RTD over to RS485/232 to send data to these low end units.
What a lot of people do is use a heat control unit like you are now, but they link to it via RS323/485 over to a PLC to control and monitor set points.
For you, you maybe interested in things like this..
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Also, look at
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They have lots of signal conditioners and PLC's to work with at a low price..
All of them - The 'P' in 'PLC' stands for 'Programmable'. Of course that may not help if you need complicated math functions and the device's programmability is only for simple ladder logic. There are many PLC's in the market, with wide differences in computing power, functionality, etc. Try to define what you need exactly to narrow the search.
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Roberto Waltman
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