Siemens S5 Troubleshooting
Course overview
Manufacturers are increasingly facing greater pressures to reduce costs and maintain efficiency whilst also maximising output. These problems are further challenged when it comes to arranging shift patterns to release essential production line staff for training.
This problem can be eased, as we now offer you three day courses rather than our more traditional five day courses on Siemens PLCs. Our new three day course enables you to maintain your efficiency levels with the minimum of disruption, whilst also providing focused learning.
The troubleshooting course targets maintenance personnel who have attended the three day First Line Maintenance course or who have a reasonable working knowledge of Siemens S5 and who need to be able to use the full diagnostic toolkit to effectively troubleshoot S5 hardware problems and machine or process faults.
The course is entirely practical and consists of troubleshooting a range of fault scenarios to establish a logical approach to fault-finding and to reinforce the use of standard tools and test procedures.
Target group
All engineering personnel involved with the maintenance, servicing and troubleshooting of automated systems controlled by Siemens S5 systems.
Duration
Courses take place over three days.
Previous knowledge
Delegates should have a basic understanding of PLCs or have attended our Introduction to PLCs course and have some familiarity with MS-DOS and/or Windows.
Syllabus
Logical Approach to Fault-finding
- Understand what should be happening
- Understand what is/is not happening
- Understand the reasons why most faults will not be PLC hardware or software & are much more likely to be due to field device failures or wiring problems
- Define the symptoms & consider possible causes
- Perform appropriate checks to localise the problem
Troubleshooting Siemens S5 hardware problems
- Know the first level checks to begin to quickly distinguish between PLC & field faults
- Know typical fault symptoms for common PLC hardware (module) failures
- Be able to recognise & interpret the meaning of external system diagnostic LEDs
- Be able to correctly interpret the status of I/O LEDs & relate these to the operation of field devices to distinguish between I/O module faults & wiring or field faults
- Know how & where to use a meter to check & confirm I/O module power supplies & for correct operation of digital & analog I/O circuits
- Know quick methods to identify a failed I/O module
- Know the symptoms of using a faulty comms cable or if connected to the wrong CPU comms port
S5 PLC system Resets & Re-starts
- Understand the effect on the operation of the PLC (program & memory) of stopping & re- starting (PGM to RUN mode) or cycling power
- Understand the implications of the Retentive/Non-Retentive memory switch
- Understand how & when to use Normal & Overall Resets & understand the effect of these on system operation
Troubleshooting “simple problems” through interpreting Siemens S5 program code
- Review the 3 program display modes (LAD, CSF, STL) & be able to interpret simple code for each
- Know how to use the Search tools in a program to trace I/O status
- Recognise & understand the different TMR/CTR formats in STL
- Know the conditions under which on-screen status is displayed incorrectly
- Be able to read an S5 program printout & interpret cross reference information to trace signals when troubleshooting
- Know how to interpret status in STL with RLO & accumulator
Diagnostic tools in STEP5
- Know how to generate on-screen Cross Reference data & how to avoid using incorrect Cross Reference data
- Know how to compare a program in the PLC with a program on disk & be able to interpret the report
- Know how to set up & use the Variable Status Display & Variable Blocks to monitor multiple I/O points & data registers in the S5
- Understand how & why status shown on the logic can be different from the Variable Status display
- Know how to use the Force function with S5 to set/reset a point or to step-on a sequence & understand the dangers & the limitations
- Know how to access the I-STACK & B-STACK diagnostic facilities & how to interpret the information provided to troubleshoot more difficult problems
Tips & Tricks when Troubleshooting with S5
- Know the easy methods to be able to display more STL code in ladder
- How to unlock some “hidden” code
- Simple program tools to time or count events, to prove status & trap intermittent faults
Further S5 troubleshooting practicals
- Troubleshooting “more complex” problems
- Troubleshooting S5 systems with programs held on EPROM/EEPROM
- Troubleshooting data handling problems
- Troubleshooting problems with analogs
- Troubleshooting programs which make extensive use of Data Blocks
- Troubleshooting problems which include Indirect Addressing
- Introduction to higher level diagnostic tools e.g. PLC Analyser pro 5
Training outcomes
On completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Structure a logical approach to fault-finding
- Troubleshooting Siemens S5 hardware problems
- Perform S5 PLC system Resets and Re-starts
- Troubleshooting “simple problems” through interpreting Siemens S5 program code
- Understand and use diagnostic tools in STEP5
- Apply tips and tricks when troubleshooting with S5
Guaranteed results
Our partners INTACS are so confident that we can deliver the right training for your people that we are even prepared to offer a money-back guarantee of satisfaction.
Recommended follow up courses
Siemens S5 PLC First Line Maintenance
The First Line Maintenance course equips maintenance personnel with the essential knowledge and skills to identify and maintain Siemens S5 PLCs and component parts, to be able to connect a PC/PG to access and monitor the live program and to be able to perform basic maintenance duties including how to reload the PLC program.
Understanding Siemens S5 Programs
The benefit of attending this further 3 day course is that delegates will be able to gain knowledge and practical experience of modifying and developing routines and applications for Siemens PLC automation control systems.
For more information or to make a booking please call (01604) 667584, or alternatively e-mail business_centre@festo.com.