Schneider / Modicon Premium and TSX 57

The digit before the M tells you whether it is a PL7 or a Unity processor. A 3 is PL7 and a 4 is Unity, and they will not run each other's applications.

Modicon Premium is the discontinued Schneider mid-range platform, TSX 57 processors on TSX RKY racks. Still running plenty of New Zealand water treatment and process plant.

The single most useful digit

Compare these pairs. They are the same processor level in two software generations.

A reference ending 3M or 3AM is a PL7 processor. A reference ending 4M is a Unity processor.

That holds across the range. TSXP573623AM and TSXP57453AM are PL7. TSXP571634M, TSXP572634M and TSXP573634M are Unity.

Why it matters more than anything else on the page

A Unity processor will not run a PL7 application. Fitting one to a PL7 machine means converting the program in software, which needs the original application, a licence for the tools and someone who can validate the result.

So when a Premium processor fails, the first question is which generation, not which level.

If a machine has run on PL7 for twenty years and the program cannot be opened, a like-for-like PL7 processor is very often the only practical answer. That is what we source.

Reading the rest of the number

Take TSXP572634M.

The communication digits

FIPIO is the older Schneider fieldbus, and a machine using it needs a processor that has it. There is no add-on card equivalent for a base processor.

So a TSXP57203M and a TSXP57253M are the same level, and only one talks FIPIO.

The Premium processor range

Also in the family: TSX 57253MR, a PL7 FIPIO processor in the standard exchange range, and the PCX 57 PC card versions of the same platform.

PCMCIA changes the memory dramatically

Repeating this from our Schneider overview because it is the second most common Premium sourcing error.

For the TSXP573634M:

Roughly nine times the program memory, depending on a card that is not part of the processor.

So a replacement processor on its own may not hold the application. Keep the card from the failed unit, and if you are buying used, ask whether one is fitted.

TSXP573634M capacities

Application specific channels are a real limit

Schneider devotes manual sections to defining and counting application-specific channels, which tells you it is a constraint people hit.

Counting modules is not enough. Certain module types consume application-specific channels from a fixed budget, and a processor can run out of them before it runs out of slots or I/O capacity.

If you are adding to an existing Premium station, that is worth checking before ordering the module.

The rack system

Extendable and non-extendable are different parts

Only the extendable racks carry:

• Micro-switches to set the rack address
• A 9-pin female sub-D connector for the BusX link to another rack

A non-extendable rack cannot be the first rack in a multi-rack station. If you are adding a second rack, check the existing one has the connector.

Racks also carry dedicated ground terminals, take M6 mounting screws and have marked locations for the rack address and the station network address.

The power supply cannot go in the wrong slot

A small piece of good design worth knowing. Schneider notes that power supply modules have a boss on the rear panel and the rack has a matching aperture, making incorrect fitting impossible.

So if a module will not seat, check you are not trying to put it in the supply position, and vice versa.

Power supplies use the TSX PSY prefix.

The module prefixes

The Y ending marks Premium. A TSX DEY is a Premium input module; a TSX DEZ is a Micro one, covered on our Schneider overview. They do not swap.

Common examples include TSXDEY16D2, a 16 point discrete input, and TSXDEY32D2K at 32 points.

Software, and the documentation problem

Schneider's PL7 implementation manual for TSX 57 and PCX 57 processors runs to five volumes, which gives a sense of the platform's depth.

The practical position on PL7 today: the software runs on old Windows versions, licences are hard to come by, and few people still have a working installation.

That is not a reason to replace a working PLC. It is a reason to hold spares so you never need to open the program. A processor, a power supply and one of each I/O card you run.

Migration, honestly

Premium to M580 is a rebuild. Different racks, different I/O, different processor, and a program conversion.

And the conversion has a precondition: you need the original application. If the program cannot be opened, a migration cannot start from it and the machine has to be reverse engineered.

So the realistic options when a Premium processor fails are:

We are set up for the first one. Secondary supply of Premium thins out over time and does not improve, so if a machine has years left in it, buy the spares while they exist.

What to send us

The full reference. Every digit, because the second to last one is the software generation.

Whether a PCMCIA card is fitted, and whether you need one.

Whether the station uses FIPIO.

For a rack, whether it needs to be extendable.

A photo if the label has faded. Premium labels do.

What we can supply

Processors. The full TSX P57 range in both PL7 and Unity generations, plus PCX 57 and standard exchange references.

Racks and supplies. TSX RKY racks in all slot counts, extendable and not, and TSX PSY power supplies.

I/O. TSX DEY, DSY, DMY, DET, AEY, ASY and AEM modules.

Communication. TSX ETY Ethernet, TSX SCY and SCP serial, FIPIO hardware.

PCMCIA cards and programming cables. The small parts that stop a job.

New old stock, surplus and tested used. Premium is long discontinued, so this is what exists.

We buy Modicon Premium

If you are migrating off Premium, do not scrap it. Individual modules are worth real money to plants still running them, and so are the racks, PCMCIA cards and programming cables.

Premium spares are getting harder to find every year, which makes what you have worth more, not less. See Sell To Us.

Related

Schneider overview, including the software generation map across all the legacy platforms.

Modicon M340 and M580, the current platforms Premium migrates to.

For legacy platforms from other brands see Siemens SIMATIC S5, Allen-Bradley SLC 500 and Omron C200H.

Send us your references

Check the digit before the M. A 3 is PL7 and a 4 is Unity, and that decides what will run your application. Quotes in NZD including GST.

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Industech is an independent supplier of new, surplus and used industrial automation equipment. We are not an authorised distributor of, approved by, sanctioned by, or affiliated with Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric, Modicon, Premium, PL7, Unity Pro, FIPIO and Telemecanique are trademarks of Schneider Electric. All trademarks, brand names and references are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.