Industrial Networking Troubleshooting Tips

Industrial Networking
Trouble Shooting the Network
Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Best Practices
The updated layout of the network must be available

( where are nodes located, how are they connected, how long are the sections, BOM of the network
parts )
Log of Problems and Solutions must be maintained and made available

( refer to past problems and solutions , log problem areas, flex points on the network, high noise areas)
Diagnostic Information must be easily accessible

( Is there an HMI screen indicating the layout as well as a diagnostic screen, easy access to DeviceNet
scanner LEDs and Error Codes )
Spare terminating resistor, 24 V power supply and voltmeter must be made available
( diagnostic equipment's Network Power Tee, DeviceNet Netmeter, DeviceNet Analyzer using open
Taps )

What to do first ?
Ask the operator what happened
Ask what has changed
Go to HMI Screens and /or DeviceNet Scanner and check what do they show
Determine if the problem is isolated to a node, multiple nodes or the entire network
Single nodes can usually be troubleshot through the Error codes from the DeviceNet Scanner
For multiple nodes it is best to determine if the nodes are located in the same general area of the
network
Be prepared to troubleshoot the physical network
Check historical logs for past problems
Keep spares available
Keep multi-meter and diagnostic tools ready

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner LED Indicators
Depending on the DeviceNet Scanner, location of

the health and status indicators will differ and
interpretation of the same needs to be understood
By referring to the respective manual

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner Error Codes

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner Error Codes
Green = Normal condition or Abnormal condition caused by user action

Blue = Abnormal or error conditions
Red = Severe errors, possibly requiring a replacement scanner
Bold = Most common conditions
Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner Error Code 91 BUS OFF
The BUS OFF condition is the hardest condition to troubleshoot, there are many factors
that can cause the condition
Each device has an error counter, if the error count rises too quickly in a short time
the device decides that it is on an unstable network and sends a BUS OFF error to the
scanner
If a network has been working correctly for a long time, and a BUS OFF occurs, it is
usually tied to a CAN issue

Device LEDs
By ODVA standards DeviceNet devices must have two indicators on them, Module Health
(MOD) and Network Health (NET) LEDs
These indicators can be combined into one LED (MOD/NET)
The MOD LED shows state of the device itself, these states are best described in the
individual vendor manuals
The NET LED shows the state of the device as it is communicating on the network
For all Green is good, Red is bad

Troubleshooting - 90% of DeviceNet Issues are related to the Physical Network
Usually there is no need to open software packages to check ladder logic or network
configuration, most of this information should be displayed on the HMI
When preparing to troubleshoot the physical network, it is best to use a half-split method, a
spare terminator is needed for this
o Divide the network in half and verify that at least one half is functioning
o Take the half that is not functioning and split in half again, finding the non-functional
half and repeating the process until the problem is solved
Troubleshooting the network is usually done through the use of a multi-meter alone or in
tandem with a diagnostic tool that show Bus errors
A multi-meter can be used to check multiple conditions on a network

o Shorts and Opens on the CAN wires (Blue and White)
o DeviceNet Power wires (Red and Black)
o CAN Voltage
o Grounding Loops (Black and Bare)
o Common Mode Voltage

Troubleshooting Using the Multi-meter

Shorts and Opens on the CAN wires (Blue and White)
On a powered down network check resistance between the CAN High and CAN Low wires
(White and Blue)
Depending on the location where you are testing the reading will change, Drop vs. Trunk
Results from Testing CAN wires at the Trunk Results from Testing CAN wires at a Drop
120 121 ohms is NORMAL 50 70 ohms is NORMAL

Less than 120, check for shorts Less than 50, check for shorts, or then 2
Greater than 121, check for opens terminating resistors
71 121, check for opens, or only 1 terminating
resistor
Greater than 121, check for opens, or no
terminating resistors


DeviceNet Power Wires (Red and Black)
On a powered network check the voltage on the DeviceNet Power wires (Red and Black)
Results from Testing DeviceNet Power
14 25 volts is NORMAL
Less than 13 volts, check for shorts, or bad power
supply, cable length to long
Greater than 25 volts, check for bad power supply


CAN Voltage
Stop all Network Traffic; this can be accomplished by setting the Command Register
Disable Network bit high.
On a powered network check the voltage between the CAN High (White) wire and
V-(Black) and CAN Low (Blue) wire and V- (Black).
Results from CAN Voltage

2 3 volts is NORMAL
Less than 2 volts, check for shorts across CAN High or Low to V- or shield
Greater than 3 volts, check for shorts across CAN High or Low to V+


Single Earth Ground
Turn off network power
Disconnect the one known earth ground point from V- and the Shield, verify V- and the
Shield are disconnected from each other
Measure DC resistance between V- and the earth ground at each end of the network
Measure the DC resistance between the Shield and earth ground at each end of the network
Results from Single Earth Ground
Greater than 1M ohm is NORMAL

Less than 1M ohm, check for another earth ground on the network


Common Mode Voltage
Turn on network power
Set network for maximum current consumption, activate all inputs and outputs that use
network power
Measure the voltage between V+ and V- at the ends of the network
Measure the voltage between V+ and V- at each power supply
Determine the difference between the end of network readings and power supply
readings
Results from Common Mode Voltage
Less than 9.3 volts is NORMAL

Greater than 9.3 volts, the network length may be too long for the power supply, or there
may be excessive noise on the network
Troubleshooting DeviceNet Status File in RSLogix5000 for 1756-DNB
Located with the Input and Output data files for the 1756-DNB there is also the Status
File, this file contains data about individual devices on the network
For example, the Device Failure Register (SINT array of 8 = 64 bits = 64 possible
nodes), contains a bit for every possible device on the network, 1 = faulted and 0 = not
faulted/not in Scanlist
The data can be used in the logic to determine if the node is in the Scanlist and if it is
faulted, this information can then be sent to an HMI
Another useful piece of the Status File is the Status Display, the SINT array of 4
contains the 4 characters that are displayed on the LEDS display on the front of the 1756-
DNB

Troubleshooting DeviceNet Status File in RSLogix5000 for 1756-DNB
Expanded Device Failure Register
Expanded Status Display

Diagnostic Tools Network Power Tee
Standard DeviceNet Tee with LEDs that show

Under or Over Current detections, as
well as, AC ripples on the power lines
A suggested idea is one per power segment, if
the network is powered by three
different power supplies put one tee to show
the health of each power supply
Diagnostic Tools NetMeter
The NetMeter can be used to diagnose the DeviceNet

issue that can drive you to which multimeter test to use
The NetMeter shows Bus Errors and Bus Traffic that a
multimeter can not
The NetMeter can be used as a preventative
maintenance tool, the weekly, monthly, or
bi-monthly readings can be compared to see if anything
is slowly deteriorating on the network

Diagnostic Tools DeviceNet Analyzer
Analysis
Monitoring
Maintenance of A Network

Advantages of using BALLUFF Best Blocks in the Business

Diagnostic Tools Block Test

Diagnostic Tools DeviceNet Analyzer


Industrial Networking Troubleshooting Tips

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Industrial Networking Troubleshooting Tips

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Industrial Networking

Trouble Shooting the Network

Trouble Shooting the Network

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

The updated layout of the network must be available

Log of Problems and Solutions must be maintained and made available

Diagnostic Information must be easily accessible

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Ask the operator what happened

Ask what has changed

Be prepared to troubleshoot the physical network

Check historical logs for past problems

Keep spares available

Keep multi-meter and diagnostic tools ready

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner LED Indicators

Depending on the DeviceNet Scanner, location of

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner Error Codes

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner Error Codes

Green = Normal condition or Abnormal condition caused by user action

Allen Bradley DeviceNet Scanner Error Code 91 BUS OFF

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

For all Green is good, Red is bad

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting - 90% of DeviceNet Issues are related to the Physical Network

A multi-meter can be used to check multiple conditions on a network

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting Using the Multi-meter

120 121 ohms is NORMAL 50 70 ohms is NORMAL

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting Using the Multi-meter

Results from Testing DeviceNet Power

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting Using the Multi-meter

Results from CAN Voltage

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting Using the Multi-meter

Results from Single Earth Ground

Greater than 1M ohm is NORMAL

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting Using the Multi-meter

Results from Common Mode Voltage

Less than 9.3 volts is NORMAL

Troubleshooting DeviceNet Status File in RSLogix5000 for 1756-DNB

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Troubleshooting DeviceNet Status File in RSLogix5000 for 1756-DNB

Expanded Device Failure Register

Expanded Status Display

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Diagnostic Tools Network Power Tee

Standard DeviceNet Tee with LEDs that show

Diagnostic Tools NetMeter

The NetMeter can be used to diagnose the DeviceNet

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Diagnostic Tools DeviceNet Analyzer

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Advantages of using BALLUFF Best Blocks in the Business

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India

Diagnostic Tools Block Test

Raul Rodrigues - Balluff India