M580 NOC Ports: Use the Service Port for Ethernet Connections
December 29, 2025 • Infrastructure & ITThe Rule When connecting to an M580 PLC via Ethernet, use the service port — not the two network ports. The two NOC (Network…
Digital Output Cards Sourcing Voltage When De-Energized — 117V Ghost Voltage
December 15, 2025 • InstrumentationThe Problem Digital output (DO) cards were found sourcing approximately 117V on outputs that were not energized. The PLC logic showed the output as…
PLC Halt from Clearing Unused DFBs — CE16 Lesson Learned
December 1, 2025 • M580 & SchneiderWhat Happened During program maintenance on a Schneider M580 using Control Expert (CE) 16.0, unused Derived Function Blocks (DFBs) were cleared from the project.…
M580 USB Connection via VMware: Phantom PLC Connection Issue
November 3, 2025 • Infrastructure & ITThe Problem When connecting to an M580 PLC via USB through a VMware virtual machine, VMware may report a persistent USB connection to the…
Celebrating 15 Years at Elite Automation—And the People Who Made It Possible
October 8, 2025 • UncategorizedThank you. As we mark 15 years in the industry, we’re filled with gratitude—for the clients who trusted us with mission-critical systems, the partners…
SCADA Point Allocation: Reusing Spare Points vs Creating New Ones
September 22, 2025 • HMI & SCADAThe Practice When adding new signals to an existing SCADA system, there is often a choice: create new points or reuse old spare/decommissioned points.…
Open-Source Software Supply Chain: Verify Package Names Before Installing
August 25, 2025 • CybersecurityThe Risk When installing open-source tools from package managers (pip, npm, GitHub releases), verify the spelling of the package name carefully. Attackers regularly upload…
Rockwell RSLogix ONS (One-Shot): Why You Cannot See It Execute
July 28, 2025 • Allen-Bradley & RockwellWhat ONS Does The ONS (One Shot) instruction in RSLogix 5000/Studio 5000 executes the output logic for exactly one scan when the input conditions…
Troubleshooting Discipline: Get Your Own Data From the Source
July 14, 2025 • Commissioning & TestingThe Principle When troubleshooting a PLC or SCADA issue, do not accept secondhand conclusions at face value. Everyone involved — operators, other engineers, maintenance…
Daylight Saving Time in PLC Logic: Avoiding the 1 AM – 3 AM Window
June 2, 2025 • PLC ProgrammingThe Problem If your PLC logic uses time-of-day comparisons to trigger actions — batch starts, valve sequencing, report generation, data logging — daylight saving…