Instructions for an S5 Project
The past year has put the economy to the test, and the pandemic continues to affect us this year as well. Plant overhauls, retrofits, and sustainability are more relevant than ever. We support you in these areas with our 35 years of expertise in automation technology.
SINUMERIK is one of the cornerstones of our company’s founding. Our passion is—and always has been—to combine tradition and innovation. Over the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to bring a few S5 systems back up to speed. This was a special highlight for our senior partner, Bernd Roth.
We asked him to share some behind-the-scenes insights.
Just recently, a customer called us to say that his system had come to a standstill. At first glance, this isn’t unusual and isn’t really a problem if you speak the same “language” as the control system.
Who still remembers the S5? Our senior manager, Bernd Roth, knows it like the back of his hand—and all its quirks. For those who aren’t familiar with it—the S5 is a control system that hasn’t been manufactured since 1995 but is still in use at many facilities.
Read Bernd Roth’s first-hand account here—it’s essentially a guide for our young students
Instructions for an S5 Project
If you’re called to an S5 facility that’s relatively unfamiliar to you, the process always begins with a period of concentration.
1.) Have you packed everything?
- Connection cable to the PLC controller
- Connection Cable to CNC Controller
- Connection cable to the controller’s serial interface
- RAM memory in case an EPROM is installed
- EPROM eraser so you can erase the EPROM at the end
- A replacement CD so that the customer can have a backup at the end
- If the programmer is newer—an external floppy drive, in case the only backup is a 5½-inch floppy disk stored in a cabinet
- Data backup from our office—if available. After all, the floppy disk in the closet is usually less up-to-date than the one we have here—or, as often happens, it’s no longer readable (manufacturer-guaranteed shelf life: 2 years).
2.) If you haven’t packed everything, you’re going back home!
- No quick phone call—because no one else who knows their way around is there besides you
- And our support guy—Nicolas was still in kindergarten back in the S5 days
- No Internet—the programming device does not support this technology (Windows 3.1 or earlier) or definitely does not have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
- There’s no way to have a program sent to you right away
- No replacement cable from the customer’s maintenance department
3.) Once you’re on site and have identified the control system (most of the time, it turns out not to be exactly as described over the phone), the next step requires your full attention:
- What was that about ONLINE?
- What could be the cause if the red light on the CPU is on?
- Can I just quickly turn off the control system? Or would I run the risk of losing data if I did that?
4.) Now let’s start up the PG and try our luck.
Consolidation Process Number Three:
- The beautiful program—designed entirely in blue or green—offers no help
- Let’s press F1—after all, that’s what F1 was originally intended to be. A unique, additional key with a freely assignable function.
- No—so it wasn’t F1. Once we reached F4, we saw the configuration menu.
- You don’t even need to activate the computer mouse in the first place. That only works if the developer thought it was necessary. The solution is a keyboard shortcut. It helps to have a good long-term memory.
- Then you try a few things, and eventually something loads….
5.) Eventually, you’ll reach a point where you’re standing in front of the system and can ask:
- What was the problem with the three-phase motor?
In summary
- We moved both systems. Everything was still working on both of them.
- After the move, we both turned it back on
- At that point, only one or the other wasn’t working anymore
- Then we swapped the two EPROMs (I would never have thought of that until then)
- Then, sure enough, the other one—the good one—stopped working
- So, Roth, there must be something wrong with the EPROM.
- Just make us two identical EPROMs and everything will be fine
I’ll now summarize the process I used to try to do this:
- Read EPROM 1
- Read EPROM 2
- Compare Files
- Try to explain the differences
- And those differences were so significant—yet logical—that I strongly doubt the accuracy of the data from those same EPROMs
All right, whatever—so:
- Erase the EPROM,
- Close the EPROM
- Start the program. This process takes about 2 minutes on the S7.
On the S5, it takes about 1 hour—with my heart pounding, because:
- The original EPROM has been erased
- Will the erasure and burning process still work 30 years from now?
- Does it work the other way around, too—if nothing works at all?
This time, it worked.
