Hour counter

[Erik]

Within our system we have several e-motors for which we want to store the "running hours". This information should be stored at "non-volatile" memory in the operator terminal.

I was thinking of using a "cyclic timer" which automatically will be started at power-up of the terminal. After each cycle the "running" status is checked and the elapsed time is added to the total amount of running hours.

Before I start working on this I would like to know:
1) Is there a limit in writing to "non-volatile" memory?
2) Is there a standard solution for an "hour counter" (I checked forums and help file but could not find anything).

Thanks

[Chris T.]

Erik,

1) Is there a limit in writing to "non-volatile" memory?

Not really, i imagine you would store this in a 16 or 32 bit tag, that would be your constraint.

2) Is there a standard solution for an "hour counter" (I checked forums and help file but could not find anything).

Typically i recommend keeping something like this in a PLC mainly because if your HMI shuts down or needs replaced/reprogrammed you don't lose the data. Even though the data is non-volatile it is still at risk of destruction in those unlikely scenarios.

That being said you could easily attach a small script to system.second or system.minute to increment your run time value tag accordingly.