PROFIBUS – Diagnostics, Monitoring, Testers and Training

In the final part of our article series on the PROFIBUS analyzer, we will show, among other things, how to connect the analyzer to PROFIBUS as a Master, control Slave stations, adjust network speed (you’ve probably never seen PROFIBUS running at 9.6 kbps), and install and use plugins that extend the tool’s capabilities. Review by Jaroslav Blažek (blaja.cz).

Another part of the series on the ProfiTrace2 analyzer for PROFIBUS networks, where we’ll show what the most common faults look like and how and where they appear in the analyzer. This is where things really start to get interesting. At the end, there are also some videos where you can clearly see how the signal changes—for example during a short circuit on the line. The analyzer review was prepared by Jaroslav Blažek (blaja.cz).

PROFIBUS—a robust communication network found in thousands of industrial systems. It has been used for years and still plays an important role in automation. But what happens when a problem occurs? Is it really enough to watch the green LEDs on the peripherals and trust that everything is fine? Unfortunately not. That’s why we invite you to read Jaroslav Blažek’s reviews of the ProfiTrace2 tool.

The PROFIBUS industrial bus is highly tolerant and will forgive many faults. But if a critical fault occurs—or several small ones accumulate—you will definitely notice. That’s why this aging industrial network deserves attention. Even if faults on your network are still rare, they will gradually accumulate. What do our technicians recommend? What are their 10 tips for maintaining PROFIBUS?

ComBricks is a unique solution that features user-friendly remote monitoring of PROFIBUS networks and thus provides you with an overview of their health. As part of prevention, ComBricks will alert you by email if any of these problems occur on your PROFIBUS network – repeats, lost stations, slaves requesting diagnostics, etc. All problems are saved to the internal memory and can then be reviewed via a web browser.

ComBricks doesn't require any special software installations on your PC. You only need to type your ComBricks' IP address into a web browser.

The rules for building PROFIBUS DP networks state that a maximum of 32 PROFIBUS DP stations can be connected to one segment. The second limitation is the length of the segment cabling, which is inversely proportional to the speed of the PROFIBUS network used. In addition to these rules, there is another rule of thumb that says that 32 stations in one segment means de facto 32 potential points of failure. Each PROFIBUS device has an impact on the quality of the network by its connection to the network. Therefore, reduce the number of PROFIBUS devices in a PROFIBUS segment to a lower number by using ProfiHub repeaters or multirepeaters. The result will be a maximally reinforced, reliable, functional and robust PROFIBUS network that will not be brought down by anything.

Unlike competitive products, PROCENTEC repeaters and multirepeaters have better results in galvanic separation of segments and also digitally smooth the messages between segments. An error in one segment will not move to the other segment, which unfortunately cannot be claimed 100% for all repeaters on the market. If you want quality repeaters and multirepeaters, choose PROCENTEC products.