8055 counter Hickup and program freeze

Kits PC Related Projects
1

My 8055 app shuts down occasionally. I suspect that the counter sometimes sees > 64K and blows up because the dll is a integer.

I am using a 8055 to count widgets per minute at a plant. This is limited to less than 160 units per minute. I have 5 machines with similar software and hardware. Similar PCs do not fail. I use a Allen Bradley light sensor and a optical relay with the 8055. The PCs are well ventilated and the box containing the 8055 is at room temp with some dust. The environment is similar to a auto garage. I have replaced the board with another working board.

I use UPS with the PC and other equipment because there are power surges as motors turn on and off. The UPS appears to be incorrectly grounded and switched around , but the system seems to work.

A VB6 Chart on the app indicates that there is an occasional, yet impossible, increase in rate. Sometimes it appears that the rate rises to 6000 widgets per minute for one minute, but that is impossible.

I am using VB6 with about 4 timers in the program. I have tried to capture errors using OnError code, but to no avail. Should I change the delay on the input upward? How would that help?

In summary, what advice can you suggest?

2

You may try increasing the debounce time of the counter.
If the max number of pulses is 160 per minute you can use debounce time of 60sec/200 = 300ms
The counter is inactive 300ms after each pulse.

See the manual how to use the function SetCounterDebounceTime.

3

You may wish to examine the CCRP (Common Controls Replacement Project) [color=#0040BF]High Performance Timer[/color] controls.

They are somewhat “long-in-tooth”, however so is VB6–that said I use them in a series of OBD2 automotive data logging applications and have found them to be much more consistent that the standard VB6 timer control–they also do not require a “host” form which removes them from that thread.

4

The CCRP looks great!