Control.com - Nerds in Control

Please, I need to know how I can add a new control point (as level switch or pressure sw) in MarkVI, and how I can activate it after adding.

A step-by-step procedure for adding a signal from a device or instrument that anyone could follow like a recipe in a cookbook explaining what was happening and what to do if any errors or problems were encountered would take at least a week or two to write and validate and even then it wouldn't be useful for everyone who would try to use it (some familiarity with Toolbox and turbine control is necessary). And that would be just for adding the device signal to the Mark VI.

Further, once you create a new signal and configure an input (or output, 'cause that will be the next request) then there will be a need to write some logic or use it in a control scheme or generate an alarm with it. And, that would be several more weeks worth of writing and validation.

Finally, to be useful without using Toolbox to view it, it would be necessary to add the signal to the CIMPLICITY project, and that whole "procedure" would fill a novel, because depending on the versions of Toolbox and CIMPLICITY and the number of units and HMIs at your site the procedure would vary and it gets quite complicated and convoluted in a very big hurry. And, since most people don't have or don't make proper back-ups before beginning such an endeavor all manner of problems and finger-pointing and recriminations will soon begin and escalate.

I wish it were a simpler process; indeed, the Mark VI portion of it is not all that difficult. It's just that to write a step-by-step procedure that anyone could follow like a recipe in a cookbook (and even some recipes in some cookbooks aren't all that easy to understand and follow!) is a herculean task. The most difficult part of the process is getting the point into CIMPLICITY, adding it to a display or the alarm list, and *then* doing it on each and every HMI. Invariably, there are problems. And, if there are LCI Static Starters and steam turbine control panels and BOP control panels and you want to have this point available to all the other control systems, it gets even more problematic and difficult, again mostly because of the CIMPLICITY issues. I have personal experience with this, most of it painful.

If you really need this signal in your control system, I recommend you either attend some Mark VI training or obtain the services of someone who's knowledgeable and confident to perform such a task depending on the complexity of the site and the requirements. I would suggest that before performing either that you take some time to consider exactly what you want to do with the signal once you've added to the Mark VI and write out a description of exactly what you want to do. Some GE training course instructors would be willing to either use such a procedure in their class as an example or sit with you during breaks or after the class and help you understand what would be necessary to accomplish what you're trying to do. But, be prepared to tell the instructor exactly what versions of Toolbox, CIMPLICITY, and TCI you are using.