Watlow F4 Static Setpoint

[jmountney]

Can someone please provide a simple VI as a starting point to run Static Setpoint Control using the Watlow F4? Thank you.

[FCTesting]

Hi jmountney,

If you go to Help>>Find Instrument Drivers... in LabVIEW there is a driver set for the F4. It includes three example VIs which should provide a good simple starting point (includes one to configure the AI, one to configure the system, and one to run either a ramp or constant setpoint).

[jmountney]

I have those example VIs. However, I am getting a VISA timeout error when I atempt to run them. I assume they should be error-free.

Watlow provides their own software for interfacing with the F4 through the serial port, which I was able to use to detect the communication configuration (baud rate, data bits, partiy, stop bits).  The initializeVI.vi that comes with F4 drivers sets the timeout timer to 5000 ms.

Any suggestions?

[elew90]

I also have a similar problem. Were you able to set the setpoint? I need to set the setpoint for my chiller device which has the watlow F4 controller on it.

[jmountney · Accepted solution]

1) Go here: http://www.ni.com/example/29756/en/

2) Download NI MODBUS 1.2.1 and follow the installation instructions carefully 

3) Make sure the MB Initialize Vi with the following parameters is first called in your main VI:

  mode- RTU

  baud- 19200 (factory default)

  parity- none

  flow control- none

  timeout- 10000

4) Then, you should be able to use the MB Serial Master Query VI to read and write data. Use "read holding registers" and "write single registers".