PLC Timer Instructions

A timer is a PLC instruction measuring the amount

of time elapsed following an event.
Timer instructions come in two basic types: on-
delay timers and off-delay timers. Both “on-delay”
and “off-delay” timer instructions have single
inputs triggering the timed function.
An “on-delay” timer activates an output only when
the input has been active for a minimum amount
of time.
PLC Timer Instructions
Take for instance this PLC program, designed to
sound an audio alarm siren prior to starting a
conveyor belt.
To start the conveyor belt motor, the operator
must press and hold the “Start” push-button for 10
seconds, during which time the siren sounds,
warning people to clear away from the conveyor
belt that is about to start.
Only after this 10-second start delay does the
motor actually start (and latch “on”):
Similar to an “up” counter, the on-delay timer’s
elapsed time (ET) value increments once per
second until the preset time (PT) is reached, at
which time its output (Q) activates.
In this program, the preset time value is 10
seconds, which means the Q output will not
activate until the “Start” switch has been
depressed for 10 seconds.
The alarm siren output, which is not activated by
the timer, energizes immediately when the “Start”
push-button is pressed.
An important detail regarding this particular
timer’s operation is that it be non-retentive.
This means the timer instruction should not retain
its elapsed time value when the input is de-
activated.
Instead, the elapsed time value should reset back
to zero every time the input de-activates. This
ensures the timer resets itself when the operator
releases the “Start” push-button.
A retentive ondelay timer, by contrast,
maintains its elapsed time value even when the
input is de-activated. This makes it useful for
keeping “running total” times for some event.
Most PLCs provide retentive and non-retentive versions of on-delay timer
instructions, such that the programmer may choose the proper form of on-
delay timer for any particular application.
The IEC 61131-3 programming standard, however, addresses the issue of
retentive versus non-retentive timers a bit differently.
According to the IEC 61131-3 standard, a timer instruction may be specified
with an additional enable input (EN) that causes the timer instruction to
behave non-retentively when activated, and retentively when de-activated.
The general concept of the enable (EN) input is that the instruction behaves
“normally” so long as the enable input is active (in this case, non-retentive
timing action is considered “normal” according to the IEC 61131-3 standard),
but the instruction “freezes” all execution whenever the enable input de-
activates.
This “freezing” of operation has the effect of retaining the current time (CT)
value even if the input signal de-activates.
For example, if we wished to add a retentive timer
to our conveyor control system to record total run
time for the conveyor motor, we could do so using
an “enabled” IEC 61131-3 timer instruction like
this:
When the motor’s contactor bit (OUT contactor) is
active, the timer is enabled and allowed to time.
However, when that bit de-activates (becomes
“false”), the timer instruction as a whole is
disabled, causing it to “freeze” and retain its
current time (CT) value ( Note 1 ).
This allows the motor to be started and stopped,
with the timer maintaining a tally of total motor
run time.
Note 1 : The “enable out” (ENO) signal on the
timer instruction serves to indicate the
instruction’s status: it activates when the enable
input (EN) activates and de-activates when either
the enable input de-activates or the instruction
generates an error condition (as determined by the
PLC manufacturer’s internal programming). The
ENO output signal serves no useful purpose in this
particular program, but it is available if there were
any need for other rungs of the program to be
“aware” of the run-time timer’s status.
If we wished to give the operator the ability to
manually reset the total run time value to zero, we
could hard-wire an additional switch to the PLC’s
discrete input card and add “reset” contacts to the
program like this:
Whenever the “Reset” switch is pressed, the timer
is enabled (EN) but the timing input (IN) is
disabled, forcing the timer to (non-retentively)
reset its current time (CT) value to zero.
The other major type of PLC timer instruction is the
off-delay timer. This timer instruction differs from
the on-delay type in that the timing function
begins as soon as the instruction is deactivated,
not when it is activated.
An application for an off-delay timer is a cooling
fan motor control for a large industrial engine.
In this system, the PLC starts an electric cooling
fan as soon as the engine is detected as rotating,
and keeps that fan running for two minutes
following the engine’s shut-down to dissipate
residual heat:
When the input (IN) to this timer instruction is
activated, the output (Q) immediately activates
(with no time delay at all) to turn on the cooling
fan motor contactor.
This provides the engine with cooling as soon as it
begins to rotate (as detected by the speed switch
connected to the PLC’s discrete input).
When the engine stops rotating, the speed switch
returns to its normally-open position, de-activating
the timer’s input signal which starts the timing
sequence.
The Q output remains active while the timer counts
from 0 seconds to 120 seconds.
As soon as it reaches 120 seconds, the output de-
activates (shutting off the cooling fan motor) and
the elapsed time value remains at 120 seconds
until the input re-activates, at which time it resets
back to zero.
The following timing diagrams compare and
contrast on-delay with off-delay timers:
While it is common to find on-delay PLC
instructions offered in both retentive and non-
retentive forms within the instruction sets of nearly
every PLC manufacturer and model, it is almost
unheard of to find retentive off-delay timer
instructions. Typically, off-delay timers are non-
retentive only (Note 2 ).
Note 2 : The enable (EN) input signals specified in
the IEC 61131-3 programming standard make
retentive off-delay timers possible (by de-
activating the enable input while maintaining the
“IN” input in an inactive state), but bear in mind
that most PLC implementations of timers do not
have separate EN and IN inputs. This means (for
most PLC timer instructions) the only input
available to activate the timer is the “IN” input, in
which case it is impossible to create a retentive off-
delay timer (since such a timer’s elapsed time
value would be immediately re-set to zero each
time the input re-activates).
How to Interchange ON Delay Timer
and OFF Delay Timer in a PLC
Timer functions are most important in PLC
Programming. Logics play the important role in
PLC Programming.
According to PLC programmer’s skills, logic will get
different in application. In this program, we are
going to interchange the function of On Delay
Timer and Off Delay timer. AB RSLogix 500 is
used to implement the concepts.
N Delay Timer and OFF Delay Timer
PLC Timer Functions
ON DELAY TIMER :
In Layman Statement, Delaying the turning “ON”
of the output is On Delay Timer.
Example :
See the image below; if you turn on Input, after 5
sec output will get turn on. It will not turn on
immediately.
In AB PLC, ON Delay Timer is having 6
parameters.
They are
•Enable Bit (EN): It will turn on when timer is on
•Done Bit (DN): It will turn on once the timer
accumulator value reaches preset value
•Timer Timing bit (TT) : This bits enable when timer
accumulator value is running
•Preset (PRE): Integer value to set how long timer
needs to run or limit starting from zero.
•Accumulator (ACC): Running value of the timer
•Time Base : You have options to chose timer base,
Sec, cent sec, Mille sec.
OFF DELAY TIMER :
In Layman Statement, Delaying the turning “OFF”
of the output is Off Delay Timer.
Example:
See the image below; if you turn on Input, output
will turn ON immediately, when you turn OFF the
input, It will take 5 sec to turn OFF the output. It
will not turn OFF immediately.
In AB PLC, OFF Delay Timer is having 6
parameters.
They are
•Enable Bit (EN): It will turn on when timer is on
•Done Bit (DN): It will turn on once the timer is On
and remains ON until timer accumulator value
reaches preset value
•Timer Timing bit (TT) : This bits enable when timer
accumulator value is running
•Preset (PRE): Integer value to set how long timer
needs to run or limit starting from zero.
•Accumulator (ACC): Running value of the timer
•Time Base: You have options to choose timer
base, Sec, cent sec, Millie sec.
ist of Inputs and Outputs
Program for ON Delay and OFF Delay Timers
Ladder Logic Description
ON DELAY TIMER AS OFF DELAY TIMER :
1. Rung 0000 :-
Latching is done using output coil to stay ON even
Input is turned off. Normally closed timer done bit
is used to turn off the output once timer
accumulator value reach preset and that make
TON to act as TOFF.
2. Rung 0001 :-

since the Start Input is used as normally closed input,

Output Coil is attached as interlocking, so that it won’t turn
on timer at the beginning of the program.
OFF DELAY TIMER AS ON DELAY TIMER :
3. Rung 0003 :-
Input 2 turned to turn on timer, Memory coil is
used to trigger the timer to start count and to
make TOFF to act as TON.
Conclusion
The above used timer concept is used to under the
function of timer working. It may or may not used
in real time application.
Why is RTO used in the
Place of TON Timer?
Why is RTO used in the place of T-ON?
Timers are one of the most used instructions in a PLC
program.

To get started with the topic we need to know why the

timers are used in the first place.

Timers are used to keep a set of outputs ON/OFF for the

specified amount of time.
For example, I had to run a heater for 15 seconds I
would go for a timer to make it happen.
So there are two types of an ON delay timer in
RSlogix 500,
•T-ON – TImer On delay timer.
•RTO – Retentive TImer.
Now consider an application we are programming
requires a heater to be turned on for 15 seconds
after a level sensor has sensed the level is high
enough.
w we’re gonna write the logic for that using a TON.
Now we completed our logic,
•I:0.0/0 – It is the sensor input address
•o:0.0/0- It is the output for the heater.
•T4:0/TT – It is called the timer timing bit.
The following are the specifics on Timer block,
•Timer – The timer address has to be specified
here.
•Time Base – The time base is the one that
determines how the timer runs whether for
milliseconds or microseconds or seconds. It
basically multiplies with the preset value. I have
mentioned here 1.0
•Preset – Here is where one should specify the time
the timer has to be active. So (1.0*15 = 15
seconds)
•Accumulator – Here is where you can see the
value of the seconds the timer has run so far.
When we go to run-time you can see that our
process is working fine.
The logic is working fine until when there is an
emergency shut down or power shut down in a
plant. Imagine that the PLC had to turn OFF.
Then we had to turn ON again after few minutes.
Now the process had to repeat where it left of
meaning from 4th second the timer has to start
running. But it won’t work like that once there is a
shut down in a PLC system the timer had to reset
on its own.
You can see the above figure for understanding.
Now to overcome this situation we’re gonna use an
RTO timer to develop the logic.
There is no difference in creating the instruction
between TON and RTO, except we have to use a
Reset here to reset the timer.
So now everything is working fine and the PLC
system goes off.
You can see in the above image that the
accumulator value is getting stored even after the
PLC goes OFF.
So now when the system is turned ON again the
program will be executed from where it left off the
timer will run from 5th second as you can see
below.
Even when the sensor goes OFF the timer will store
the accumulator value till it ran.
Until the timer is being reset the accumulator
value stays. Once it is reset the accumulator value
becomes zero.
Note that the input to reset should always act like
a push button or One-shot (ONS) and both the
input to the timer and the input to the Reset
shouldn’t be On at the same time.
This is the reason why RTO is used mostly in real-
time applications.