GC-6005 Climate Generator Recommissioning
Diagnosed and recommissioned a non-operational Ineltec climate generator using Siemens PLC and WinCC Unified SCADA
Overview
During my Erasmus at the University of Girona, I took ownership of getting a dead machine back into service. The GC-6005 is an Ineltec climate generator used for environmental testing. It had been sitting non-operational in the university’s industrial automation lab. My job was to diagnose why it was not working, restore it to full operation, and leave it in a state where lab staff and students could actually use it.
I did this working independently, in an environment where the primary language was Spanish and most of the documentation was also in Spanish or Catalan. I do not speak either fluently. You adapt.
The Machine
The GC-6005 is a professional environmental test chamber. It is controlled by a Siemens S7 PLC running in TIA Portal, with a WinCC Unified HMI providing the operator interface. The machine can ramp and hold temperature and humidity across a defined test profile. Applications include component qualification testing, material characterisation, and accelerated life testing.
When I received it, it would not start. The HMI showed no useful fault information. The cause was not immediately obvious.
Diagnosis
Systematic fault finding across three subsystems: power, control, and sensors.
Power subsystem: checked incoming supply, fusing, and the contactors and relays in the power distribution panel. A failed component here would show up as a missing supply rail somewhere downstream. Measured with a multimeter at each stage of the distribution chain.
Control subsystem: connected to the PLC via TIA Portal and examined the program state. Cross-referencing the ladder logic with the machine’s actual state told me which conditions the program was waiting for that were not being met.
Sensor subsystem: the PT100 temperature sensors and humidity sensors had to be verified individually. A sensor that reads out of range or returns an implausible value will prevent the program from allowing the machine to start, which is the correct behaviour but not useful when you are trying to understand what is wrong.
Working through these three subsystems in order, and cross-referencing each finding against the ladder logic and the HMI state, identified the root cause. Once the fault was cleared and the sensors verified, the machine started and ran a test profile.
HMI and SCADA Work
The existing HMI was functional but minimal. I extended it in WinCC Unified to add clearer status information, sensor readings on the main screen (temperature and humidity in real time, with setpoint comparison), and a fault history view so operators could see what had gone wrong without needing a laptop connected to TIA Portal.
The WinCC Unified tooling is capable but has a learning curve. Getting the tag connections right and testing the HMI against the live PLC took longer than the HMI design itself.
Documentation and Training
Once the machine was running, I wrote operating documentation covering:
- Machine startup and shutdown procedure
- How to define and run a test profile
- How to interpret the HMI fault codes
- When to call for maintenance versus what a user can resolve themselves
I then ran through the documentation with the lab technician and two students who would be using the machine. This part was done in a mix of English and basic Spanish, which was more effective than I expected.
What This Demonstrates
Independent technical work in an unfamiliar environment, with a real deadline (the machine needed to be back in service before I left Girona), on hardware that could not be replaced if I made a mistake. Systematic fault finding rather than guessing. PLC and SCADA work beyond what the classroom covers. And the ability to hand over something that actually works.
TODO: add image at public/projects/gc6005/hmi-screen.png (screenshot of the WinCC Unified HMI showing sensor readings and status)
TODO: add image at public/projects/gc6005/panel.jpg (photo of the electrical panel with PLC and power distribution)
TODO: add image at public/projects/gc6005/scada.png (SCADA overview screenshot from TIA Portal or WinCC)