Multiple Gates?

[Mark E]

I’m confused (it’s my age and easily done)…

So I have a P4 and a 6E Powerbar (and other stuff too) together with more than 2 level sensors..

I want to achieve three things.

First, if sensor 1 is low I want sockets 1 and 2 on, socket 3 on for 5 minutes (300 seconds) and socket 4 on after a delayed start of 5 minutes. When sensor 1 is high then all sockets go off.

Second on a maintenance command and if sensor 2 is low I want sockets 1 and 2 on, socket 3 on for 5 minutes and socket 5 on after a delayed start of 5 minutes. When sensor 2 is high all sockets go off.

Thirdly on a maintenance command I want sockets 1 and 2 on, socket 3 on for 5 minutes and socket 6 on after a delayed start of 5 minutes. The maintenance command should run for a maximum of 15 minutes and turn all sockets off.

It would be best if my first and second items could be subject to a maximum run time too!


So, I know I can use PL to make the delayed starts on sockets 4, 5 and 6 and the pulse function to force socket 3 off after 5 minutes. I could wire sockets 1 and 2 together (I’d rather not, but they’ll always operate as one, so..).

But given there’s a lot of commonality there I’m struggling with how to create the necessary PL with the 8 gate limit - if I create a PL that says if the sensor is low turn on socket 1 I’ll soon run out of gates to also turn on sockets 2,3 and one of 4, 5 or 6 unless I’ve got things wrong!

I know I can nest the PL but am I misunderstanding how that works?

[Mark E]

I’m confused (it’s my age and easily done)…

So I have a P4 and a 6E Powerbar (and other stuff too) together with more than 2 level sensors..

I want to achieve three things.

First, if sensor 1 is low I want sockets 1 and 2 on, socket 3 on for 5 minutes (300 seconds) and socket 4 on after a delayed start of 5 minutes. When sensor 1 is high then all sockets go off.

Second on a maintenance command and if sensor 2 is low I want sockets 1 and 2 on, socket 3 on for 5 minutes and socket 5 on after a delayed start of 5 minutes. When sensor 2 is high all sockets go off.

Thirdly on a maintenance command I want sockets 1 and 2 on, socket 3 on for 5 minutes and socket 6 on after a delayed start of 5 minutes. The maintenance command should run for a maximum of 15 minutes and turn all sockets off.

It would be best if my first and second items could be subject to a maximum run time too!


So, I know I can use PL to make the delayed starts on sockets 4, 5 and 6 and the pulse function to force socket 3 off after 5 minutes. I could wire sockets 1 and 2 together (I’d rather not, but they’ll always operate as one, so..).

But given there’s a lot of commonality there I’m struggling with how to create the necessary PL with the 8 gate limit - if I create a PL that says if the sensor is low turn on socket 1 I’ll soon run out of gates to also turn on sockets 2,3 and one of 4, 5 or 6 unless I’ve got things wrong!

I know I can nest the PL but am I misunderstanding how that works?

I am still struggling with some other aspects of PL, but although I've got a small 'sub routine' that works it only saves a few gates (4 I think) so I'm using lots of gates on this simple task. I was hoping to use 8 or fewer but Im well into double figures already. When I've got it all working Ill post the final result, but I think it will be close to 16 - that's half the available number on a fairly simple bit of automation!

Mark