Connect a C-More EA7 panel serial port to a CLICK PLC

Which cable joins the EA7's 9-pin port to the CLICK's RJ-11 jack?

The EA2-CBL, listed on page 6-6 of the C-more hardware manual for the CLICK and Direct Logic family of PLC ports. One end carries the 9-pin shell for the panel. The other carries the 6-position plug the CLICK accepts. The manual's getting-started steps tell you to connect the serial communications cable between the C-more touch panel and the PLC, and they group the CLICK with that family on RJ12-style ports. The 6-position plug mates with the CLICK's jack whatever you call it, and the 9-pin shell lands on the panel. Order the cable by part number from the panel manufacturer's distributor. You inherit a wiring both device manuals already account for.

Why not buy a generic 9-pin to RJ-11 adapter?

Because a generic adapter only changes connector shape. It can pass the conductors straight through, swap them, or leave signal pins open, and nothing printed on it tells you which job it does. The documented cable removes the question. The failure is quiet, too: the link never comes up, and you spend an afternoon rewriting settings that were never wrong. If you must build a cable, pull this PLC's drawing from the manufacturer's PLC cable wiring diagram index, check every pin against it, and label the finished assembly at both ends. The same habit governs the PC side of the job, as in choosing between the D2-DSCBL and USB for programming a C-more Micro touch panel.

Which CLICK port should the panel use?

Land the panel on Port 1 at 38400 baud. The manufacturer's serial setup help page gives that number for a panel on Port 1. If you use Port 2 instead, the number comes from the Baud Rate field of Port 2 in the CLICK project. The same help page states the rule behind it: the panel matches the settings of the PLC port it occupies. Bring every value that port shows in the CLICK project across to the panel project, field for field. Port 1 keeps you on one cable with one fixed number; take Port 2 only when something else already holds Port 1.

How far apart can the panel and the CLICK sit?

About 50 ft (15 m) end to end, the classic RS-232 guidance at this kind of baud rate. Keep the run shorter in a cabinet shared with drives, and go Ethernet or wireless when the distance grows past it. The serial cable distance limits by interface article breaks the numbers down per electrical standard; RS-232 is the short one. Keep the cable out of the tray that carries drive power where you can. Past the limit, choose Ethernet on the pair, or a wireless serial link between a PLC and a panel when pulling new cable costs more than the radio.

What do you need before you start?

Four things: the EA2-CBL or a cable verified against the manufacturer's wiring diagram, the CLICK and C-more manuals for your exact models, the panel project software on a PC, and both devices powered down for the wiring itself.

• The EA2-CBL, or a hand-built cable checked pin by pin against the manufacturer's diagram for this PLC.
• The C-more hardware manual and the CLICK manual for your exact models, open at the cabling and port setup pages.
• The panel project software on a PC, with the project ready to take the PLC driver and port settings.
• A cable route inside the 50 ft guidance, away from drive power where possible.
• Both devices off while you wire.

How do you connect it, step by step?

Seven steps in order: power down, seat the 6-position end in the CLICK's Port 1, seat the 9-pin end on the panel, power up, set 38400 on the CLICK's Port 1, match it in the panel project, download, and watch live data.

1. Power down the panel and the CLICK. Wire serial ports dead, never hot.
2. Seat the EA2-CBL's 6-position plug in the CLICK's Port 1 until it latches.
3. Seat the 9-pin end on the panel's serial connector and tighten the retaining screws.
4. Power up and open the CLICK project. Confirm Port 1 carries 38400 baud for this connection and write the project to the PLC.
5. In the panel project, select the CLICK PLC from the driver list; checking the panel driver list before touching serial settings explains why that order saves rework.
6. Point the panel's PLC connection at its serial port, with the same baud and the remaining fields copied from the CLICK project.
7. Download the project to the panel and move to the tests below.

What does a complete example look like?

A filler line with the EA7-T8C on the door 20 ft from the CLICK cabinet: EA2-CBL into Port 1, 38400 in both projects, and a one-second timer value on the panel screen that must count 60 changes in 60 seconds. The 20 ft run sits inside the 50 ft guidance with 30 ft of margin (50 ft - 20 ft = 30 ft), so length leaves the fault list before commissioning starts. Then test with data you can watch move:

• Put a CLICK timer that increments every second on the panel screen and watch a full minute: 60 changes in 60 seconds is a live link.
• Press a pushbutton object that sets a PLC bit and watch that bit change in the PLC's data view. Reads and writes both have to pass.
• Leave a watchdog behind: the PLC heartbeat counter method rolls a count between panel and PLC, and an alarm on a stalled count catches a dead link in production.

A panel screen can sit on its last received values while the link is down. The moving timer count is the verdict, and the touch layer responding tells you the panel itself is healthy.

What if the panel still will not talk to the CLICK?

Check cable identity, then settings, then grounding, in that order. The EA7 hardware manual's troubleshooting for serial faults says to disconnect the PLC cable; if the fault clears, the grounding of the panel and the PLC is where you look. Work the list with one change per test:

1. Cable identity. Confirm the assembly in hand is the EA2-CBL or an equivalent checked against the wiring diagram. An unknown cable gets replaced, never re-pinned by trial.
2. Settings. Read the CLICK project's port values and compare them to the panel project field by field, baud first. One mismatched field kills the link; the diagnosis matches any serial settings mismatch between an HMI and a PLC.
3. Grounding. Disconnect the PLC serial cable; if the fault clears, bond the panel and the PLC to a common ground reference before touching another setting.
4. Contention. A link that runs only with the programming cable still plugged in is its own failure mode; an HMI that works only while the programming cable stays in the PLC covers it.

Is Ethernet the simpler route for this pair?

Yes, when the run is long, the serial port has a second job, and your CLICK is one of the Ethernet models: the panel project carries the same CLICK driver over the network, and fixed addresses replace baud fields. In the panel project, open Setup, then Panel Network, then Ethernet Port, select "Use the following IP address", and give the panel a fixed address on the PLC's subnet with a host number the PLC is not using. Then aim the project's PLC connection at the CLICK's address. No baud fields, no meaningful length limit at machine scale, and the serial port stays free for a programming PC. For a short run you want simple and off the network, the EA2-CBL on Port 1 stays the first choice.

Recommendation: buy the EA2-CBL, land it on the CLICK's Port 1, and set 38400 baud in the panel project for any run inside about 50 ft; build your own cable only with the manufacturer's wiring diagram on the bench, and move the link to Ethernet when the distance grows or the serial port has a second job.

Questions