Things to Remember When Setting Up a Temperature PID in Siemens TIA Portal

Resource Type: Blog | February 28, 2018 (updated March 2, 2023)

Blog post by Joe Palace, Senior Electrical Engineer

Good common practices and tips when using a Siemens PID Temperature Technology object to control your heat device inside of your Siemens PLC program.

Before doing anything, you want to pick the correct thermal device that will be used to measure the temperature device. Is it a thermal couple, a thermistor, a resistor? With that, set up the correct parameters and units (Fahrenheit or Celsius). This is found in the analog card properties, under the Hardware device configuration
Set the Cyclic interrupt, OB30, to a reasonable interrupt time, 100 – 500ms
Your technology object, the PID FB, should always be enabled
Before starting the tuning algorithm, determine what tuning mode will be used
- Pre-tuning – used if the temperature difference between actual and setup temperature is greater than 20 degrees
- Fine Tuning – used when the temperature difference between actual and setup are within a few degrees

* Note: You might want to manually start the PID to start warming up the device before switching to Pre-Tune or Fine Tune. Set tuning mode to Manual

If you have multiple PID loops and the devices that are being controlled are similar, you can manually enter the PID values from a device that has already been tuned
- This is found under the Advanced Settings section in the configuration folder for your technology object
Have a way to shut down the heat device if necessary, in case of a malfunction. In such a case, a heat switch button (externally wired or on the HMI) to enable the heat device(s). This way if the PID loop goes awry, you won’t run the risk of melting a part or burning up a heating element

By following these simple steps will save you time and prevent any headaches in setting up your PID loop to control your temperature device.