Crouzet Millenium 3 PLC unboxing and review

I’m planning to make a little automation project and needed a PLC. To keep things interesting, instead of Siemens or Omron I decided to use something new.
The Crouzet Millenium 3 CD20

General outline

Price: ~300€ (Starter kit).

Inputs: 12 Digital inputs, 6 which can be used as Analog inputs

Outputs: 8 Relay 8A outputs

Supply Voltage: 24 VDC

Display: 4 line 18 characters.

For more info you can find the datasheet form here.

Review

Setting the plc up is straight forward. Install the software and plug the cable in.

Now big feature is the screen. It has big clear screen or at least bigger then other plc in same price range. Unfortunately you can’t change the color of the backlight like on Siemens Logo.
Under the screen there is 6 programmable buttons. You can use these button to change the time  and access the menu or settings:

The software is really nice for its class, it comes with prebuilt macro blocks and functions. In future I’l make a different post about the software and its features.
What is important about software is that it free. You can download it before you buy the controller, test it and make sure it suits your needs.
Plus if you happen to lose the CD that comes with the controller you can always redownload it and use it as many computers as you wish, no registration hassle.

Unfortunately Crouzet uses proprietary cable which is definitely not a feature, compared to Siemens Logo series where you can use any standard ethernet cable or some of the Omron models with they’re standard USB connection.

Another slight downside is the price compared to other starter kits. In my neck of the woods you can have Siemens Logo starter kit with TDE text display around 256€ and Mitsubishi FX3GE around 246€.

The Good

• Big Screen.
• Programmable buttons.
• Digital+Analog inputs.
• Capable software.
• Free software

The Bad

• Proprietary cable/connection.
• Price