Every guide, screen and free tool — one page

Real screens, explained

These are LK On, the backup touchscreen: the same interface runs on the device's own screen and in any browser on the plant network. Click any screenshot to zoom. The maintenance system's screens — technician, manager, administrator and the iPhone app — are in the LK Up gallery.

On the touchscreen, tab by tab

Captured the way LK On's own screen shows it — full screen on the 10″ panel, no desktop and no address bar.

The deeper tools

And the free app on your phone

The same idea in your pocket — three protocols (Allen-Bradley, Siemens S7, Modbus TCP), one network scan, dashboards and an operator panel. Full app tour →

Emergency guides

• HMI panel died — the 10-minute triageStart here. What to check before buying anything — a surprising share of "dead" panels is a $40 power supply or a burnt backlight — and how to keep producing meanwhile.
  Start here · any brand
• PanelView Plus 7 not workingSymptom by symptom: black screen, boot loop, communication errors — what each one tells you and the realistic fix paths.
  Allen-Bradley
• PanelView touchscreen not respondingDisplay fine but touch dead, drifting or ghost-touching? How to tell calibration from a failed digitizer, and what each repair actually costs.
  Allen-Bradley
• PanelView Fatal Error 3AThe boot-stopping stuck-touch error: five physical checks that clear it without parts, and the honest options when they don't.
  Allen-Bradley
• PanelView not communicating with PLCBoots fine, shows no data. Six causes cover nearly every case — cable, IP, the RSLinx shortcut trap, firmware protocol mismatch — in the order worth checking.
  Allen-Bradley
• HMI not communicating with PLCThe brand-agnostic checklist: prove the PLC is alive in 60 seconds, then work six causes — with the Siemens and Allen-Bradley traps called out where they differ.
  Any brand
• HMI black screen: dead unit or $40 fix?A flashlight and a multimeter separate backlight, power, display and boot failures in five minutes — before you order anything.
  Any brand
• PanelView Plus 1000 replacementThe model is discontinued, so you're choosing a strategy, not a spare part. The four realistic paths with honest money and time.
  Allen-Bradley · decision guide
• PanelView alternatives comparedRed Lion, C-more, Weintek, Siemens or Ignition — what each really costs, the screen-rebuild catch nobody quotes, and how to bridge the gap meanwhile.
  Allen-Bradley · comparison
• Siemens HMI not workingKTP and Comfort Panel symptoms decoded — and how to get eyes on the machine from a phone while you fix the panel.
  Siemens
• Siemens HMI replacement optionsNew panel with a TIA project migration, used unit, repair — or bridge first and decide calmly. Costs and timelines without the sales gloss.
  Siemens · decision guide

Replace or migrate

• PanelView obsolete models: the timelineEvery retired family by catalog number — Standard, Component, Plus 6, Plus 7 Series A — its successor, and the decision when one dies mid-shift.
  Allen-Bradley · reference
• PanelView 800 replacementIs the 2711R obsolete (no), what a swap really takes, and the firmware versions that turn a panel swap into a second outage.
  Allen-Bradley · decision guide
• PanelView 550 replacementPanelBuilder32 is gone and .pba doesn't convert. The four real paths — and the comms trap that catches DH+ units.
  Allen-Bradley · decision guide
• PanelView 600 replacementThree different panels share the name — Standard, Plus and Component. Identify yours by catalog number; each family has a different story.
  Allen-Bradley · decision guide
• Siemens HMI alternatives comparedWeintek, Red Lion, Pro-face and the web route — which drivers genuinely speak modern S7, and the rebuild cost nobody quotes.
  Siemens · comparison

Brand-specific symptom guides

• Siemens HMI not bootingThe recovery ladder for KTP, Comfort and Unified panels — from a shorted USB stick to a ProSave OS restore. Wipes are last, not first.
  Siemens
• Pro-face HMI not workingTouch, display and boot checks, the forced-transfer corner trick — and what the connection-key reset really erases.
  Pro-face
• Weintek "PLC no response"It's a timeout, not a dead HMI. The window names the device and station — start there and work six checks in order.
  Weintek
• Red Lion touch not workingSystem-menu calibration, the bezel-gasket trap, and the free-Crimson spare-panel strategy for CR3000 and G3.
  Red Lion
• Delta HMI not respondingFrozen UI, dead touch and comm errors get reported identically. Separate them in two minutes; fix the classic RS-485 mismatches.
  Delta
• Magelis HMI not bootingRuntime Installer recovery, the GTU removable-card trick, and the one-way Vijeo XD door — before you condemn the unit.
  Schneider
• Mitsubishi GOT blank screenTouch it first — the screensaver fools everyone. Then the flashlight test and the corner-touch utility menu.
  Mitsubishi

How-to guides

• Build an HMI screen without HMI softwareFrom a free phone app to a mounted physical screen — step by step, no integrator, no licensed HMI development software.
  Step by step
• Read CompactLogix tags without Studio 5000Logix controllers hand over their own tag list — no L5X export, no project file, no license. See every tag live from a phone in about 15 minutes.
  Allen-Bradley
• Modbus TCP client in your pocketScan the subnet, name registers once with a live preview, trend values and write setpoints — from an iPhone or iPad.
  Modbus TCP
• Connect to a PLC over Wi-FiA $30 client-mode bridge on a spare switch port, the security lines you never cross — and what a phone can do once it's on.
  How-to
• Tablet as HMI: the two pathsMirror the panel over VNC, or talk to the PLC directly. They fail differently — picking wrong is how tablets end up in the drawer.
  How-to
• Raspberry Pi as a PLC HMIFUXA, Node-RED or CODESYS WebVisu, the real parts list, and the integration weekend nobody budgets. Build vs buy, honestly.
  Build guide

For maintenance managers

Running a maintenance department with LK Up, the free system on your own PC: each guide says why the thing matters, how to do it, and why we built it the way we did. The last one is the list of ideas we are looking for testers and sponsors for.

• Report a machine problem in 30 secondsHow a plant collects problem reports from the floor with LK Up: a QR poster on the machine, a public report page with no sign-in, a photo, "I see it too" against duplicates, and "Did it help?" afterwards.
  LK Up · 6 min
• From a request to a closed work orderThe work order life in LK Up: triage a request, assign with a due date, start from the phone, answer the checklist, log time and parts, close with problem, cause and action codes.
  LK Up · 8 min
• Preventive maintenance that actually gets doneHow PM schedules work in LK Up: calendar or meter triggers, fixed or floating dates, lead time, checklists and procedures, a work order created when the lead time begins, PM on time in the report.
  LK Up · 7 min
• The Monday report: downtime, MTBF, MTTR and PM on timeHow LK Up produces the equipment report a plant director asks for: downtime by reason and by machine, failures, MTBF, MTTR and availability, PM on time, parts and labour, for any period and site, each block saying what it is based on.
  LK Up · 7 min
• Spare parts without a spreadsheetHow the storeroom works in LK Up: parts with bins and QR labels, minimums and reorder quantities, parts used or reserved from a work order, stock counts on the phone, purchase orders drafted from what runs low.
  LK Up · 7 min
• From a spreadsheet to a working CMMS in an eveningHow to move into LK Up: machines, locations, parts, people and PM schedules from CSV with a preview, work order history with the old numbers kept, direct reads of MaintainX, UpKeep, Limble and Fiix exports, QR labels at the end.
  LK Up · 6 min
• Free Excel maintenance templatesOne workbook, five sheets: equipment list, spare parts, people, PM schedules with a next-due formula, a work order log. Codes stay text, dates stay dates, drop-downs and highlights; the columns are the import format of LK Up, so the file moves in without mapping a column. No e-mail, no macros.
  LK Up · free download
• Ideas looking for testers and sponsorsWhat LK Up might do next and what it might never do: native phone apps, a Linux server, the LK On link, a hosted copy, AI over your manuals, voice reports, meter forecasts, a wall board, ERP connectors.
  LK Up · 6 min

User manuals

One manual per product, with real screenshots. Both are long pages you can search and bookmark; the LK Up app also has a ? button on every screen with the short version.

• LK Up user manualDownload, install and first run on a Mac or a Windows PC — no command line — then connecting phones and browsers, roles, problem reports, work orders, assets and QR labels, preventive maintenance, parts and purchasing, documents, calendar, reports, notifications and automation rules, offline work, administration, backups and updates, troubleshooting.
  LK Up · maintenance system
• LK On user manualFirst setup, the PLC connection, the operator panel, the Restore control wizard, the ladder view, recording and history, dashboards with recipes, alarms, several machines on one device, network and remote access, users, backup, updates and troubleshooting.
  LK On · backup touchscreen

Use these today

Guías en español

• ¿El panel HMI no funciona?Diagnóstico en 10 minutos y cómo no parar la línea.
  Español
• El PanelView no enciendeSíntomas, causas y qué hacer mientras tanto.
  Español
• ¿El panel Siemens no funciona?KTP y Comfort Panel: qué dice cada síntoma.
  Español
• Cliente Modbus TCPEscanear, nombrar registros y graficar desde el celular.
  Español
• Tags de CompactLogix sin Studio 5000La lista de tags llega sola, directo del controlador.
  Español