Why Does Scan Cycle Time Fluctuate?
When you first notice that a PLC cycle time is jumping around, it can feel like something is wrong inside the controller. In reality, fluctuating scan time is a natural behavior of any PLC that is processing different amounts of work from one scan to the next. Even small variations in logic, data manipulation, or monitoring overhead can cause the controller to spend more or less time completing a cycle.
In this post, you will learn why cycle time is rarely perfectly consistent, how certain operations dramatically increase scan duration, and what practical steps you can take to design logic that keeps your cycle time stable.
🎥 Watch the full episode below, or become a Do & Grow member to access the extended breakdown on optimizing scan execution, structuring logic with OBs, and event driven programming techniques.
