Resolving S7-1500 6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0 Data Type Errors After TIA V13 to V15 Migration

Replacing a SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1513-1 PN in the field is a common maintenance action. When a failed 6ES7513-1AL00-0AB0 is replaced with the successor module 6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0, the project must be opened in a newer engineering tool (TIA Portal V15 or later) because the 1AL02 hardware support package (HSP) is not available in the older TIA V13 SPx environment. The compile step on the newer tool will then surface latent data type mismatches that the older, more permissive compiler tolerated. This article documents the root cause, the precise error text, and the conversion procedure that removes every warning at compile time.

1. Problem Description

A field engineer reports the following sequence:

• Original CPU: SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1513-1 PN, order number 6ES7513-1AL00-0AB0, programmed in TIA Portal V13.
• Replacement CPU: same functional type but newer hardware revision, 6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0.
• The new CPU is not selectable in the TIA V13 device catalog and is not recognized as a target device.
• The project is opened and compiled in TIA Portal V15 (or V15.1 / V16 / V17 with the matching HSP).
• Compilation terminates with the following message in the Info pane:

  *** The word data type of the effective parameter does not match the data type ***

• Double-clicking the red error indicator in the program editor jumps to a block input whose actual data type does not match the formal data type of the block parameter (typical case: a WORD tag is wired to a block input that formally expects INT or DINT).

The error is generated by the SCL/ST/FBD/LAD compiler in TIA Portal V15. Earlier TIA V13 releases accepted the implicit conversion and only emitted a warning, not a hard error.

2. Root Cause Analysis

Three independent factors combine to produce the failure:

1. Hardware revision gap. The 1AL00 module belongs to the first-generation S7-1500 CPU 1513-1 PN release. The 1AL02 module is a later MLFB revision that bundles updated firmware, additional security functions, and updated diagnostic behavior. Siemens assigns a higher firmware baseline (V2.x) to 1AL02, which is supported only by TIA Portal V15 Update 2 and above, plus the matching HSP installed via the TIA Automation License Manager / Support Packages mechanism.
2. TIA Portal upgrade. Because the new MLFB does not exist in the TIA V13 device catalog, the entire project must be migrated to TIA V15 (or later). The TIA V15 SCL compiler enforces the IEC 61131-3 type rules with stricter implicit-conversion rules than the V13 compiler.
3. Implicit conversion removal. In TIA V13, the LAD/FBD editor silently inserted an implicit conversion when a WORD tag was wired to an INT-typed block input. The same wire in TIA V15 produces a hard compile error because the block's formal parameter signature is not auto-coerced at the F-block boundary.

The combination of factors 2 and 3 is the real issue. Replacing the CPU alone would not generate new errors if the project were recompiled in the original TIA V13 against an emulated 1AL02 type; the new compiler is what surfaces them.

3. Affected Hardware and Firmware Matrix

The functional interface, number of PROFINET ports, and onboard I/O count are identical between the two revisions. The 1AL02 module is a drop-in functional replacement; the only field-side difference is firmware-side behavior at the diagnostic and security stack layers.

4. Identifying the Mismatched Parameter

The compiler reports the error against the block instance, not the data tag. Use the following drill-down sequence to localize the fault:

1. Open the project in TIA V15 with the CPU changed to 6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0.
2. Right-click the project node and select Compile > Software (rebuild all).
3. Open the Inspector > Info > Compile pane. Locate the line that reads "The word data type of the effective parameter does not match the data type."
4. Double-click the red arrow on the offending line. The editor jumps to the network containing the bad wiring.
5. Hover the cursor over the input pin of the block (or the output of a coil that drives the input). TIA opens a yellow tooltip listing the formal data types accepted by that pin. The connected tag's data type is not in that list.

The tooltip is the authoritative source. Do not rely on the compiler message alone to identify the conversion direction. The compiler may report a single line for a block that has many mismatched parameters; each parameter must be checked individually.

5. Solution: Insert Explicit Type Conversions

Insert a CONV (in LAD/FBD) or an explicit type cast (in SCL) on every wire where the actual tag data type differs from the formal parameter data type. Three practical patterns cover the vast majority of the S7-1500 inventory.

5.1 Pattern A — Word to Int (or Int to Word)

Use case: a 16-bit status word from a hardware input is wired to a block input that expects INT, or a calculated INT result is wired to a status word output.

// SCL syntax
iStatusWord_INT := WORD_TO_INT(wStatusWord);
wStatusWord_OUT := INT_TO_WORD(iCalcResult);

LAD/FBD equivalent: drag the CONV box from the Instructions > Converter operations palette, set the input to WORD, set the output to INT, and wire the result to the block input.

5.2 Pattern B — Word to DInt, then DInt to DWord

Use case: a 16-bit WORD tag is to be stored in a 32-bit DWORD-typed block parameter (for example the accumulator input of a counter, or a hardware output word on a 32-bit module). Always widen via the signed family first; direct WORD-to-DWORD casts are valid but bypass the sign extension, which produces wrong values when the source WORD represents a negative two's-complement integer.

// SCL syntax (preferred, sign-safe)
dwResult := DWORD_FROM_INT(WORD_TO_INT(wSource));

// SCL syntax (allowed, not sign-safe)
dwResult := DWORD_FROM_WORD(wSource);

5.3 Pattern C — Bool/Word at the LADDR input

Many legacy V13 projects pass the LADDR parameter of an FB (DP, PN, or technology FB) as a constant. If the constant was declared as WORD in V13, TIA V15 may still accept the literal but fail on a non-constant symbolic tag. Resolve by:

1. Declaring a new tag of type HW_IO or WORD with the same address.
2. Passing that tag to the LADDR input.
3. Where the FB expects INT on the LADDR input, insert WORD_TO_INT.

6. Step-by-Step Recovery Procedure

1. Back up the project. Use Project > Archive before any modification. Save the .zap15 file to a network share and a USB drive.
2. Install TIA Portal V15 Update 4 or later (V16 SP1, V17, or V18 are all backward-compatible with the 1AL02 HSP). Mount the matching HSP for the 1AL02 CPU via Options > Support Packages.
3. Upgrade the project. Open the .zap13 archive in the new TIA Portal. Accept the migration dialog. TIA converts tags, blocks, and connections, but leaves the original program logic untouched.
4. Change the device. In the project tree, right-click the existing CPU and select Change device > SIMATIC S7-1500 > CPU > 6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0. Confirm the slot assignment and PROFINET interface settings are preserved.
5. Compile (rebuild all). Note every red and yellow entry in the Info pane.
6. Address each error by double-clicking the arrow, hovering over the offending input pin, and inserting the appropriate CONV or cast as described in Section 5.
7. Recompile until the Info pane reports zero errors. Warnings may remain (for example, unused tags); review and dismiss them as a separate hygiene pass.
8. Download the configuration to the physical 1AL02 CPU. Use Online > Download to device. If a password prompt appears, supply the original V13 protection password — the project migration does not strip protection.
9. Run the commissioning checklist described in Section 7.

7. Verification and Commissioning

After the clean compile and a successful download, run the following checks before returning the line to production:

8. Conversion Reference Table

The following conversions are valid in TIA Portal V15 and resolve the most common data type mismatch errors that surface after a V13 to V15 migration.

9. When the Conversion Does Not Eliminate the Error

If the error persists after every mismatch has been converted, consider the following secondary causes:

• Multi-instance vs single-instance mismatch. The 1AL02 firmware baseline tightens the multi-instance data block layout. Re-instantiate the FB as a single-instance DB and rerun the conversion check.
• Optimized block access. The 1AL02 default for new FBs is Optimized block access with symbolic-only tags. If the old V13 block was created with Standard access (the legacy default), the compiler accepts the symbolic tag but rejects the absolute access. Switch the FB to optimized access and update any HMI tag references to symbolic form.
• Library version drift. A user library FB used in the V13 project may have been updated in the TIA V15 environment. Update or downgrade the library version to match the offline call signature.
• HSP not loaded. Confirm the support package is installed: Options > Support Packages > Installed. Without the HSP, the device appears in the catalog but compiles with a placeholder error.

10. Downgrading the Toolchain (Not Recommended)

It is technically possible to keep the project in TIA V13 by keeping the original 1AL00 CPU as the offline device and then using a "device proxy" mechanism. This approach is officially unsupported and produces the following field problems:

• The actual hardware (1AL02) is offline-only; the online view reports a different CPU type.
• Diagnostic blocks and security functions introduced in firmware V2.x are not present in the V13 catalog and cannot be configured.
• Firmware updates to the 1AL02 are blocked because TIA V13 cannot authenticate against the V2.x bootloader.

Siemens' position is to upgrade the engineering toolchain. Use TIA V15 (or later) with the matching HSP and accept the conversion workload described in Sections 5 through 8.

11. Field-Proven Sequence Summary

Step 1  Archive V13 project                              (.zap13 file)
Step 2  Install TIA V15 (or later) + matching HSP       (Options > Support Packages)
Step 3  Open archive in TIA V15, accept migration
Step 4  Change device > 6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0
Step 5  Compile > Software (rebuild all)
Step 6  For each error:
            a) double-click the red arrow
            b) hover the cursor on the block input pin
            c) insert CONV (LAD/FBD) or WORD_TO_INT (SCL)
            d) recompile
Step 7  Repeat Step 6 until zero errors
Step 8  Online > Download to device
Step 9  Verify RUN state, cycle time, PROFINET, retentives
Step 10 Return line to production

12. Standards and Documentation References

• SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1513-1 PN manual (6ES7513-1AL02-0AB0) — official Siemens datasheet/manual with firmware baselines, memory, and bit performance.
• IEC 61131-3:2013 — Programmable controllers, Part 3: programming languages (defines the strict-typing rules enforced by the TIA V15 compiler).
• Siemens Online Support, entry ID 109752842 — product support page for the 1AL02 MLFB.