Beckhoff CX Embedded PCs NZ | CX5140 CX9020 CX8090 TwinCAT

Beckhoff CX Embedded PCs

Beckhoff / CX Embedded PCs

The dash suffix is the operating system and TwinCAT configuration, not a hardware variant. A CX5140-0175 and a CX5140 with a different suffix are the same computer with different software.

CX is the Beckhoff embedded PC range: DIN rail industrial computers running TwinCAT as the controller, common on New Zealand machine building and specialist plant.

The dash suffix carries the software

The thing to establish first, because it decides what arrives.

Part	Meaning
CX5140	The hardware. Processor, memory, interfaces
-0175	Operating system and TwinCAT runtime configuration

Beckhoff supplies the CX range with various Windows IoT operating systems and TwinCAT runtime options, and the suffix identifies which.

So ordering the base number without the suffix does not fully specify the unit. A replacement with a different OS or a different TwinCAT level may not run your project.

Send the whole number including the dash digits.

The optional interface is factory-fitted only

The most important constraint on this range, and it cannot be worked around later.

Beckhoff describes an optional interface common to all second-generation CX devices, which can be equipped ex factory with a variety of signal types.

The optional interface can be
A fieldbus interface, in slave or master execution
Additional signal types

Ex factory means exactly that. The interface is specified at order and built in. It is not a module you add afterwards.

So a CX without the interface you need cannot be upgraded to have it. If the existing unit has a PROFIBUS master on the optional interface, a standard CX of the same model will not do the job however identical it looks.

Check the existing unit's full part number, and tell us what is on the optional interface if you know.

Which models have it

Beckhoff lists the optional interface as a feature of the second generation CX devices:

Series
CX9020, CX9240
CX5100, CX5200, CX5300, CX5600
CX20x2, CX20x3

Control Panels connect directly as display devices via DVI, DisplayPort or USB.

CX5140 specifications

A representative unit from the mid range.

Item	Value
Processor	Intel Atom E3845, quad core, 1.91 GHz
Cooling	Fanless
Memory	4 GB DDR3, non-expandable
Ethernet	Dual Gigabit
USB	Four ports
Display	DVI-I
Storage	CFast and microSD
Mounting	DIN rail, IP20

The memory is not expandable

Worth knowing before someone plans an upgrade. The 4 GB DDR3 in a CX5140 is soldered.

So if an application has outgrown the memory, that is a different CX rather than a memory module. Send us the requirement and we will identify the model that carries it.

Fanless matters more than it sounds

A fan is the part that fails in an industrial computer. A fanless design removes the most common maintenance item and the most common dust ingress path.

It also sets a thermal limit. A fanless CX in a sealed cabinet in a hot plant room is working harder than the specification assumes.

The CFast card is where everything lives

The single most important thing when replacing a CX.

The operating system, the TwinCAT runtime and the project all sit on the CFast card.

Situation	What to do
CX hardware has failed	Move the CFast card to the replacement
Buying a used CX	Ask whether a card is included, and what is on it
Preventive	Image the card while the machine is running

A CX without its card is a computer with no operating system. And a used CX may arrive with someone else's project on the card, which is worse than an empty one.

This is the same pattern as the Flexi Soft system plug and the Modicon PCMCIA card covered elsewhere on this site. Keep the card.

Cards fail too

A CFast card is flash storage with a finite write life. On a machine logging data to the card, that life is shorter than people expect.

If a CX has become unreliable or slow to boot, the card is worth suspecting before the computer.

The CX ranges

Series	Positioning
CX7000, CX8000	Compact controllers. CX8090 is the Ethernet version
CX9020	Entry embedded PC with optional interface
CX5100, CX5200	Intel Atom. CX5140 sits here
CX5300, CX5600	Higher performance embedded
CX2000 series	Modular, higher performance. CX20x2 and CX20x3
CX1000, CX1010, CX1020, CX1030	Earlier generations

The CX8000 series are controllers rather than full PCs. They run TwinCAT without a Windows desktop, which suits a machine that needs control and not visualisation.

The CX2000 series is modular, where the CX5000 and CX9000 series are not. That is why the optional interface exists on the non-modular ones.

Beckhoff commits to ten years of availability

Worth knowing for the obsolescence conversation, because few manufacturers state it.

Beckhoff says its choice of embedded CPUs and component stocking are aimed at ensuring the availability of Embedded PCs for more than ten years, so customers can manufacture standard machines over a long period without software changes.

That is a real advantage on a machine build. It also means a CX that is genuinely obsolete has been out of production a long time, and the secondary market is where it lives.

We hold and source those.

An embedded PC is still a PC

Worth stating because it changes the failure modes.

Fails like a PC	Fails like a PLC
Storage card wear	I/O terminals
Battery for the real time clock	Field wiring
Power supply	Fieldbus faults
Corrupted OS or file system

A CX that will not boot is often a card or a file system problem rather than dead hardware. Before ordering a replacement, try the card in another unit if you have one, or image it.

TwinCAT

Item	Notes
TwinCAT runtime	Runs on the CX. Covers PLC, motion control and HMI
The licence	Tied to the hardware
The project	Developed on a PC, downloaded to the CX

TwinCAT licensing is tied to the hardware, so a replacement CX needs its licensing sorted as well as its project loaded. That is a Beckhoff matter rather than a parts matter, and it is worth knowing exists before the machine is down.

If you are buying used, ask what TwinCAT level the unit is licensed for.

What to send us

The full part number including the dash suffix.

What is on the optional interface, if the unit has one. It cannot be added later.

Whether you have the CFast card.

The TwinCAT version and level.

What the machine does. PLC only, or motion and visualisation as well, since that decides the specification needed.

What we can supply

Current production. The CX range across series, plus CFast cards, microSD cards, power supply terminals, batteries and mounting accessories. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

Discontinued. CX1000, CX1010, CX1020, CX1030 and earlier CX9000 and CX5000 variants. Surplus and tested used, which is often the only way to keep an existing machine on its original software.

Cards separately. Often the actual fault.

We buy Beckhoff CX

Embedded PCs hold real value, particularly older units that are no longer available new and are the only way to keep a machine on its original TwinCAT version.

Keep the CFast card with the unit where the project is not confidential, and tell us the TwinCAT licence level. Both add value. See Sell To Us.

Send us your part numbers

Include the dash suffix, and tell us what is on the optional interface. That is specified at the factory and cannot be added afterwards. Quotes in NZD including GST.

Request a quote

Industech is an independent supplier of new, surplus and used industrial automation equipment. We are not an authorised distributor of, approved by, sanctioned by, or affiliated with Beckhoff Automation. Beckhoff, TwinCAT and EtherCAT are trademarks of Beckhoff Automation. Intel and Atom are trademarks of Intel Corporation. All trademarks, brand names and part numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.