Beckhoff / Industrial PCs and Panel PCs

A Beckhoff Control Panel and a Beckhoff Panel PC look identical from the front of a machine. One is a screen with no computer in it, driven from a PC elsewhere in the cabinet. The other is the computer. Ordering the wrong one is the most expensive mistake on this range.

Beckhoff builds its own industrial PCs rather than badging someone else's. Cabinet PCs, ultra-compact PCs, 19 inch rack machines, control panels and panel PCs, all running TwinCAT.

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The prefixes

C is a PC and CP is something with a screen on the front. Whether that screen has a computer behind it is the next question.

Control Panel against Panel PC

The distinction that matters most, and it is not visible from the operator side.

Two consequences worth acting on

A blank screen does not mean a dead computer. If the panel is a Control Panel, the PC is somewhere else in the cabinet and is probably still running the machine blind. The fault may be the panel, the CP-Link cable or the transmitter box, and each is a different and much cheaper part.

And a Control Panel is a genuinely easy spare. It holds no configuration and no application, so a shelf unit of the same type goes straight in. A Panel PC does not, because it carries the system image.

Tell us whether there is a separate PC in the cabinet and we will tell you which you have.

CP-Link 4, the one cable display link

Beckhoff's own method for putting a screen a long way from the computer, and worth understanding before diagnosing a display fault.

CP-Link 4 carries the display signal, USB and power to the panel over a single CAT cable, up to 100 m. A CU8802 transmitter box sits at the PC end where the PC has no CP-Link output of its own.

So a dead panel on a CP-Link machine has four candidates and only one of them is expensive. Swapping the cable first is free and settles it more often than people expect, particularly on a panel mounted on a moving arm where the cable flexes.

The single-cable arrangement is also why there is no obvious video lead to test with. If you cannot find a DVI cable behind the panel, it is CP-Link.

Built-in against mounting arm

These are not interchangeable without mechanical work. An arm-mounted unit has its housing and cable entry arranged for the arm; a built-in unit has a flange and a cutout.

And the adapter is a separate order line that gets left off. If you are replacing an arm-mounted panel, tell us whether the existing adapter is being reused.

Reading a CP number

The four digits after CP carry the family and the display size, and the suffix after the dash carries the build.

The dash suffix is where the specification lives on a Panel PC, in the same way it does on a CX. Two units with the same CP number and different suffixes are different machines.

Send the whole number off the label, including everything after the dash.

The ultra-compact C60xx range

The pairs differ mainly by interface fit rather than by processor. A C6017 is a C6015 with more connectivity, and a C6032 is a C6030 with more.

These are frequently fitted where a full cabinet PC will not physically go, so check the mounting before substituting a larger model. The bracket is often specific.

Where the application lives

The question that decides whether a replacement is a swap or a commissioning job.

The TwinCAT licence is the one people miss

A TwinCAT 3 runtime licence is tied to the machine it was issued against, not to the site. Dropping in a replacement PC and moving the drive across does not automatically bring a valid licence with it.

That is a commercial and administrative step rather than a hardware one, and it is worth starting before the hardware arrives rather than discovering it during a shutdown.

It is also the strongest argument for an identical used machine. Same hardware, same behaviour, fewest surprises.

The 1-second UPS

Worth knowing about, because it explains a class of fault that looks like a corrupted PC.

Beckhoff offers a capacitive UPS option that holds the machine up long enough to write persistent data and shut down cleanly on a power failure.

Two things follow. A machine losing retained data on every power dip may simply have a UPS module that has aged out, since capacitors degrade. And a replacement PC ordered without the option will not behave the same, even though it runs the same project.

Check the original build before quoting a replacement, and tell us if persistent data matters.

The parts that wear out

A clock that resets every shutdown is a coin cell, not a dying PC. Most of this table is cheaper than an hour of downtime, let alone a replacement machine.

We supply these as separate parts under the C9900 accessory range where they exist separately.

Before ordering a replacement

What to send us

The full part number including everything after the dash. The suffix is the configuration.

Whether there is a separate PC in the cabinet. That tells us Control Panel against Panel PC.

Whether the panel is built-in or on an arm, and whether the adapter is being reused.

The cutout dimensions, for a built-in panel.

Whether the CFast or SSD survived.

Whether the original had the UPS option.

A photo of the rating plate and of the back of the unit. The connector fit identifies the variant when the label is worn.

What we can supply

Current production. The C60xx ultra-compact range, cabinet and rack industrial PCs, CP2xxx and CP3xxx multi-touch control panels and panel PCs, CU8802 transmitter boxes and C9900 accessories. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

Discontinued. Earlier C6xxx cabinet PCs, C5xxx and C3xxx rack machines, and the CP6xxx and CP7xxx economy panel ranges. Surplus and tested used, which is often the only way to keep an existing TwinCAT installation and its licensing unchanged.

Spare parts. Fans, filters, CFast cards, drives, batteries, UPS modules, mounting arm adapters and power supplies.

Whole operator stations. Send the arrangement and we will quote the PC, the panel, the link and the mounting as a set.

We buy Beckhoff industrial PCs

Control Panels resell readily because they carry no configuration, and industrial PCs hold value because an identical machine keeps a TwinCAT installation exactly as it is.

If you are stripping a machine, keep the CFast card with its PC, the mounting arm adapter with its panel, and the CU8802 with the panel it drove. Matched sets are worth more. See Sell To Us.

Common questions

Can you get a part that is not listed on your site?
Usually. The site shows what we hold, not what we can source.

My screen is dead. Do I need a new PC?
Not necessarily. If it is a Control Panel there is no PC in it. Check whether there is a separate machine in the cabinet.

Is a CX an industrial PC?
It is an embedded PC, a different range. See our CX page.

Can I move my CFast card into the replacement?
Often yes on like-for-like hardware. The TwinCAT licence may still need reissuing.

Do you supply used equipment?
Yes, where new is not available, tested and clearly described.

What is the lead time?
Ex stock items ship the next working day within New Zealand. Configured units carry a build lead time, which we give you with the quote.

Do you quote in NZD?
Yes, in NZD including GST for New Zealand customers.

Related

Beckhoff overview, CX embedded PCs, EtherCAT Terminals and EtherCAT junctions and Ethernet switches.

For industrial PCs from other brands see Siemens SIMATIC IPC and B&R Power Panel and Automation Panel.

Send us your part numbers

Tell us whether there is a separate PC in the cabinet. That one answer decides whether you are buying a screen or a computer. Quotes in NZD including GST.

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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, EtherCAT and CP-Link are trademarks of Beckhoff Automation. All trademarks, brand names and part numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.