Emerson and GE Fanuc PLCs, New Zealand

RFQ / Emerson, GE Fanuc and GE Intelligent Platforms

These controllers have been badged GE Fanuc, GE Intelligent Platforms, GE Automation and now Emerson. The part numbers never changed. IC693, IC694, IC695, IC697 and IC200 identify the platform regardless of whose name is on the front.

Series 90-30 and VersaMax are on a great deal of New Zealand plant, particularly in food processing, water and older packaging lines. Most of it is obsolete and most of it is still running.

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Reference pages

Page	Covers
Series 90-30	The IC693 catalogue structure, how the discrete module numbers encode input against output and voltage, CPUs and battery-backed memory, baseplates, and the RX3i migration that keeps the field wiring

Two naming problems worth clearing up first

Both of them cause wrong parts to be quoted, and one of them is specific to this brand.

Emerson means two different things

Genuinely confusing, and we deal with both.

If the Emerson badge is on	It is probably
A PLC, I/O module or operator panel	The GE Fanuc lineage. This page
A variable speed drive or servo	Control Techniques. See our Control Techniques page

Emerson owned Control Techniques for a period and later acquired the GE controls business. So an Emerson badge on a drive and an Emerson badge on a PLC point at completely different products with completely different part numbering.

The part number settles it. IC-prefixed is this page. A drive model like SP2402 or a Mentor II is the other one.

GE Fanuc is not Fanuc

The other one, and it sends people to the wrong supplier entirely.

Product	What it is
GE Fanuc PLCs	IC-prefixed controllers and I/O. This page
Fanuc CNC controls	Machine tool controls. Series 0, 16, 18, 21, 30 and similar
Fanuc robots	Robot arms and their controllers

GE Fanuc was a joint venture that made PLCs. Fanuc on its own makes CNC and robotics. They share a name and share very little else.

If the part number starts IC, it is the PLC side. If it is a CNC control or a robot teach pendant, tell us and we will treat it as a different enquiry.

The badge history

Badge	Era
GE Fanuc Automation	The joint venture years. Most legacy hardware
GE Intelligent Platforms	After the joint venture ended
GE Automation and Controls	A later renaming
Emerson	Current owner

An IC693CPU341 is the same module whichever badge is on it. Send the catalogue number and the badge does not matter.

The platform prefixes

The most useful thing on this page. The first six characters tell you which system you are dealing with.

Prefix	Platform	Status
IC693	Series 90-30. The volume legacy PLC	Obsolete
IC697	Series 90-70. The larger legacy PLC	Obsolete
IC200	VersaMax, including VersaMax Micro and Nano	Mature to obsolete
IC694	PACSystems RX3i I/O. Closely related to the 90-30 modules	Mature
IC695	PACSystems RX3i CPUs, backplanes and high performance modules	Current
IC698	PACSystems RX7i	Mature
IC660, IC670	Genius I/O and Field Control	Obsolete
IC754	QuickPanel and QuickPanel+ operator interfaces	Mature to obsolete

IC693 and IC200 are where most of our enquiries sit. Both are obsolete, both are widely installed here, and both are on plant that has no budget for a control system replacement.

The module type code

The three letters after the prefix tell you what the module does. Useful when you have a number and no documentation.

Code	Module type
CPU	Processor
MDL	Discrete I/O. Digital inputs and outputs
ALG	Analogue I/O
PWR	Power supply
CHS	Baseplate or chassis
CMM	Communications module
BEM	Bus expansion and network interface modules
APU	High speed counter and motion modules
ACC	Accessories, cables and terminal parts

So IC693MDL645 is a Series 90-30 discrete I/O module and IC693ALG220 is an analogue one. That narrows an unknown part in seconds.

The digits after that encode the specifics, and on the discrete modules they follow a pattern worth knowing. That is on the Series 90-30 page.

The battery is the biggest risk on this brand

Worth stating early and plainly, because it is the failure that costs the most.

The legacy CPUs hold their program and retentive data in battery-backed memory. A flat battery loses it.

Situation	Outcome
Battery replaced live, on a schedule	Nothing happens. Correct
Battery goes flat with the PLC powered	Usually survives, but you are on borrowed time
Battery flat and the plant loses power	The program is gone

That last row is how a working plant becomes a dead plant over a long weekend. The hardware is fine and the machine cannot run, because nothing on site knows what the logic was.

Three things follow, and all of them are cheap:

Change the batteries on a schedule rather than when a light comes on. They are inexpensive and the exposure is not.

Get a copy of the program off every PLC now, while it is running and the battery is good.

And keep that copy somewhere other than the laptop in the workshop.

We supply the batteries. It is the smallest order we take on this brand and the one that prevents the largest loss.

Getting the program off is not the same as having the program

Worth understanding before you rely on an upload.

Uploading from a running PLC gets you the logic. What it may not get you is the documentation: the variable names, the rung comments and the descriptions that make the logic readable.

What you have	What it is worth
The original project file, with documentation	The machine is maintainable
An upload with no documentation	It will run the plant. Modifying it is archaeology
Nothing	The plant is one power cut from a rewrite

So find the original project file before you need it. On plant of this age it is usually on somebody's old laptop, on a CD in a drawer, or with the integrator who built the line.

That search is far easier on a working Tuesday than during a breakdown.

The programming software follows the generation

Era	Software
Earliest	Logicmaster 90
Middle	VersaPro
Later and current	Proficy Machine Edition, and its Emerson-era successors

A project file from the earliest tools may need converting before a current tool will open it, and conversion is not always clean.

We supply hardware rather than software licences, but it is worth knowing which era your project file came from before you plan a migration. If you tell us, we will factor it into the advice.

Genius I/O deserves a warning

Because it is the part of this brand most likely to strand a plant.

Genius is the legacy distributed I/O bus, with blocks in the field on a single twisted pair. It works well and it is thoroughly obsolete.

Point	Detail
Configuration lives in the block	Device number and settings are stored in the block itself
A replacement block needs configuring	Either with a hand held monitor or over the bus
The hand held monitor is itself obsolete	And now hard to find
Bus termination matters	Both ends, correct value

So a spare Genius block on the shelf is not a plug-in spare unless somebody can configure it. That is worth establishing before the block you need fails, not after.

If you run Genius, tell us and we will quote the configuration tooling alongside the blocks. It is the sort of thing that is cheap to hold and impossible to find in a hurry.

The RX3i migration keeps the field wiring

The genuinely good news on this brand, and unusual.

The PACSystems RX3i was designed so that Series 90-30 I/O can carry forward. The IC694 modules are closely related to the IC693 ones, and the platform supports keeping much of the existing I/O rather than rewiring the plant.

	Typical PLC migration	90-30 to RX3i
New CPU	Yes	Yes
Program conversion	Yes	Yes
Rewire every field terminal	Usually yes	Often not

Rewiring is the expensive part of any PLC replacement, because it is labour, it is error prone and it happens during a shutdown. A path that keeps the field wiring changes the economics considerably.

Exactly what carries across depends on which modules you have and how the racks are arranged, so send us your module list and we will tell you what stays and what does not. That is a useful answer whether you buy the migration hardware from us or not.

Before ordering a replacement

Symptom	Check first
Battery light or battery fault	Change it live, and get a program copy off first
PLC will not run after a power cut	Battery-backed memory. The program may be gone
One channel dead on a module	Field device and wiring, before the module
Whole module dead	Fuse on the module or in the field circuit
Rack faults or intermittent modules	Baseplate, expansion cable and termination
Genius block replaced and not communicating	Device number and configuration in the new block
Analogue readings wrong after a swap	Module range setting. Current against voltage

What to send us

The full IC catalogue number off the module. The badge does not matter.

A photo of the rack, which captures the whole system in one go and saves a lot of back and forth.

Whether you have the program, and whether it is documented.

Whether the plant runs Genius I/O.

Whether you want like-for-like or a migration path. We quote both.

How urgent it is. If a line is down, say so.

What we can supply

Obsolete. Series 90-30 and 90-70 CPUs, I/O, power supplies and baseplates. VersaMax and VersaMax Micro. Genius and Field Control blocks and bus controllers. QuickPanel operator interfaces. New old stock, surplus and tested used.

Current and mature. PACSystems RX3i CPUs, backplanes and I/O, and RX7i. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

The small parts that matter. Batteries, terminal boards, baseplates, expansion cables and fuses.

Migration advice. Send the module list and we will tell you what carries forward to RX3i and what has to be replaced.

A sensible spares holding

Item	Why
Batteries, and a documented change schedule	The cheapest part on the site and the largest exposure
A verified copy of every program, kept off site	Free
One of each I/O module type you run	Supply is finite and shrinking
A spare CPU	The part with the longest lead time when it goes
Genius configuration tooling, if you run Genius	Impossible to find in a hurry

The first two cost almost nothing and cover the worst case. Everything else is about downtime rather than survival.

We buy GE Fanuc and Emerson

Series 90-30, 90-70, VersaMax and Genius all hold real value, because the plants running them cannot buy new and a control system replacement is a capital project.

Keep modules in their baseplates where you can, keep power supplies and expansion cables with the rack, and keep any hand held monitor or configuration tooling. That tooling is worth more than people expect. 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 module says Emerson but the drawing says GE Fanuc.
Same part. The badge changed and the catalogue number did not.

Is this the same as Fanuc CNC?
No. GE Fanuc made PLCs. Fanuc on its own makes CNC controls and robots.

My Emerson drive is not on this page.
Emerson drives are the Control Techniques lineage. See our Control Techniques page.

Can I keep my 90-30 I/O if I upgrade the CPU?
Often yes, with RX3i. Send your module list and we will tell you what carries across.

The PLC lost its program.
Battery-backed memory and a power cut. The hardware is probably fine. What you need is the project file.

Do you supply used equipment?
Yes. On the obsolete platforms it is usually the only option, and modules are tested before they ship.

What is the lead time?
Ex stock items ship the next working day within New Zealand. We give you a firm lead time with the quote.

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

Send us your catalogue numbers

The IC number identifies the part whichever badge is on it. And if the plant still has its batteries on the original schedule, ask us about those first. 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 Emerson, GE or Fanuc. Emerson and PACSystems are trademarks of Emerson Electric Co. GE and GE Fanuc are trademarks of General Electric Company. Fanuc is a trademark of Fanuc Corporation. Series 90, VersaMax, Genius, QuickPanel and Proficy are trademarks of their respective owners. All trademarks, brand names and catalogue numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.