Schneider / Modicon Quantum

A 140CPU43412A and a 140CPU43412U are the same hardware with different firmware. One runs Concept, one runs Unity, and an A can be converted to a U without changing anything physical.

Modicon Quantum is the Schneider large-scale platform, the 140 series. Discontinued, and still running major New Zealand process plant, water treatment and infrastructure.

The letter at the end is the software generation

The most important thing on this page, and unlike Premium it is a letter rather than a digit.

Schneider describes the 140CPU43412U as the same CPU as the existing 140CPU43412A, with the Unity operating system already downloaded and ready to use with Unity Pro.

An A can be converted to a U

This is genuinely useful and it changes what you need to buy.

The 140CPU43412A and 140CPU53414A can be upgraded to Unity without any hardware modification. The conversion updates the CPU operating system using the OS Loader tool included with Unity Pro.

Once upgraded, the 140CPU43412U and 140CPU53414U are equivalent to the corresponding Unity processors.

Check the PV on the label before assuming a CPU can be converted. Below PV04 the upgrade is not supported, and that is a real constraint on older stock.

So if you find an A-suffix CPU at the right level and you run Unity, it may still be the part you want. Tell us and we will check the product version.

Hot Standby has strict rules

Two of them, and both will stop a redundant system working.

Both CPUs must have the same firmware

You cannot run a Hot Standby pair with one CPU on Unity firmware and one on NxT. In an NxT configuration, both must be NxT.

So if you are replacing one half of a redundant pair, the firmware generation has to match the surviving unit, not just the part number.

Standard CPUs are not supported in Unity Hot Standby

The bigger one. In a Unity Quantum Hot Standby configuration, only specific Hot Standby controllers can be used.

The 140CPU43412A and 140CPU53414A are not supported in Unity Hot Standby configurations, whatever their firmware.

Redundancy needs the dedicated Hot Standby CPU, such as the 140CPU67160.

And the pair needs a fibre cable

A separate part that is easy to forget.

The 140CPU67160 has a Hot Standby fibre optic communication port, and the two processors link through it.

Two Hot Standby CPUs without the fibre link is two standalone PLCs. If you are building or rebuilding a redundant pair, that cable is on the parts list.

The Unity Quantum processors

The memory figures cover program and unlocated data.

PCMCIA again, and the multiplier is larger

Same pattern as Premium and the effect is more dramatic.

A 140CPU65160 goes from 768 kB to 7 MB with a PCMCIA card. That is roughly nine times the memory, from a card that is not part of the processor.

A replacement CPU without the card will not hold a large application. Keep the card from the failed unit, and ask whether one is included when buying used.

This is now the third Schneider platform on this site where a removable card carries most of the memory. It is worth treating as a standing question on any Modicon order.

The Concept-era processors

The maths co-processor is not decoration

The 140CPU53414 carries a maths co-processor where the 434 does not.

On an application doing real floating point work, PID loops or scaling across many channels, that is a scan time difference. Substituting a 434 for a 534 gives you a working PLC that may not keep up.

Check what the original was before stepping down.

The keyswitch

The 434 and 534 carry a physical keyswitch with Start, Memory Protect and Start Controller positions.

Memory Protect prevents the program being overwritten. If a CPU will not accept a download, the keyswitch is the first thing to check, and it is a common cause of a call-out that needed no parts at all.

Reading a 140 part number

Quantum numbers run 140 [function] [three digits] [two digits].

The backplane slot count is in the number. 140XBP01600 is a 16 slot backplane.

CRP and CRA go together

Remote I/O on Quantum is a pair: a CRP head module in the main rack and a CRA drop adapter in each remote rack.

They are different parts and you need both. Ordering a CRA to fix a remote drop is right; ordering one to add a remote drop to a system that has no CRP is not.

Which software does your Quantum use?

Whether a Quantum program is 984 or IEC decides between Concept and ProWORX. That is a real fork, and it is worth establishing before anyone tries to open a file.

As with PL7 on Premium, Concept and ProWORX are old tools on old operating systems. If nobody on site can open the program, the practical answer is to hold spares and never need to.

The S variants

Quantum includes S-suffix processors such as the 140CPU65160S and 140CPU67160S, derived from the corresponding base CPUs.

These are distinct variants and not interchangeable with the base part. If your CPU carries an S, send us the full reference and we will confirm the exact variant before quoting, rather than assuming the base processor will do.

What to send us

The full reference including the trailing letter. A, U, B or S changes what the part is.

The PV number off the label, if you are considering a Unity conversion.

Whether the CPU is part of a Hot Standby pair, and what the surviving unit is running.

Whether a PCMCIA card is fitted.

Which software the site uses. Concept, ProWORX or Unity Pro.

What we can supply

Processors. The full 140 CPU range in Concept, Unity native and converted forms, plus Hot Standby CPUs and the 490NOR fibre cables.

Backplanes and power supplies. 140 XBP in all slot counts and 140 CPS supplies.

I/O. Discrete DC and AC, analogue input and output, high speed counters and event modules.

Communication. 140 NOE Ethernet, Modbus Plus, and CRP and CRA remote I/O.

PCMCIA cards. The part that carries the memory.

Quantum is long discontinued, so this is new old stock, surplus and tested used.

We buy Modicon Quantum

Quantum is worth real money to the plants still running it, and those plants are large. CPUs, I/O, backplanes, PCMCIA cards and Hot Standby fibre cables all hold value.

If a system is being replaced, do not scrap it. See Sell To Us.

Related

Schneider overview, including the software generation map and the Momentum base and adapter architecture.

Modicon Premium and TSX 57 and Modicon M340 and M580.

For large legacy platforms from other brands see Siemens S7-400 and Omron CS1. We also supply Allen-Bradley PLC-5 processors, racks and I/O on request, and the Allen-Bradley SLC 500 page covers the related legacy Rockwell platforms.

Send us your references

The trailing letter matters more than anything else in the number. If you have an A-suffix CPU and run Unity, ask us about the conversion rather than assuming you need different hardware. 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 Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric, Modicon, Quantum, Concept, ProWORX, Unity Pro, Modbus Plus and EcoStruxure are trademarks of Schneider Electric. All trademarks, brand names and references are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.