SICK / Encoders

Programming an AFS or AFM absolute encoder with a DFS60 adapter cable will destroy it. SICK says so directly. The tool is the same and the cable is not.

SICK encoders run conveyors, winders, cut-to-length lines and positioning axes across New Zealand. DFS60 incremental and AFS60 or AFM60 absolute are the common ones.

The wrong adapter cable destroys the encoder

Putting this first because it is a warning SICK prints in its own documentation and it costs real money.

Attempting to programme an AFS or AFM60 absolute encoder with the adapter cables intended for the DFS60 incremental encoder will cause damage to the absolute encoder.

The PGT-10-Pro programming tool covers both families, so the tool on the bench is the right one. The cable is what differs.

Check the cable before connecting, not after. If you are buying a programming tool from us, tell us which encoders you run and we will supply the right cables with it.

S is singleturn, M is multiturn

One letter, and it decides whether the encoder remembers where it was.

SICK fixes the multiturn resolution at 12 bits, which is where the 4096 revolutions comes from.

Why it matters on a real machine

A singleturn encoder loses count of full revolutions at power off. On a rotary table that is fine. On a long screw axis or a hoist it is not, because the machine has no idea which turn it is on.

Fitting an AFS where an AFM was means the machine must home on every restart, and on some machines it cannot home safely at all.

So the S or M is not a variant. Check it before ordering.

Reading a DFS60 part number

Take DFS60B-S4PA10000.

The trailing digits are the PPR. So you can read the pulse count straight off the number.

And note DFS60B-S4PA10000 against DFS60B-S4PC10000. One letter, same shaft, same 10,000 pulses, different connection. Send the whole reference.

The DFS60 is programmable, and that changes stocking

The most useful thing about this encoder.

SICK describes programming of the output signal, zero pulse and resolution up to 65,536 pulses as a unique feature. Programmable parameters include:

So one programmable DFS60 can cover many different PPR requirements. Instead of stocking a 1024, a 2048 and a 5000, you stock one programmable unit and set it.

On a site with several DFS60s at different pulse counts, that is a genuine reduction in spares holding.

Two consequences worth knowing:

A replacement programmable encoder arrives at its default setting, not at yours. It has to be programmed before it goes on.

And a non-programmable encoder cannot be adjusted. If the existing part number does not carry the programmable option, the PPR is fixed.

Remote 0-SET is also possible, so the zero position can be set without the programming tool.

DFS60 specifications

TTL and HTL are not interchangeable

The electrical interface is the thing most often mismatched.

A drive or counter card expects one or the other. Fitting an HTL encoder to a TTL input, or the reverse, gives you no count or a damaged input.

The DFS60 programmable versions cover both, which is another reason they suit a mixed site.

Blind or through hollow shaft

Worth checking on a replacement. A through hollow shaft passes the machine shaft right through; a blind hollow shaft only accepts it from one side.

They mount differently and are not interchangeable. Neither is a solid shaft version, which needs a coupling.

The AFS60 and AFM60 absolute encoders

The error bits are optional in your PLC

A useful detail from the SICK documentation. The evaluation of the error bits has to be realised in the PLC, and the provided error bits do not have to be used by the PLC compulsorily.

So an absolute encoder reports its own health, and most installations ignore it.

If an axis is drifting or giving occasional wrong positions, and nobody is reading the error bits, that is worth adding before replacing hardware. The encoder may already be telling you.

The programming tool

The tool is standalone, so no laptop is needed on the machine. That matters in a wet or dusty area where a laptop is not welcome.

And it only works with programmable encoders. The tool will not add programmability to a fixed-resolution unit.

The encoder families

Wire draw encoders use a standard encoder head

Worth knowing for repairs. SICK builds wire draw encoders around DFS60, AFS60, AFM60, AHS36 and AHM36 heads.

So a failed wire draw encoder may only need the encoder head, not the whole mechanism. And the same 36 pattern applies: AHS is singleturn and AHM is multiturn.

Stainless housing

The DFS60 is available in aluminium or stainless steel.

In a New Zealand meat or dairy washdown area, stainless is what survives. An aluminium encoder in a caustic wash will corrode at the shaft seal and take water in, and the failure looks like an encoder fault rather than a specification error.

Same principle as the SICK light curtain stainless option on our light curtain page.

What to send us

The full type designation. Every character carries something: type, shaft, interface, connection and PPR.

The SICK part number, printed on the label alongside the type.

Whether it is programmable.

The interface the drive or counter expects. TTL, HTL, SSI or Sin/Cos.

The shaft arrangement. Solid, blind hollow or through hollow, and the diameter.

For absolute, singleturn or multiturn.

Whether you need the programming tool and cable.

What we can supply

Current production. DFS60, AFS60, AFM60, AHS36, AHM36, wire draw encoders and the PGT-10-Pro programming tool with the correct adapter cables. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

Discontinued. Earlier SICK and Stegmann encoders. Surplus and tested used.

Couplings, brackets and cables. The parts that stop an encoder job. A shaft coupling is not supplied with the encoder.

Programmable encoders as a spares strategy

Worth stating plainly because it saves money.

If a site runs several DFS60 encoders at different pulse counts, a single programmable DFS60 on the shelf covers all of them.

You need the programming tool and the correct cable alongside it, and that pair is a one-off cost. After that, one encoder replaces any of them.

Tell us what you run and we will tell you whether one programmable spare covers it.

We buy SICK encoders

Encoders hold value, and the programming tools more so because they are rarely on site when needed. If you are decommissioning, do not scrap them. See Sell To Us.

Related

SICK overview and safety light curtains.

For encoders and feedback from other brands see ABB, Omron servo and Schneider Lexium.

Send us your type designations

Check whether yours is an AFS or an AFM before ordering. And if you are programming an absolute encoder, use the absolute encoder cable. 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 SICK AG. SICK is a trademark of SICK AG. All trademarks, brand names and part numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.