Siemens / SIMATIC S5

The 6ES5 suffix tells you which chassis a module fits. That one rule solves most S5 identification problems.

SIMATIC S5 went out of production decades ago. It is still running freezing works, older paper mills, water treatment and process plant around the country, because the hardware was built to last and replacing a working control system is expensive.

There is no official supply and has not been for a long time. What exists is surplus from decommissioned plant, unused stock that never got installed, and tested used modules. S5 is one of the ranges where very few suppliers can help at all.

The suffix tells you the chassis family

This is the most useful thing on the page. The block after the module number identifies which system the module belongs to.

So a 6ES5430-7LA12 is a 115U module and a 6ES5440-8MA22 is a 100U module. They are different physical formats and will not interchange.

If you know the module number but not the rack, the suffix tells you. If you know the rack but not the module, it narrows the search enormously.

Number groups

CPUs and compact units

Digital modules for S5-115U, the 7L suffix

Analog modules for S5-115U

Modules for S5-90U, 95U and 100U, the 8M suffix

These also fit ET 100U and ET 200U.

Modules for S5-135U and 155U, the 4U suffix

Interface and communication modules

IP intelligent modules

Memory submodules

These fail, and they are frequently what is actually needed rather than a whole CPU.

Short and long types are not interchangeable. Read the full number.

Racks, subracks and accessories

Programming cables are a common standalone enquiry. If you have inherited an S5 system with no way to connect to it, tell us what you intend to program from.

Which chassis family?

Running S5 alongside S7

If you are part way through a migration, you do not necessarily have to replace everything at once.

The IM 463-2, article number 6ES7463-2AA00-0AA0, lets an S7-400 drive existing SIMATIC S5 expansion units. For a plant that has replaced the CPU but still has racks of S5 I/O in service, that module is the bridge and there is essentially no alternative.

We can supply both sides: S5 spares to keep the old racks running, S7 hardware for the new system, and the bridge between them.

What to send us

The full number off the module edge. Including the suffix, because that is what tells us the chassis.

A photo if the label is unreadable. Which it often is after thirty years.

Which chassis it came out of. If you can tell us 100U or 115U we can usually find it fast.

Whether you need the memory submodule too. On many S5 CPUs the program lives on a separate submodule. A CPU without one is not a working controller.

We also buy S5

If you are decommissioning an S5 system, do not scrap it. Individual modules are worth real money to the people still running these plants, and the racks, cables and programming gear are worth having too. See Sell To Us.

Send us your article numbers

Or a photo. We will tell you what it is, whether we can get it, and what it will cost. 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 Siemens AG. All trademarks, brand names and article numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.