BobLfoot

Moore APACS DCS - Upgrade Experiences

10 posts in this topic

Facility where I recently started working has several "ancient" Moore APACS DCS systems.  The resident guru/expert has announced that after 40+ years with the company he'll retire next year.  The existing engineering team I joined was slowly converting from APACS to ControlLogix and this effort will get more attention now obviously.  Recently our Schneider Service Rep mentioned that they have an upgrade path for APACS to current tech with no re-wiring required.  The presentation was impressive as you would expect.  But I am wondering, anyone out there who has actually worked Moore APACS and Upgraded to Schneider Ecostruxure and care to share your joys and heartaches of that trip?

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Bob, don't envy you and your quest.  I haven't seen a Moore in over 20 years!  I spent 15 years with ABB and we had an upgrade path for the Moore to the ABB (Taylor) MOD300 DCS.  I'll watch this post just out of pure interest.

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Gotta admire performance for 40 years.   I, too, look forward to your reports on progress.

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gee... i did not see Apacs since 90's. it was a Mosaic project in Bartow FL and i was still a young chap... 

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At my last employer we did several APACS to Siemens PCS7 migrations.  ( I can give you contact information if you need it.)

Siemens migrations allows you to keep the existing MTA's (Marshalling Termination Assembly).  But...sooner or later those MTA's are going to die a slow death too.

But...We had a couple of customers that said  Siemens left a bad taste in their mouth. One went to Control Logix, and the other one Delta-V, had to rewire everything.

 

Siemens bought Moore around 2000 or so, and stopped parts production in the last couple of years. Many folks are now looking to migrate. 

 

 

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I knew someone like Ken would show up.  Hate to say it, you should go down the Siemens migration path.  Back in the day, it was about making field wiring the least impact.  Rewriting code was the less costly path.  It was more about regaining full functionality both code wise and graphically.  Let's all admit, if the operators aren't happy, no one is happy.

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1. Schneider claims a non-re-wiring migration path to Foxboro EVO

https://download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_enDocType=Brochure&p_File_Name=ID%2342_998-19865506_GMA-US_A4_WEB.pdf&p_Doc_Ref=PAS_63680_CPM16104&_ga=2.203063126.699307783.1532672213-458034261.1531877776

2. This Emerson RA Delta V blurb claims there is some means of 'saving existing wiring'.

https://www.emerson.com/documents/automation/brochure-emerson-migration-solutions-for-moore-systems-pss-en-67768.pdf

3.  Honeywell  claims "a phased migration can also use existing wiring" for its PKS DCS.   

My limited exposure to Honeywell is that the full blown PKS will be overkill for an APACS replacement.  The distributor supported ControlEdge UOC is probably more in line with APACS system performance, but I suspect that there are no wiring adapters.

https://www.honeywellprocess.com/library/marketing/brochures/Competitive-Displacement-eBook.pdf

4.  Siemens hosts a User forum for the PCS7.  You might try an inquiry there for experiences with a migration from APACS.   Registration is required for the site is required.

https://support.industry.siemens.com/tf/us/en/threads/135/?page=0&pageSize=10

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Hi, I´m from Peru, I work in an oil company, and we still have two Moore plcs.
The ACM030 CPU

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I am working on an upgrade of a Moore APACS that has no documentation. Does anyone have any spec sheets, manuals, wiring, for the APACs cards?

Thanks,

 

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Have you tried Siemens?  (That's who bought the brand--even continued it for years.)

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