Whatever Happened to Pacific Scientific ?

[Ken Roach]

Hello, PLCTalk Community !

My Google-fu is weak today and I hope I can get a better community answer.

I was asked to look at a retrofit job with a bunch (80+) of servo axes and the customer briefly opened up the cabinet and I got a glimpse of three rows of Pacific Scientific servo amplifiers. They're shiny steel cases, have a one or two digit red LED 7-segment display on the top front, and are "bookshelf" style amplifiers about 13 inches high by 3 inches wide. The enclosure even had a nameplate from an automation division of Pacific Scientific.

I realize that's not much to go on. Photos weren't allowed. I know the system was put in in 1998, and photos I've seen suggest these are SC900 amplifiers.

Just from basic research I found that Danaher Motion owned Pacific Scientific for a while, then in 2011 they were bought by Meggitt Equipment in the UK, who seem to only admit to owning the aerospace parts of the company.

Does anyone have any insight about what sorts of resources might still be available for troubleshooting and spare parts for Pacific Scientific servo amplifiers and servomotors ? All I seem to be finding now is the usual aftermarket sales sites that guarantee unlimited quantities in perfect condition.

Part of the project is an assessment of the availability of parts, and therefore the risk and schedule for getting these upgraded. The end customer is being very closed-mouthed about how many spares they actually have.

 

[DamianInRochester]

I think Danaher went on a absorption kick quite a while back and bought up a lot of the smaller outfits (IDC, G&L controls, Kollmorgen, PacSci). From what I can see they kind of just bled most of these dry and consolidated everything under the Kollmorgen/G&L umbrella. If you look in the discontinued section of Kollmorgen site you might get lucky.

http://www.kollmorgen.com/en-us/products/drives/discontinued/discontinued-drives/

 

[rpoet]

I realize that's not much to go on. Photos weren't allowed.

The end customer is being very closed-mouthed about how many spares they actually have.

Don't you just love customers like this? "I want you to help me, but I can't give you any real information."

I almost guarantee that whatever they're doing, someone else is doing it too.

Let me guess: you would have to sign a NDA, give a blood sample, and get an FBI background check to look at their PLC code. Am I right?

Certain parts of the entertainment industry, especially the theme parks are notorious for behavior like this. Never really understood all the paranoia, myself.


-rpoet