Control system replacement

Retrofits

Your plant already runs. Your control system just needs to keep up. We replace aging and unsupported control systems with modern PC-based control and shop-built panels — and when your existing I⁠/⁠O is Optomux, we can often keep it and save you the cost of new hardware.

What can stay, what has to go

It depends on what’s in your panels.

Every retrofit starts by looking at the hardware you already have. Here’s how it usually works out.

Optomux systems

Optomux I⁠/⁠O is common in refrigeration plants, and we replace Optomux-based control systems all the time. In many cases your existing Optomux panels can stay in service and run on our system, so you get new control software, screens, and features without paying for all-new I⁠/⁠O. Where the hardware is worn out or a panel needs to change, we replace it with Weidmüller.

Logix systems

Logix panels are completely proprietary. Nobody else can use that hardware — not us, not anyone. A Logix retrofit means new panels on open Weidmüller I⁠/⁠O, wired to your existing field devices. More for Logix customers ↓

Everything else

PLC-based systems, older PC systems, and home-grown controls are reviewed case by case. We’ll tell you honestly what can be reused and what can’t — and new panels are always built on open, off-the-shelf Weidmüller I⁠/⁠O.

For Logix customers

Logix is going out of business. Your plant still needs support.

Logix will no longer be servicing its customers. If your plant runs on a Logix system, you’re going to need a new control system and someone to stand behind it — and you should know exactly what you’re buying.

Logix hardware can’t be reused. Logix panels are completely proprietary. Some control companies are telling Logix customers they can “go over the top” of a Logix system and keep using its hardware. That isn’t possible — it’s a way to get a foot in the door, and you’ll end up paying for the real replacement later anyway.

What a Logix replacement includes

  • A survey of your plant and every existing I⁠/⁠O point
  • New shop-built panels on open Weidmüller I⁠/⁠O
  • Your existing sensors, valves, and field wiring reused wherever they’re sound
  • New PC-based control software and graphic screens
  • A planned cutover to keep your downtime short
  • Startup, tuning, operator training, and ongoing support
  • Hardware you can buy parts for anywhere — never locked in again
Side by side

What’s inside a Logix panel — and why none of it carries over.

An open Logix control panel in a plant, showing proprietary I/O boards, a small embedded controller, and add-on modules
A Logix panelProprietary I⁠/⁠O boards and an embedded controller. Nothing in this enclosure can be reused by another control system.
An open Empire Control Systems panel showing Weidmüller I/O, slim relays, color-coded terminals, and labeled field wiring
An Empire panelOpen Weidmüller I⁠/⁠O, relay-isolated points, and labeled, color-coded wiring.

Looks like Optomux. Isn’t.

Logix built its own I⁠/⁠O boards. They resemble Optomux racks, but they only talk to Logix’s own controller — so unlike genuine Optomux, they can’t be kept in service on a new system.

A closed controller

The boards are run by Logix’s own embedded controller — a closed system that only Logix software knows how to talk to. When Logix support goes away, so does the only source of parts and know-how for it.

Your plant, fit to their panel

Logix panel I⁠/⁠O came in fixed configurations, and plant hardware was often changed to suit the panel, with add-on Modbus modules bolted in when more analog inputs were needed. We do it the other way around: every panel is designed around your plant.

How a retrofit works

1. Site review

We look at your existing panels, I⁠/⁠O, field devices, and how the plant is operated today. You get a straight answer on what can be reused and what has to be replaced.

2. Document every point

Every existing input and output is identified and documented, and we produce new electrical drawings for the system — drawings you can pull up right from the control screens.

3. Build and test in our shop

New panels are built on Weidmüller I⁠/⁠O with relay-isolated inputs and outputs, manual switches, and labeled, color-coded wiring. Everything is checked in our shop before it ships.

4. Planned cutover

We plan the changeover with you so the plant keeps running. Manual switches on control outputs mean equipment can be run by hand while each section is switched over.

5. Startup, tuning & training

We commission the new system, tune it to your plant, and train your operators — and we’re the ones who answer the phone afterward.

What you gain

  • Nearly unlimited historical data and comprehensive graphic screens
  • Thousands of PID loops running at once on a fanless industrial PC
  • Alarm calls, texts, and emails, plus remote access that fits your IT policy
  • Auto suction pressure control, flexible compressor sequencing, and wet-bulb-based condenser control
  • A path to energy savings — variable speed, demand refrigeration, intelligent defrost, and more
  • Open, off-the-shelf hardware that any qualified technician can service

Don’t wait for the next failure.

Whether you’re on Optomux, Logix, or something else, let’s plan your replacement before an unsupported system makes the decision for you.