From the bench
Diagnosis guides and repair-or-replace math, written by people who fix this hardware — not a content farm.
Allen-Bradley
PanelView Plus 6 Is Discontinued — Your Real Options in 2026
Rockwell ended the PanelView Plus 6 line in 2021 with no drop-in replacement. Here's the honest repair-vs-migrate math for a plant still running 2711P terminals.
August 25, 2026
Diagnosis
The Flashlight Test: Diagnosing a Dark HMI Screen in 30 Seconds
A dark industrial touchscreen is usually a failed backlight, not a dead terminal. One flashlight tells you which — and what the repair should cost.
August 24, 2026
Diagnosis
Servo Alarm: Is It the Amplifier or the Motor? How to Tell Before You Spend
Overcurrent alarms on FANUC, Mitsubishi, and Yaskawa servos can mean a failed amplifier — or a shorted motor that will kill the next amplifier too. Here's how to isolate it.
August 23, 2026
Diagnosis
PLC Rack Dead? Check the Power Supply Before You Buy a CPU
A dark SLC 500 or ControlLogix rack is usually a $349 power-supply repair, not a four-figure processor. The 10-minute check that proves it.
August 22, 2026
Strategy
The Real Math of Repair vs. Replace for Industrial Electronics
Downtime at $103K/hour, 12-24 week lead times, and discontinued platforms — the three numbers that decide repair-vs-replace, with sources.
August 21, 2026
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi MR-J2S Is Long Obsolete. Repair It, Exchange It, or Migrate?
The MR-J2S servo family runs a huge installed base of CNC and automation axes. AL.32 killed one of yours — here are the three real paths, priced honestly.
August 20, 2026
Mail-In
How to Pack an HMI or Servo Drive So It Survives the Truck
Carrier damage is the one failure a repair lab can't fix cheaply. The packing method that gets a $2,000 unit across the country intact.
August 19, 2026
Mail-In
Will My Program Survive the Repair? (Yes — Here's Where It Actually Lives)
The number-one fear about mail-in HMI and drive repair, answered platform by platform: where applications and parameters are stored, and why physical repairs don't touch them.
August 18, 2026
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