What
we offer

Welcome to Attwood Electronics. We specialise in servicing and supplying Industrial Electronic Equipment throughout New Zealand. Our core specialty is in Motor Drive Equipment and Machine Control Systems. We strive for quality and integrity in all we do.

Motor Drive Equipment

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Machine Control Systems

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Cabinet Making Industry

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Apparel Industry

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We strive for quality and integrity in all we do.

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Historically, our focus at Attwood Electronics has been on servicing industrial machines rather than on supplying parts for them.

Times have changed.  It has become increasingly more difficult to obtain new parts for the older machines.  Reconditioned parts have become more acceptable, particularly when they come with a warranty.

Our engineers have become adept at sourcing new and reconditioned equipment from a range of trustworthy global suppliers. We access this resource whenever a normal repair is unfeasible or uneconomic.

Whether you need to replace a motor drive or servo motor, a controller or touch screen, a power supply or whatever, we can probably help.

We will soon publish a list on our website with in-stock items that are ready to go or ready to refurbish & test.

Together, we will keep working machines working and the scrap-man at home.

Industrial machines, even modern ones, have a vulnerability that is often overlooked. They contain hidden batteries that keep memory chips alive, protecting programs and settings from being lost or corrupted. At the end of their useful life, they will lose power.  If not replaced they will eventually leak and corrode surrounding circuitry.

Some machines use PC hardware for high-level control. PCs usually have a Lithium Manganese battery, good for up to 10 years. A home or office PC would likely be discarded before then, but for an industrial machine the upgrade process is very much more complex.

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) often have batteries to keep settings memory live and clock / calendar chips ticking over.

In less-common cases, machines rely on an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for power conditioning, or just to keep going long enough to shut down safely. UPS units have Sealed Lead Acid batteries inside and they degrade in as little as three years.

To avoid problems for our customers we've been going through our previous job records for useful information.

If we have replaced a battery, we'll endeavour to contact the customer (or contractor) before the new battery is past its "best before" date.  Depending on the battery chemistry it could be between three and ten years later.

Where we have worked on a unit that has an original battery, we'll use the manufacture date to assume the battery age and extrapolate this to a replacement date.

For some machines, the battery replacement is straight-forward and often outlined in the machine manual. For others it requires a "hot-swap" operation where the memory is supported by external power while the battery is replaced.

Our advice:

  • Do not allow Machine Operators to ignore a battery warning message. 
  • Get machines checked by someone you trust.

 

Many industrial buildings have less than ideal conditions for the machines they house. Roofing might be uninsulated, air becomes laden with moisture, lubricants and product. Machines that need compressed air may also receive doses of condensate.

Cooling systems draw this brew through filters and circulate it around sensitive places on each machine. Filters are not always maintained or appreciated for the protection they can provide.

Over time we see debris built up on circuit boards, particularly on warm surfaces. It absorbs moisture and can lead to corrosion. Corroding copper tracks turn black underneath the protective solder-mask on circuit boards. In time we know these tracks will fail.

There are preventative measures that will help, but, even if it seems like a good idea, NEVER EVER PUT DAMPRID IN OR NEAR A MACHINE.
DampRid does a superb job at what it is designed to do. It absorbs lots of moisture. Unfortunately, it has a serious drawback that will kill your machine much faster than moisture will.

Why? DampRid’s active ingredient is Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) which reacts with two molecules of water (2H2O) and produces heat. The resultant ‘brine’ contains Ca(OH)2 + 2HCl, that is Calcium Hydroxide and Hydrochloric Acid.

The official DampRid Safety Data Sheet states “This material is classified as hazardous under OSHA regulations”. The really serious clue is actually in the Fire Fighting Measures section. “Do not sure water directly on the material. Avoid breathing corrosive vapors; keep upwind.” Guess what, those corrosive vapours come from hydrochloric acid.

So, if you’ve been using DampRid to keep your machinery dry it would be prudent to get it out quickly and dispose of it safely. Call in someone you trust to thoroughly check the machine and circuit boards for corrosion. In all but the most serious cases we are able to recover damaged boards and have them operational again.

Where moisture is likely to be an issue, we recommend placing fresh bags of silica gel in machines to keep it under control. Replace the gel bags and air filters before they become ineffective.

Photo above shows circuit board damaged by fumes from DampRid. Note the green protective solder-mask has flaked off the copper, and the corrosion on the transistor (left side).

Technical Support

+64 9 271 0280

Email Address

info@attwood.nz

Opening Hours

Mon - Fri 8:00am to 5:30pm
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