GE-FanucIC600CM544A4K CMOS Logic Memory Module, Battery-Backed — Series Six Model 600 / 6000, BATTERY and PARITY LEDs, No Battery Supplied

Product Description

What this part is

A GE Fanuc IC600CM544A, the 4K CMOS logic memory module for the Series Six programmable logic controller. This is the card that holds the user program — the ladder logic — and the register memory for the controller. It is catalogued specifically for use in the Model 600 or Model 6000 Series Six PLCs.

Because the memory is CMOS and battery-backed, register memory is retained after a power failure or a deliberate power-down. That is the defining behaviour of the card and it is why the module carries a battery status indicator.

Where it sits in the Series Six memory range:
GE Fanuc offered the same card in three capacities, and the only difference between them is how much program they hold.

IC600CM542: 2K CMOS logic memory.

IC600CM544: 4K CMOS logic memory (this module), for Model 600 or 6000.

IC600CM548: 8K CMOS logic memory, for Model 600 or 6000.

The practical consequence is straightforward: a larger card will hold a smaller program, but a 4K card will not hold a program written for an 8K machine. A ladder developed on a CM548 exceeds the capacity of this module.

Published data

Type: CMOS logic memory module, battery-backed.

Capacity: 4K.

Platform: GE Fanuc Series Six, Model 600 or Model 6000.

Functional levels: usable with the basic, extended, advanced and other functional levels.

Construction: two-tier circuit board.

Indicators: BATTERY and PARITY status LEDs.

Retention: register memory retained through a power failure or power-down, by battery backup.

The authority for the electrical data is the GE Fanuc Series Six PLC Datasheets Manual, GEK-25367, which Emerson still distributes.

The battery is the part that will let you down:
This deserves its own heading because it is the single most common failure on a battery-backed memory card, and it is entirely avoidable.

The backup battery is a separate consumable. On a card that has spent years in storage, any battery physically present is long flat and may have leaked — alkaline and lithium cells both damage PCBs and connectors when they vent, and the damage is often invisible until the card is powered.

The two LEDs on the faceplate are the diagnostic. BATTERY warns that backup is failing; when backup finally goes, the program is lost. PARITY indicates a memory data error; a parity fault on a card that has just been fitted usually means the program load did not complete or the card is faulty, and a parity fault that appears in service on a previously good card usually means the memory has started to fail.

The corollary, worth saying to anyone buying a spare: a memory card is not a backup. The ladder program should be archived independently.

Quantity and configuration

Module only, sold individually. The backup battery, the Series Six CPU rack and backplane, the CPU, the rack power supply, programming device and software, and the user ladder program are each separate items.

Interchange guidance

Search forms include IC600CM544A, IC600CM544, IC600-CM-544-A, IC600-CM-544, IC600 CM 544 A, IC600CM54 and IC600CM5. Related Series Six modules: IC600CM542 (2K), IC600CM548 (8K), and the IC600BF942 four-channel analogue output card that shares the same racks. The A suffix is a revision level; match the base number first.

Series Six is fully obsolete with no factory replacement, retired well before Emerson acquired GE Intelligent Platforms. Ownership trail: GE Fanuc Automation → GE Intelligent Platforms → Emerson. Reman modules and board-level repair remain available, and for a plant still running Series Six that is normally far cheaper than migrating the control.