GE-FanucIC600BF942BFour-Channel Analog Output Module, Bipolar −10 V to +10 V DC, Series Six Rack Mount

Product Description

What this part is

A four-channel analogue output module for the GE Fanuc Series Six programmable controller family, providing a bipolar −10 V to +10 V DC voltage output on each of its four channels. It plugs into a Series Six I/O rack and converts register values from the CPU into real analogue voltages for field devices.

Module tier and manufacturer of record

The IC600BF942 is catalogued as the Series Six −10 V DC to +10 V DC analogue output module, four channels. This is an analogue card, not a discrete on/off output card switching AC or DC loads. Its immediate sibling, the IC600BF943, is the 4–20 mA current-output version at the same four channels. A machine parts list specifying BF943 is asking for loop current where this card sources voltage, so the two are different cards for different field devices.

IC600-prefix hardware is GE Fanuc Automation product — the GE–Fanuc automation joint venture whose line later became GE Intelligent Platforms and then Emerson. Both GE and GE Fanuc are legitimate search terms for it, and both appear on this page, but GE Fanuc is the correct manufacturer of record.

Why bipolar ±10 V matters more than the channel count:
A unipolar 0–10 V output can only command magnitude. A bipolar −10 V to +10 V output can command magnitude and direction from a single wire pair, because the sign of the voltage carries the direction. That is exactly what a classic analogue-reference variable-speed drive or a servo velocity input expects: positive volts forward, negative volts reverse, zero volts stopped.

The consequence for a buyer: a machine that reverses under analogue command needs the bipolar card, and no amount of scaling in the ladder will make a 0–10 V or 4–20 mA card do the job. Where all four loads are unidirectional 4–20 mA instruments, the BF943 is the matching card. Read the field device first, then pick the module.

Published data

Module type: analogue output, Series Six.

Channels: 4.

Output range: −10 V DC to +10 V DC (bipolar voltage).

Platform: GE Fanuc Series Six / Series Six Plus programmable controller.

Approximate module weight: 0.74 lb, as published by one distributor for the base IC600BF942.

Full electrical performance data for this module is specified in the GE Fanuc Series Six datasheets manual GEK-25367, which is the authority for the wiring diagram and terminal map. Emerson still distributes Series Six documentation.

Rack and revision notes

The B suffix is a revision level, not a functional variant. The base number IC600BF942 is what most dealers and plant systems list against, and revisions in this family are generally interchangeable within a slot. That is a market observation rather than a documented statement from GE, so the suffix is worth checking against a parts list on a critical application.

Series Six analogue modules are addressed through register references rather than discrete I/O points, so adding this card consumes register space and requires the rack configuration to be updated. It occupies a standard Series Six I/O slot.

Quantity and configuration

One module, supplied as board and faceplate. The field wiring, terminal board or harness, the I/O rack, the rack power supply and the CPU are each separate items. Series Six racks and backplanes are sold separately and are themselves scarce.

Interchange and obsolescence guidance

Search forms include IC600BF942B, IC600BF942, IC600-BF-942-B, IC600 BF 942 B, IC600BF94 and IC600BF9. Related Series Six modules: IC600BF943 (4–20 mA analogue output, four channels, a current-loop card rather than a voltage card), and the Series Six CMOS logic memory modules IC600CM542 (2K), IC600CM544 (4K) and IC600CM548 (8K) which sit in the same racks.

Series Six is fully obsolete with no factory replacement; it was retired long before the Emerson acquisition of GE Intelligent Platforms. Ownership trail: GE Fanuc Automation to GE Intelligent Platforms to Emerson. Reman modules and board-level repair remain commercially available, and for a plant still running Series Six that is normally cheaper than a migration to a modern platform, which is why single cards from this family still change hands at these prices.