Blog
We publish rarely and only when there is something to say about how the market or the marketplace works.
- 01
Replacing a failed HMI: same model, successor or another make
When an operator panel fails, the project file decides the route. What a replacement HMI must match, and how the same model, a successor and another make compare.
3 min readSparehawk
MaintenanceObsolescenceMigration - 02
Heidenhain encoder spares: the model name is not enough
An LS, LC, ERN or EQN on the label names a family, not a part. Why the ID number, the measuring length or line count and the interface decide whether a spare fits, and what Heidenhain says about successors.
3 min readSparehawk
MaintenancePart numbers - 03
IP ratings on a replacement part: IP20 to IP69K explained
What the two digits of an IP code mean, why IP67 does not include IP65, how IP compares with NEMA types, and what a replacement part must match.
3 min readSparehawk
MaintenanceCertifications - 04
When the line is down, the lowest quote is rarely the cheapest
On a stopped line, the price of the part is the smallest number in play. Why we compare urgent quotes on time to fitted part first, and price second.
3 min readSparehawk
RFQsLead timeIncoterms - 05
Rexroth Indramat spares: DKC, DIAX and MKD drives and motors
Indramat became part of Bosch Rexroth in 2001, and its drives are still in service on machines from the 1990s and 2000s. How the old families map to the names on the rating plates, what the -FW suffix means, and what to check before buying a spare.
3 min readSparehawk
DrivesObsolescenceMaintenance - 06
ISO 15552, ISO 6432 or ISO 21287: swapping a pneumatic cylinder
Which ISO standard a pneumatic cylinder follows decides whether another maker’s cylinder fits. What each standard fixes, what it leaves open, and how to order.
3 min readSparehawk
MaintenancePart numbers - 07
How to request a part when you do not know the brand
A number without a maker is hard to quote. How to find out who made a part, what to describe when you cannot, and where to send the request.
3 min readSparehawk
RFQsSourcingPart numbers - 08
Bearing designations: what 6205-2RS C3 and its suffixes mean
6205-2RS C3, decoded: the basic number, shields and seals, clearance classes and cage codes, and where SKF, FAG and NSK write the same thing differently.
4 min readSparehawk
Part numbersMaintenance - 09
Siemens 1FK7 servo motors: matching a spare to the machine
Two 1FK7 motors with the same frame size can differ in encoder, brake and shaft. What the article number carries, why the encoder decides whether the drive will talk to it, and where 1FK6, 1FT6 and SIMODRIVE fit in.
3 min readSparehawk
SiemensDrivesPart numbers - 10
Reading an ABB ACS355 type code before you order a spare
ACS355-03E-05A6-4 already says what a replacement has to match. Each block of the type code explained, from the EMC filter letter to the +B063 option.
3 min readSparehawk
DrivesPart numbers - 11
Reading a Fanuc A06B number before you order a spare
A06B covers Fanuc’s servo and spindle motors and amplifiers. How to tell a motor number from an amplifier number, which suffixes matter, and what to save before the swap.
3 min readSparehawk
Part numbersDrivesMaintenance - 12
Yaskawa Sigma servos: telling generations apart by model number
Sigma-II, Sigma-III, Sigma-5 and Sigma-7 amplifiers and motors look alike in a cabinet. The model number says which one you have, and that decides whether a spare, an adapter or a migration is the right fix.
3 min readSparehawk
DrivesObsolescenceMigration - 13
Encoder terms you need to order a replacement
TTL or HTL, line count, hollow shaft, reference mark: the values that have to match when an incremental encoder such as a Heidenhain ERN 420 fails.
3 min readSparehawk
MaintenancePart numbers - 14
Danfoss VLT 2800 failed: same drive, repair or FC 280
A VLT 2805 that stops on an older machine leaves three choices. What each one means in work on site, and what to copy off the old drive first.
3 min readSparehawk
DrivesObsolescenceMigration - 15
Mitsubishi MR-J2S and MR-J3: keeping discontinued servos running
Both series are out of production and out of factory repair. What Mitsubishi recommends instead, when a like-for-like spare is still the better choice, and what to check before you buy one.
3 min readSparehawk
DrivesObsolescenceMigration - 16
Repair or replace a failed drive? Start with why it failed
Before you choose between a repair, an exchange unit and a replacement, find out what killed the drive. Otherwise the next one fails the same way.
3 min readSparehawk
DrivesMaintenanceObsolescence - 17
CPU 1214C variants: DC/DC/DC, AC/DC/RLY or DC/DC/RLY
6ES7214 is the start of three different CPUs. How to tell DC/DC/DC, AC/DC/RLY and DC/DC/RLY apart, and what changes if you fit the wrong one.
3 min readSparehawk
SiemensPLCPart numbers - 18
Safety component: what the term means for a spare part
The Machinery Directive defines a safety component by four conditions. What that means when you replace a light curtain, a safety relay or a contactor in a safety circuit.
3 min readSparehawk
SafetyCertifications - 19
When a part number search finds nothing: six checks
A search that returns nothing usually fails on the number, not on the market. Six checks to run before you give up, from the rating plate to a wanted request.
3 min readSparehawk
Part numbersSourcingRFQs - 20
The principles this marketplace runs on
Six rules we hold ourselves to about ranking, advertising, data, disputes and what we will never do with a supplier’s stock list.
4 min readMykola Piatkov
PrinciplesMarketplaceTrust - 21
Sparehawk is live
Why we built a marketplace for spare parts of every kind of equipment, what works today, and what is deliberately not here yet.
4 min readMykola Piatkov
LaunchMarketplace - 22
Why prices are open here
The case against the login wall in industrial parts, what we lose by publishing prices, and why we think open prices bring suppliers more requests.
4 min readMykola Piatkov
PricingMarketplacePrinciples