Resolving Drive-CLiQ Cable Lead Times: 6FX8002 Specs, X100–X103 Pinout, and Approved Substitutes

Drive-CLiQ is the internal point-to-point serial bus that connects a SINAMICS S120 control unit, Motor Modules, Line Modules, encoders, Terminal Modules, and the SIMATIC Drive Controller. When a single pre-fabricated signal cable is on backorder, the entire machine commissioning slips. This reference consolidates the cable catalog identifiers that appear on Siemens ordering data, the physical-layer pinout of the RJ45-style DRIVE-CLiQ connector (including the 24 V encoder supply contacts), the inside/outside-cabinet cable classes, the documented lead-time situation, the field-validated substitutes, and the warranty exposure that self-construction creates.

1. DRIVE-CLiQ Physical Layer and Topology

DRIVE-CLiQ is a proprietary Siemens protocol but uses a 100 Mbit/s Ethernet-style physical layer (100BASE-TX-style signalling) over twisted-pair copper. Each DRIVE-CLiQ node is a switched point-to-point port: a controller port, a Motor Module port, a Sensor Module port, or a Terminal Module port. There is no bus termination in the classical sense — every DRIVE-CLiQ link is a dedicated run from one RJ45-style socket to another.

Because the 24 V supply is delivered through the same connector body as the data pairs, the DRIVE-CLiQ plug is mechanically larger than a standard RJ45. The 8 data contacts follow the standard RJ45 pin assignments; the 2 extra contacts on the rear of the plug body are the +24 V and 0 V encoder power feed.

2. The 6FX Cable Catalog: How to Decode Siemens Ordering Data

Siemens groups DRIVE-CLiQ signal cables under the 6FX prefix, with the trailing characters defining the cable class, length, and connector style. Three families are in active service:

The example part number 6FX8002-2DC10-1BJ0 shown in the field report decodes as:

• 6FX8002 — MOTION CONNECT 800 family, DRIVE-CLiQ signal cable.
• 2DC — basic cable code for DRIVE-CLiQ with 24 V power contacts.
• 10 — length code, where the last two digits before the dash indicate the length in metres multiplied by a family-specific factor (consult Siemens Motion Connect Catalog for the exact key).
• 1BJ0 — connector / outlet style: 1 = both ends DRIVE-CLiQ, BJ0 = degree of protection, IP20 / IP67 connector exit, and outlet direction. Always confirm the trailing four characters against the current Siemens PM 21.2 / NC 62 catalog before ordering.

3. DRIVE-CLiQ Connector Pinout

The connector on a DRIVE-CLiQ port looks like a standard RJ45 jack at the data side, but the plug body carries two extra spring contacts that mate with pads on the device. The 10-contact pinout is:

Two practical consequences for the field engineer:

1. The 24 V is delivered through the DRIVE-CLiQ cable, not via a separate encoder power lead. The Sensor Module SMC, SME, or SMR connected to the far end of the cable receives its 24 V supply through these two rear contacts. If those contacts are missing, the encoder module will report F3xxx faults at power-up.
2. The cable carries four data pairs' worth of copper even though only two pairs are active. Spare pairs are not used, and a standard shielded Cat 5e patch cable that is missing the 24 V contacts will not power a Sensor Module.

4. Inside-the-Cabinet vs Outside-the-Cabinet Cable Classes

The Siemens documentation distinguishes two physical environments, and the cable class is selected per environment — using an outside-the-cabinet cable inside the cabinet wastes money, while routing a static cable on a robot axis destroys it in days.

The reference URL in the additional research — the SIMATIC Drive Controller device manual — confirms that the DRIVE-CLiQ interfaces X100 to X103 are RJ45 sockets that accept the standard DRIVE-CLiQ plug and that the cable type for cabinet-internal runs is the DRIVE-CLiQ standard cable, while external runs use MOTION CONNECT. See the official device-specific information page in the SIMATIC S7-1500 / ET 200MP Manual Collection (Drive-CLiQ interfaces X100–X103).

5. Lead-Time Landscape and Sourcing Strategy

• The 6FX2 family (inside-the-cabinet static leads) was deliverable again at the time of the discussion.
• The 6FX5 (MOTION CONNECT 500) and 6FX8 (MOTION CONNECT 800) families were on allocation, with a forecast normalisation around mid-August.

For a machine builder with a hard commissioning date, the recommended escalation path is:

1. Open a Siemens Siplus / Industry Mall inquiry with the exact 6FX…-… article number, quantity, and required-on-site date. Request a written commitment date.
2. Ask the Siemens sales engineer to confirm whether the part is on allocation, on the substitution list, or available from a regional DC.
3. Request a quotation for an equivalent cable from the Motion Connect Cross-Reference tool — Siemens will identify a functionally identical cable in a different family if one exists.
4. If the lead time still exceeds the project window, escalate through the Siemens regional office. Industrial cable shortages are usually lifted region-by-region.

6. Field-Validated Substitutes

Two substitutes appear repeatedly in field reports as drop-in replacements for a missing 6FX8002-… lead when an original lead is genuinely unavailable.

6.1 Siemens 6XV1850-2HN10 (Industrial Ethernet FC Trailing Cable)

Part number 6XV1850-2HN10 is a Siemens catalog item in the SIMATIC NET industrial Ethernet cable range. It is a Cat 5e / Class D trailing cable, double-shielded, suitable for drag-chain use, and the field report reports that it has been used as a DRIVE-CLiQ substitute on multiple commissioning jobs without issue.

Critical caveats when using 6XV1850-2HN10 in place of a 6FX8002-… lead:

• It carries only the four data pairs. It does not have the 24 V supply contacts integrated into the connector body. If the far end of the run terminates in a Sensor Module that needs bus-powered 24 V, you must provide the 24 V through a separate power feed — typically the Sensor Module's external 24 V terminals.
• Both ends must be re-terminated with standard industrial RJ45 plugs (not the DRIVE-CLiQ 10-contact body). Use only IP67 / M12 or industrial RJ45 plugs rated for the environment.
• Verify the length. The maximum allowed length is governed by the slowest device on the segment; 100 m is the typical ceiling for 100 Mbit/s signalling, but Siemens DRIVE-CLiQ often de-rates to 30–100 m depending on the family of cable in the run.

6.2 Cross-Over Ethernet Patch Leads

Field engineers have also used standard Cat 5e cross-over (Xover) Ethernet patch leads as a temporary DRIVE-CLiQ link. Because DRIVE-CLiQ uses a point-to-point link with one TX pair and one RX pair, the cross-over wiring (T568A on one end, T568B on the other, or the modern auto-cross equivalent) is electrically acceptable for the data pairs.

This option is temporary. Treat a self-built or cross-over patch as a commissioning bridge only. Replace it with a proper 6FX8002-… or 6FX5002-… lead before production hand-over, both to recover the 24 V supply to the Sensor Module and to restore the drag-chain and torsion ratings required by the axis mechanics.

7. Self-Construction: Wiring, Risks, and Warranty Exposure

The field report raises a recurring question — "what plugs do you use?" — and an answer that should govern every subsequent decision. The DRIVE-CLiQ plug body with the two extra 24 V spring contacts is a proprietary Siemens part; it is not a generic RJ45 plug. Self-construction of a DRIVE-CLiQ lead therefore requires:

1. Obtaining the correct 6FX8002 connector kit (or approved equivalent) — these are sold as repair parts through Siemens (e.g. 6FX2003-1AA00-family connector repair sets for inside-cabinet applications, and corresponding 6FX8002-family repair sets for the trailing / robot cables). Confirm the exact repair-set article number for the cable family in use.
2. Assembling with the specified crimp tool, observing the pair twist, the shielding termination (360° backshell bond), and the strain-relief geometry of the trailing cable family.
3. Testing every assembly for continuity, short, and shield isolation on a cable tester before energising any drive equipment.

Documented failure modes for self-constructed DRIVE-CLiQ leads (drawn from the field report):

• Sporadic faults: intermittent communication errors that only appear after hours of operation. These are the worst class of fault because they survive factory acceptance testing and only manifest in production.
• Encoder power faults: if the 24 V rear contacts are not sprung correctly, the connected Sensor Module loses power, the drive reports F3xxx encoder faults, and the axis trips on first motion.
• Shield degradation: incorrect backshell termination introduces common-mode noise on the 100 Mbit/s signalling, which surfaces as CRC errors and timeouts at the controller.

8. DRIVE-CLiQ Interfaces X100–X103 on the SIMATIC Drive Controller

The SIMATIC Drive Controller (a SIMATIC S7-1500 form-factor CPU that integrates a SINAMICS S120 control unit) exposes four DRIVE-CLiQ ports labelled X100, X101, X102, and X103. According to the device manual referenced in the additional research:

• All four ports are 8P8C (RJ45-style) sockets with the additional 24 V supply contacts.
• Inside the cabinet, use DRIVE-CLiQ standard cables.
• Outside the cabinet, use MOTION CONNECT cables.

For the full device-specific wiring diagram and permissible cable lengths on each port, refer to the SIMATIC S7-1500 / ET 200MP Manual Collection — DRIVE-CLiQ interfaces X100 to X103 page. The page is a "device-specific information" article under the SIMATIC Drive Controller section of the manual collection; it lists the cabinet-internal and cabinet-external cable classes explicitly and is the authoritative reference for pinout and topology on the controller ports.

8.1 X100–X103 Typical Connection Layout

Always confirm the port assignment against the SINAMICS S120 topology rules in the relevant firmware manual — assigning a Line Module to a port that the topology expects to host a Motor Module is a common commissioning error.

9. Cabling Rules: Length Limits, Topology, Shielding, and Grounding

Three rules dominate DRIVE-CLiQ cabling and should be enforced at the cabinet layout stage, not at commissioning.

9.1 Length Limits

Length limits are absolute. Exceeding them is a hard fault in commissioning; the drive will report F08501 "DRIVE-CLiQ communications error" regardless of how clean the data pairs are.

9.2 Topology Rules

DRIVE-CLiQ supports two physical topologies:

• Direct point-to-point: each Motor Module, Line Module, Sensor Module, and Terminal Module is connected directly to a port on the control unit (or on a Hub). This is the default for a 1-axis or 2-axis machine.
• Hub-based fan-out: a DRIVE-CLiQ Hub Module (DMC20 or the DME20 Active Hub) is inserted on a port, and additional modules are connected to the hub's downstream ports. This is the standard topology for machines with more than six DRIVE-CLiQ nodes per control unit port count.

DRIVE-CLiQ is not an Ethernet bus. It cannot be wired with a passive splitter, an unmanaged Ethernet switch, or a generic media converter. Attempting to introduce a non-approved device in the chain is the most common source of "it works for 20 minutes then drops out" reports.

9.3 Shielding and Grounding

Both ends of the DRIVE-CLiQ cable shield must be bonded to the cabinet ground or machine ground at 360° around the connector backshell. A "pigtail" shield connection (single wire from the braid to ground) is a documented cause of EMC failures and intermittent communication drops. The MOTION CONNECT 800 backshells are designed to deliver 360° bonding when crimped with the specified tool; do not improvise with a cable gland.

10. Commissioning Verification Procedure

After every DRIVE-CLiQ cable is installed, before powering the drive section, run this verification sequence. Each step is a single check that takes seconds and avoids the multi-day fault-hunt of a bad cable in production.

1. Visual inspection: confirm that each connector is keyed correctly, that the 24 V rear contacts are visible and sprung, that the backshell is fully tightened, and that the cable is supported within the manufacturer's bend radius (typically 5× the cable diameter for static, 10× for trailing).
2. Continuity test: with the cable disconnected at both ends, test every pin to every other pin (open), every pin to shield (open), and every pin to its expected mate at the far end (continuity). Standard cable testers cover this.
3. Shield isolation: confirm that the shield is isolated from the data pairs and the 24 V conductors at 500 V DC on a megohmmeter (typical pass: > 100 MΩ).
4. Power-up: apply control voltage to the cabinet. Check the SINAMICS S120 / SIMATIC Drive Controller diagnostics buffer for any F08501, F08502, or F3xxxx fault. A clean power-up is the first indicator that the DRIVE-CLiQ ring is healthy.
5. Topology detection: in Startdrive or SINAMICS Starter, run the automatic topology detection. The detected component list must match the as-built BOM. A missing component here is a hard indicator of a wiring or address error.
6. Encoder test: rotate the motor by hand or via a slow jog, and confirm that the encoder position increments monotonically in the trace. Any glitches indicate intermittent DRIVE-CLiQ communication.
7. Bump test: jog each axis through its full travel on the actual machine. Watch the SINAMICS trace for CRC errors. A good cable shows zero errors over a 30-minute run.

11. Troubleshooting Matrix

12. Field-Proven Sourcing Checklist

Use this list at the procurement stage of any project that will rely on DRIVE-CLiQ leads. Each item is a known root cause of a commissioning slip.

• Confirm every DRIVE-CLiQ cable on the BOM with the exact 6FX…-… article number, including the trailing four characters for connector style and outlet direction.
• Verify each cable against the cabinet layout: is it inside-the-cabinet (DRIVE-CLiQ standard / 6FX2003), light-flex (6FX5002), or trailing / robot (6FX8002)?
• Order one spare of every critical DRIVE-CLiQ cable. A single spare 6FX8002-… lead costs less than one day of project delay.
• If a lead time exceeds four weeks, open a substitution inquiry with Siemens before considering a self-construction or 6XV1850-2HN10 patch.
• Document the serial number of every installed DRIVE-CLiQ cable in the as-built drawing. If a warranty claim is ever opened, the original cable is the first thing the manufacturer will ask for.
• Train the wiring team on the DRIVE-CLiQ connector geometry. A standard RJ45 crimp destroys the 24 V rear contacts and produces a fault that looks like a Sensor Module failure at first glance.