SIMATIC HMI TP1500 Comfort 15-inch Touch Panel ATEX/IECEx Zone 2/22 (6AV2124-0QC02-0AX2) CAN Electric — Industrial Automation Parts Supplier

This is the second order code of the 15-inch SIMATIC HMI TP1500 Comfort. The hardware is the standard Comfort panel of that size: 15.4-inch widescreen TFT at 1280 × 800, 24 MB of configuration memory, Windows Embedded Compact 2013, PROFINET with an integrated switch plus a separate MPI/PROFIBUS DP port, two SD slots, and a 396 × 291 mm cut-out. What makes this page different from the original 0AX1 code is not the specification — it is how the part is supplied, what its temperature ceiling is, and which certificates are on its nameplate.

The code that keeps the 15-inch panel obtainable

Siemens states the reason for the revision plainly: to secure the long-term spare-parts supply of the 15-inch Comfort panel, the device was revised and given a new article number, released for delivery from March 2023. Function, housing and installation dimensions are unchanged, and Siemens describes the two codes as spare-part compatible — a 0AX2 unit goes into an existing 396 × 291 mm cut-out and takes the existing project without mechanical or software rework.

That matters because of where this size is in its life. The 15- to 22-inch Comfort panels moved to PM400 (phase-out announced) on 1 October 2024 — earlier than the 4- to 12-inch sizes — and the Siemens product-status field for this order number shows EOP 2024-10-01, end of production. In other words, the panel is no longer being built. Everything supplied now comes from remaining production stock and the spare-parts channel. That is exactly the scenario the 0AX2 revision was created for, and it is why we confirm availability per order rather than quoting from a stock figure.

Same panel, one number lower on the thermometer

The single hard difference between the two codes is the ambient temperature ceiling: the 0AX1 is rated to 50 °C in vertical mounting (55 °C with restrictions), the 0AX2 to 45 °C, aligned with the 19- to 22-inch Comfort panels. Everything else — resolution, memory, interfaces, cut-out, power draw, weight class — is the same. If your enclosure runs above 45 °C at the panel intake, the 0AX2 is not the right part and you need the 0AX1; above 50 °C neither variant is rated, and the answer is cabinet cooling, not a different panel.

And it is the hazardous-area route

The Comfort Panels carry an Ex approval, and this order number is the one whose certificate set is documented to include IECEx and ATEX alongside the standard industrial approvals. The marking is II 3 G Ex nA IIC Tx Gc for gas and II 3 D Ex tc IIIC T 70 °C Dc IP65 for dust, certified under DEKRA 11ATEX0005X. Read the section below before you specify it for a hazardous area — the category digit 3 is the part that decides whether your installation is covered, and it is the part most buyers misread.

Buyers who order a TP1500 Comfort regularly receive a carton labelled 0AX2 when their purchase order said 0AX1, and assume something went wrong. Nothing did. The two codes are the same device at two points in its production life, and the ordering routes differ:

The practical reading: the 0AX1 was never a freely orderable catalogue part — Siemens lists it as a special sales release, ordered in consultation with the regional sales organisation. The 0AX2 is the normally orderable code for the same device. So when a distributor offers you a 15-inch TP1500 today, it is very likely the 0AX2, and that is compliant rather than suspicious. What you should check is the two things that genuinely differ: the temperature ceiling and the marking on the nameplate. We quote either code — tell us your cabinet ambient temperature and whether a hazardous-area certificate is required, and we will confirm which code is being supplied.

This is the section to read if the panel is going anywhere near a classified area, because the difference between a compliant installation and a non-compliant one is a single digit in the marking. Per the Siemens Comfort Panels operating instructions, the approval is:

What “3 G” rules out

The 3 in II 3 G is the equipment category, and it maps to Zone 2 — an area where a flammable atmosphere is not expected during normal operation. It does not cover Zone 1 or Zone 0, and the North American equivalent Division 1 is likewise excluded (only Division 2 is approved). This is the single most common misunderstanding when a 15-inch Comfort panel is proposed for a hazardous area: “it has ATEX” is not the same as “it can go anywhere in the Ex zone drawing”. If your area is Zone 1, this device is not the answer regardless of the certificate.

Why the T-class is not a fixed number

The gas marking reads Ex nA IIC Tx, and Siemens annotates the x explicitly: “Temperature values, see EC design examination certificate.” There is no single T-class printed on the datasheet, because the permitted surface temperature depends on the ambient temperature of your installation. Two consequences follow. First, the T-class for your application comes from the certificate and the ambient you specify, not from a distributor’s summary table. Second, this is why the 45 °C ceiling of the 0AX2 matters twice over — it is both an operating limit and an input to the temperature class. Do not size the panel for an ambient you have not measured.

The nameplate is the authority, and the certificate is the document

Because the approval is documented per device, the binding evidence is the Ex marking stamped on the nameplate of the unit you actually receive, together with certificate DEKRA 11ATEX0005 X. Siemens points users to FAQ 291285 for the conditions of use of HMI devices in hazardous areas; among other requirements, plugged connectors must be secured so they cannot work loose. The rear of this panel is IP20, so the installation behind the front plate is part of the assessment — the Ex approval covers the device as installed, not a bare panel lying on a bench.

Please treat this page as an introduction, not as the certificate. For a hazardous-area installation, obtain the certificate and the current operating instructions, and have the installation reviewed by whoever signs off your Ex documentation. We can supply the order number with the ex-relevant documentation referenced on the quote; we do not issue Ex assessments.

Five kelvin is the entire difference between the two codes, and it is the difference that decides which one you may install. The failure mode is not dramatic — the panel simply runs outside its specification, which voids the warranty and, in an Ex installation, invalidates the basis of the certification. So measure before you order:

• Measure at the panel intake — the air entering the enclosure near the cut-out — not the room temperature and not the temperature on the cabinet wall.
• Measure at full load on the hottest day, with the enclosure closed and all drives running. A cabinet measured in winter tells you nothing about July.
• Add the internal rise of the panel itself: this device dissipates a typical 41 W, which is roughly twice a 12-inch Comfort panel. In a sealed enclosure that heat is part of the ambient the panel sees.
• Check the orientation you actually intend, because the limit drops from 45 °C to 40 °C in portrait mounting or at the maximum 35° tilt.

There is a purchasing dimension to this as well. Because the 15-inch size has ended production, the variant that is actually available may be the one your cabinet cannot take. If your measurement lands between 45 °C and 50 °C, say so in the enquiry: that single number decides whether we can supply this code at all, and asking for “a TP1500 Comfort” without it is how a project ends up with the wrong variant on site.

Values per the Siemens technical data for 6AV2124-0QC02-0AX2. Distributors quote weights between 5.40 and 5.58 kg depending on whether packaging is included — confirm the shipping weight on the quote. Verify the cut-out, recess depth and supply against the current data sheet before machining the enclosure door.

This is the operational detail that catches people out, and it is deliberate on Siemens’ part: the 0AX2 does not exist as a separate entry in the TIA Portal hardware catalogue. You configure the device as 6AV2124-0QC02-0AX1 — the original code — and the same configuration downloads to either unit. A 0AX2 arriving on site is therefore not a commissioning problem, provided the engineer knows this before opening the project.

Downloading to the panel

• PROFINET — the normal route, via either of the two Industrial Ethernet ports.
• MPI / PROFIBUS DP — for plants still running the older network, on the RS-422/485 port.
• USB file transfer — for a panel that is not yet on the network; use the USB-A host port with a stick.
• The Mini USB port is not used for project transfer on this device — that is a service port, and engineers who expect the Mini-B route from an older panel waste time on it.

Replacing a failed unit

Mechanically and electrically the swap is direct: the same 396 × 291 mm cut-out, the same 73.2 mm recess, the same 24 V DC feed at 1.7 A. Retain the existing SD card if the project and archives live on it, and check that the replacement is mounted in the same orientation — because if the original failed in a cabinet that runs at 46 °C, an 0AX2 replacement is outside its rating and the actual fault may be the enclosure rather than the panel.

The thing a replacement does not solve is the platform question. The successor 6AV2128-3QB06-0AX1 is a Unified Comfort device engineered in WinCC Unified, not WinCC Comfort, so the HMI project has to be migrated rather than copied. For a machine that is still in production with a Comfort project, keeping it on the 6AV2124 hardware is the lower-risk path while stock lasts; for a new design, the migration is better planned deliberately than forced later. Siemens provides the Data2Unified add-in and a Modernization Checker to support that conversion.

Related reading on this site: the 12-inch TP1200 Comfort if the 15-inch is physically too large, and the TP1200 Comfort PRO if the panel must be mounted outside an enclosure on a support arm or pedestal.

Engineering requires the TIA Portal with WinCC Comfort V14 SP1 and the HSP, with the device selected as the 0AX1 code. Comfort Panels are not configured with WinCC Basic and not with WinCC Unified — different engineering systems, so a project cannot be moved between them without rework. Over PROFINET, MPI or PROFIBUS DP the panel couples to SIMATIC S7-1200, S7-1500 and S7-300/400 controllers, and Modbus TCP/IP plus EtherNet/IP cover third-party PLCs and drives.

Typical uses

• Replacing a failed 15-inch TP1500 where the existing cut-out, wiring and project must be retained.
• Machines in Zone 2 or Zone 22 that need a panel certified for the area without a second enclosure.
• Cabinet-mounted operator stations that must reach a PROFINET controller and a legacy PROFIBUS segment from one panel.
• Plants standardising on one 15-inch HMI across several lines, where a single spare part must serve them all.

How to order

• Send the order number 6AV2124-0QC02-0AX2 and the delivery country to sales@can-electric.com.
• State the measured cabinet ambient temperature — above 45 °C this code is out of rating and the 0AX1 is required.
• State whether a hazardous-area certificate is needed, so we confirm the Ex marking with the unit.
• State the condition you need (new, new-surplus or refurbished) — condition and stock state are written on the quote.
• Availability is confirmed per order; this size has ended production, so lead time depends on the stock situation at the time of enquiry. Prices are quoted in USD.