XIAC Museum — 2009 — The first TC-8 upgrade install (Sydney)
A live production weekend changeover on a King TC-8 tablet counter. Bench-proven logic, practical fabrication, and one very real moment of cold feet — followed by a machine that went straight back into production on Monday morning.
The story
The first upgrade I ever installed was at a customer’s site in Sydney, on a King TC-8 tablet counter. I’d been designing and bench-testing the replacement electronics for months — close to half a year.
Around Christmas, the moment finally arrived. The plan was simple on paper: install over the weekend, with Saturday as the main window and Sunday as a fallback if things went sideways. By Monday morning the machine had to be back in full production.
This wasn’t a test machine. It was still running daily production at the time — just increasingly unreliable.
On Saturday morning, with production halted and the machine opened up, I was ready to remove the original electronics when it hit me: what on earth are you doing? Was I really about to rip out a proven OEM system and replace it with hardware that had only ever seen a workbench?
That was the moment of cold feet — adrenaline mixed with doubt — knowing that once I crossed that line, there was no graceful way back.
I decided to proceed.
Sixteen years later, looking back, it’s obvious that decision paid off. But standing there that Saturday morning, it felt like jumping off a cliff and hoping the wings would unfold on the way down.
Outcome: weekend changeover completed; the machine returned to full production by Monday morning.
Independent timestamp
The photos don’t carry a date stamp, but the upgrade was documented in a short promotional video uploaded to YouTube at the time.
Open on YouTube: youtu.be/7bmjfFXjMfE
Before
Before the upgrade. The TC-8 in production — working, but increasingly unreliable.
After
After the upgrade. Same machine, same job — different nervous system.
Proof rigs & preparation
Counting protocol proof rig. Two Mitsubishi PLCs: one as the future controller, one generating deterministic count pulses. Both counters had to match — always.
Vibrator drive testing. A light bulb for immediate visual feedback, plus a small bowl vibrator as a real load.
Fabrication & serviceability
Rear panel, made to fit. Laser-cut stainless cover plate mounted into the enclosure after cutting the original panel. Clear hand labelling beats cosmetics when Monday morning matters.
The drawing sent to the laser cutter. Outlines in Microsoft Paint, dimensions added by hand. Clear, accurate, and it worked.
The moment of cold feet
On site. Boxes open, enclosure open, laptop out — the pause before the irreversible step: removing the original electronics.
Final bench setup
Last calm photo before installation day. Full system assembled and behaving exactly as intended (CD tower included).
Evolution into the XIAC CIB (Blackbox Counter)
The TC-8 upgrade would later evolve into the XIAC CIB (Blackbox Counter) — a modular control system that can also be supplied for use in newly built tablet counters.
The CIB is delivered as a complete, proven core system, including a matched set of XIAC tablet detection sensors. It controls vibrator behaviour, counting protocol, separator flaps, and synchronisation with an external PLC — all derived directly from upgrade systems proven in the field.
Where required, the CIB can be supplied with Hybrid Counting capability, allowing manufacturers to benefit from a refined, production-ready implementation without needing to develop the counting strategy themselves.
Machine manufacturers remain responsible for the surrounding machine functions — such as bottle indexing, bottle rejection, track sensing, and the HMI — and are free to implement these in any way that suits their overall machine design.