Controller with fan motoring and control

An industrial automation controller includes a housing with a forced convection chamber. First and second fans are releasably connected to the housing and are adapted to induce airflow through the forced convection chamber. The first and second fans are each connected to the housing by respective first and second latch systems that each include a primary latch and a secondary latch. The secondary latch imposes a time delay during removal and replacement of a fan to facilitate hot swapping of the fan with a replacement fan. A make-last/break-first contact system is provided for each fan such that the fan is shutdown in a controlled manner prior to removal of the fan from the housing. The controller monitors internal temperature and fan speed. The controller initiates, logs, and reports fault conditions based upon the monitored temperature and/or fan speed. The controller is shut down if the monitored temperature exceeds a select temperature level.