Friday, 6 November 2015

Why most of analog o/p devices having o/p range 4 to 20 mA and not 0 to 20 mA?

Why most of analog o/p devices having o/p range 4 to 20 mA and not 0 to 20 mA?
§  4-20 mA is a standard range used to indicate measured values for any process. The reason that 4ma is chosen instead of 0 mA is for fail safe operation.
§  For example: A pressure instrument gives output 4mA to indicate 0 psi  up to 20 mA to indicate 100 psi or full scale. Due to any problem in instrument (i.e) broken wire, its output reduces to 0 mA. So if range is 0-20 mA then we can differentiate whether it is due to broken wire or due to 0 psi.

§  In a digital input, voltage between 1-5V is considered as ON and voltage less than 1V are considered as OFF.  A/D converters and display devices are also working in the 5V range. So 250ohm resistor across the 4-20mA circuit will give a voltage of 1-5V.

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