2 - Installation on equipment

2 - Installation on equipment

Disclaimers
  1. The current transformer (CT) clamp must be plugged into the smart sensor before clamping to a live conductor. A clamp over a live conductor with its jack connector unplugged entails a risk of electrical shock and could damage the clamp.
  2. Before installing, ensure the targeted cable does not conduct a current larger than 100 A in the equipment's steady state. However, the IIoT device is designed to withstand the large but very brief inrush current associated with inductive loads (e.g. AC motor). It can therefore be safely installed on such equipment.
  3. The smart sensor box must be installed free of metallic obstructions (i.e. out of electrical panels) to ensure proper Wi-Fi connectivity

Installation

The clamp must be installed around a single conductor cable powering the equipment to be monitored.

Ideally, the clamp is installed in an electrical panel, where cables are accessible separately. Unless installing on a complex equipment with several distinct loads, the clamp can simply be installed on a phase of the main power supply. Otherwise, to prevent convoluted data from a complex equipment to lead to wrong states in ALIX, the clamp may be installed on a cable that supplies the main load to be monitored (e.g. a CNC's spindle motor).

If installation in a panel or junction box is not possible, an adaptor cable in which conductors are separated can be installed between the equipment's power cable and the wall outlet, so that the clamp can be installed to a single conductor on the adaptor.


Examples

Welding machine


  1. The electrode and clamp cables can conduct direct current (DC) depending on the application. Moreover, this current often greatly surpasses 100 A.
  2. The power cable that is plugged in a wall outlet contains both power conductors as well as a ground conductor. The current measured by a clamp on this cable would be null, as magnetic fields from the two conductors cancel each other out.
  3. In the junction box connected to the outlet, separate conductors are accessible, the clamp can be installed on one of them.

Testing installation for a complex application (CNC)

When installing on a complex equipment with several distinct loads, it is recommended to perform a temporary "prototype" installation, prior to a more permanent setup. This allows easier testing of different clamp locations and viewing live readings in ALIX as the equipment performs a work cycle, in order to choose the optimal location for the desired application.

The following example shows such a prototype installation on a CNC, where the clamp was installed on one of the main supply phases. In this specific application, even though the equipment is complex, the magnitude of current increase observed when the tool was making contact with the work piece was easily distinguishable from other states. There was therefore no need to install the clamp elsewhere and the final installation was performed at this location.



    • Related Articles

    • How to add equipment

      Summary Equipment can represent any machine or tool used in the manufacturing process. Their creation is essential to manage their maintenance and obtain data on their performance. They can be inserted into a value stream. Adding Equipment Go to ...

    • How to install a Dymo printer with Dymo Connect

      Important: Please ensure that the Dymo printer and/or Dymo Label software and Connect are not installed on this computer before you begin the procedure. For the uninstall procedure: ...

    • How to plan the steps for a card

      Summary The Steps tab in a card is used to plan labor time, equipment time, equipment used and steps will be made when passing the card through the value stream. Plan the Steps Go to Planning -> Projects. Select a project, click on Cards at the top ...

    • Installing procedure for Zebra printers

      Installation and Configuration Once your Zebra printer is connected to your computer and the ribbons and labels have been installed, Open the following link https://www.zebra.com/us/en/support-downloads/printer-software/printer-setup-utilities.html ...

    • 3 - Configuration and monitoring in ALIX

      Equipement / IIoT device association Once connected to Wi-Fi, the IIoT device must be associated with an existing equipment in ALIX. Within the selected equipment's interface, in the IIoT configuration section (Figure 1 : 1), select the device from ...