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.



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