Helloall,

Istartedtheloopcheckingwithmasource&multimetersinceIdon'thaveHARTcommunicatorand
pressurecalibrator.IconnectedthePT,masourceandmultimeterinseriestoDCS.Iadjustedthecurrent
frommasourcebutIgotthereadingerraticreadinginDCS.ShallIconnecttheTXinserieswithma
sourcetoDCSforloopchecking.WhatwillhappenifIconnectmasourceparalleltoTX.IneithercaseI
amgivingexternalsupply.Pleaseguideme.

Oklet'sdosomeloopcheckswithoutaHARTcommunicator.
YoucanuseamAsourcetodothefollowing.
1)
TesttheloopforcontinuityfromthetransmittertotheDCS.Thismeansdisconnectingthetwowiresfrom
thetransmitterandconnectthemAsourcedirectlytothesetwowiresandsimulate4to20mAtotheDCS.
YouthencontacttheCCRandaskthemiftheyreceivewhatyousimulate.Ifitispressuretheyshould
receivewhateverthecalibrationofthetransmitterisonthepressurefaceplateintheCCR.Youhavetwo
settingsonthemAsource,"SinkandSource".Icanalsosometimesforgetonwhatthesettingshouldbeso
try"sink"firstthenswitchoverto"source"ifCCRsaidtheycannotseeanychange.YourmAsource
shouldhaveadisplayonitbutyoucanalsoconnectamultimeterinseriestoconfirmwhatthemAisthat
youaresendingtotheCCR.
2)
Thenextstepafterstep"1"shouldbe:
Toreconnectthetwowirestothetransmitteranduseapressurepumptopumpthetransmitteruptoits
fullcalibratedpressure.Inthiscaseconnectamultimeterinseriesonthenegativeoutputwiretoseewhat
themAisthatyousendtotheCCR.AgaincontacttheCCRtoconfirmtheyseewhateverpressureyou
havepumpedtoontheCCRfaceplate.ThemAsourceisnotusedinthistest.Oncethistestissuccessful
theloopcheckonthetransmitteriscomplete.
3)
ThenextthingyoucandowithamAsource:
Youcansimulatethe4to20mAtoacontrolvalve.Youcandothisatthecontrolvalveitselfbyagain
disconnectingthetwowiretothepositionerandconnectthemAsourcewherethetwowireswas
connected.AgainyoucanconnectamultimeterinseriesaswelltoconfirmthemAyousendtothe
positioner.Strokecheckandcalibratethevalveandthepostionerinthismannerinthefield.
4)
Ifyouhaveafeedbackpositioneronthevalveyoucanagaindisconnectthetwowirestothefeedback
positionerandconnectthemAsourcedirectlytothetwowiresandsimulatetheloopbysendingthe4to
20mAtotheCCRandaskthemtoconfirmthevalues.Againthenextstepistoreconnectthewiresand
asktheCCRtodoastrokecheckfromtheCCRonthecontrolvalveandtoseeiftheyreceivethecorrect
feedback.Iftheymanuallysendacommandof30%valveopeningtheymustreceivea30%valveposition
feedback.IfnotreconnectyoumAsourceandrecalibratethepositionerorfeedbackpositionerandtest
againfromtheCCR.OncethetestfromtheCCRissuccessfultheloopcheckonthevalveiscomplete.
Thisbasicmethodofloopcheckingappliestopressure,level,temp,flowanddensityandallcontrolvalves.
Loopcheckingaon/offvalveisassimpleasaskingtheCCRtoopenandcloseitfromtheCCR.Ifitdoes
notworkcheckthesolenoidvalves.ObviouslyworkingwiththeHARTismucheasierbutlikeyousaid
youdon'thaveaHARTsodoingitthiswayisfineandthewayweusetodoitbeforeHARTandSMART.
Ifyouhavetwoorfourwireinstrumentsyoumighthavetoswitchbetweensinkorsourcetogetit
working,can'trememberwhichbuteitheroneofthetwosettingwillwork.

NB!!
Don'tforgettoswitchovertheredleadofthemultimeterwhenyoumeasuremA.
Reply to this post...

Sam,
Iwaslookingthroughyourloopcheckdetails;coupleofthingshere,plcorrectmeifimwrong:
item#3loopcheckingacontrolvalveshouldnotrequireamAsource..amultimetershouldbeenough.
setthevalveoutputinDCSandverifythemAinthefieldwiththemultimeterinseries.valvecanbe
strokedsimultaneouslyifthereisenoughinstair.
item#1sourcingorsinkingamAsourcedependsontheDCSI/Omoduleitself.wehavefewthatdont
providelooppowerisolatedmodulesforanumberofreasons.sourcingthemASwouldbeneededinthis
case.inallothercasesitwouldbesinking.
pleasenoteimonlyspeakingfor2wirefieldinstrumentsthtarelooppowered.
Ashwini

Hithere,
Yesyouareprobablyrightaboutthesinkingandsourcing,IcanneverrememberwhichiswhichsoIjust
trysinkingfirstandifitdoesnotworkswitchovertosourcing,eithertheoneortheothernormallyworks
butyesyoushouldknowwhatiswhatandnotlikemethatneverbotheredtotryandremember.
AboutthemAsourceusagewithacontrolvalve,whatIhavedescribediscorrectandthewayitisdoneon
avalvewithanyEMpositioneron.YoucannotdoastrokecheckfromtheCCRunlessyouhavetested
andcalibratedthevalveandFBpositionerfirstatthevalve.YoucannotasktheCCRtokeeponopening
andclosingthevalvefromtheCCRwhileyoucalibrateinthefield.SettingthevalveupwiththemA
sourceandsimulatethesignalsfirstwillhavetheresultthatyouonlyhavetobotherCCRoncethe
calibrationisdoneforonlyonequickstrokecheckfromtheCCR.Theyhaveotherjobsaswell,especially
duringfirstcommissioningoftheplant.
WithSMARTpositionersitiseasiesttoleavethepowerontothepositioneranddoaautocal.Sowith
SMARTpostionersthereisnoneedforthemAsourceunlessyouwanttostrokecheckityourselfatthe
valvefirstbeforecontactingCCRforthefinaltesting.Sometimeshelpfulifyouareunsureiftheautocal
wassuccessfulornotorwhenyoudosomefaultfindingduetoastickingorbindingproblemonthevalve.
TalkingontheradioandaskingtheCCRtoopenandcloseforthenexthalfandhourwhileyoutryandset
thevalveuporfindafaultisunprofessionalandnotthewaytodoit.Solvingtheproblemsandgetit
workingproperlyfirstwiththemAsourcelocallyandthenonlycontactCCRforonefinalstrokecheckis
thewaytodoit.

Thxsfortheresponse.IthinkIseewhatyouaresaying.Wedostrokeandperformautocalibrateonvalves
(allnewonescomewithsmartpositioners)intheshopandthenonceallischecked,valveistakenoutto
thefieldforinstallation.
Whenreadytocommission,it'sstrokedagainfromDCSforafinalloopcheck.Iwasn'tsuggestingusing
DCSforafullvalvecalibrationcheck.wouldn'tdreamofit:)
Ashwini

HowtodoloopcheckingwithHARTandSMARTforpressuretransmitter?
ConnectaHARTfieldcommunicatortothedevice,andcommandthedevicetogenerate4/8/12/16/20mA
andmakesurethereadinginthesystemis0/25/50/75/100%

DearFriend,
ItiswrongtoconnectthemAsource(calibrator)parallelwithPressureTransmitterTX.Inthiscasethe
calibratorwillnotworkandwillgiveyouerrormessage.Whatyouneedexactly?
1Ifyouneedtosimulate420mAsignaltosendittoDCSYouhavetodisconnectthewiresfromtheTX
andconnectthiswirestotheloopcalibratorandgenerateoutputsignal(420)mAfromcalibratortoDCS.
2IfyouneedtotesttheTxsignalwithDCSThenyouhavetodisconnecttheTxfromprocessandapplya
pressurestepstotheTXWhileyouconnectthemultimeterinserieswiththeTXtochecktheTXoutputif
itisvaryingwithpressureappliedbyhandpump.
3IfyouneedtochecktheTxitselfyouhavetoremoveitfromprocesstoworkshopandmakecalibration
checkbyapplyingreferencepressureaccordingtocalibrationrangeoftheTXandadjusttheTXoutput(4
20)mAasperthepressurerangeapplied.