Planning And Application; Current Detection - ABB i-bus SA/S 2.6.2.1 Product Manual

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ABB i-bus KNX

Planning and application

4 Planning and application
In this section you will find some tips and application examples for practical use of ABB i-bus
Actuators.
4.1

Current detection

The current detection feature opens many new fields of application for the Switch Actuators. The following
list contains a few examples:
• Load current detection (from 20 mA)
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Detection of significant equipment failure
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Preventative detection of failures by continuous current monitoring
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Recording actual operating hours
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Signaling of maintenance and service work
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Detection of open circuits
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Recording switch operations per period
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Energy and load management
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Monitoring and signaling
Please note
Only load currents with a sine wave characteristic can be detected correctly. For other signal types, e.g.
phase angle or inverse phase angle control signals, the detected current value is distorted. In this case,
the measured value is meaningless.
Current values less than 20 mA are indicated as a 0 mA value via KNX. For small load currents that are
just above the minimum detection threshold of 20 mA a value of 0 mA could be displayed due to
inaccuracies even though a current is flowing.
The current detection and monitoring function should not be used for safety-related applications. The
Switch Actuator cannot assume the function of a circuit-breaker or RCD (earth-leakage circuit breaker).
If the load current detection is used for equipment fault detection that only causes a slight change of
less than 30 mA, then mains voltage and current fluctuations due to ambient influences, e.g.
temperature and natural ageing of the device play a significant role. Even when current changes are
detected by the Switch Actuator, the detected changes do not necessarily mean that a device has
malfunctioned.
Below are some current detection application examples described in more detail.
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Switch
SA/S | 2CDC 505 056 D0208 141