928
SECTION
6
Installation
and Start-Up
Industrial Text & Video Company 1-800-752-8398
www.industrialtext.com
CHAPTER
20
PLC Start-Up
and Maintenance
• Remote I/O racks and their auxiliary power supplies are generally
placed inside an enclosure at the remote location, following the same
placement practices as described for local racks.
• Spacing of the controller components (to allow proper heat dissipa-
tion) should adhere to the manufacturer’s specifications for vertical
and horizontal spacing between major components.
Placement of Other Components. In general, other equipment inside the
enclosure should be located away from the controller components, to mini-
mize the effects of noise and heat generated by these devices. The following
list outlines some common practices for locating other equipment inside the
enclosure:
• Incoming line devices, such as isolation and constant voltage trans-
formers, local power disconnects, and surge suppressors, should be
located near the top of the enclosure and beside the power supply. This
placement assumes that the incoming power enters at the top of the
panel. The proper placement of incoming line devices keeps power
wire runs as short as possible, minimizing the transmission of electri-
cal noise to the controller components.
• Magnetic starters, contactors, relays, and other electromechanical
components should be mounted near the top of the enclosure in an area
segregated from the controller components. A good practice is to
place a six-inch barrier between the magnetic area and the controller
area. Typically, magnetic components are adjacent and opposite to
the power supply and incoming line devices.
• If fans or blowers are used to cool the components inside the
enclosure, they should be located close to the heat-generating devices
(generally power supply heat sinks). When using fans, outside air
should not be brought inside the enclosure unless a fabric or other
reliable filter is used. Filtration prevents conductive particles and
other harmful contaminants from entering the enclosure.
Grouping Common I/O Modules. The grouping of I/O modules allows
signal and power lines to be routed properly through the ducts, thus minimiz-
ing crosstalk interference. Following are recommendations concerning the
grouping of I/O modules:
• I/O modules should be segregated into groups, such as AC input
modules, AC output modules, DC input modules, DC output mod-
ules, analog input modules, and analog output modules, whenever
possible.
• If possible, a separate I/O rack should be reserved for common input
or output modules. If this is not possible, then the modules should be