A motor starter, PLC, VFD, power supply, or circuit breaker may have several technically acceptable options. That does not mean those options are interchangeable from the customer’s point of view. A plant that has standardized on one product family may already stock replacements, own the programming software and train technicians. On another project, the customer…
Even if a PLC is programmed correctly, the panel can still be difficult to maintain if the power architecture is wrong. Power distribution inside an industrial control panel is what takes incoming power and distributes it into protected circuits for motors, drives, transformers, power supplies, and other loads. The design makes faults manageable and keeps…
Every industrial control panel installed under the National Electrical Code has to have a Short Circuit Current Rating. The rating shows up on the UL label as an SCCR number. The panel builder is responsible for calculating it correctly. This article walks through what SCCR actually is, how it gets calculated, and what to do…
