Wire (4-Wire) Analog Input Devices | Basic Automation

Connecting standard 4-wire analog input devices is usually straight-forward. They connect directly to the dual level terminal blocks in the control panel. The bottom row contains the positive DC reference wire connection on the left, and the negative DC reference wire connection on the right (for both power circuit and signal circuit). The top row (on the left) is the input signal to the PLC that is the status of the input device.

Below is a typical flow meter field device wiring diagram.  There are a wide variety of field sensors available on the market.  Wiring is usually/can be polarity sensitive.  Refer to the manufacturer’s installation instructions for specific wiring diagrams per your application.  Use twisted-shielded cabling whenever possible, grounding only one end of the shield to earth ground.

*Note – Inputs 0 – 3 can be used for analog inputs. Be sure to scale the analog input correctly in the programming according to the linear scale as shown above to the right.  In this case, 0VDC (0 digital) would equal 0 GPM and 10 vdc (1023 digital) would equal 20GPM in the PLC logic.