A factory in Brazil used Acrel wireless temperature products to watch the contacts inside its distribution switchgear. The page below documents how this type of installation is put together, and which device data was confirmed against the manual.
Why a factory monitors switchgear contacts
In a production plant the failure mode is not usually an overload on a healthy joint; it is a joint that has loosened over years of thermal cycling. Contact resistance rises, the joint runs hot, and the first evidence is a trip during a busy shift. Infrared surveys only find the joint when a technician is allowed near live parts, so temperature that matters is measured between surveys, not during them.
How the system is arranged
Sensor to platform: PT100 and ATE wireless sensors feed ARTM-8, ARTM-Pn, ASD320, ATC600 and ATP007 units, which reach Acrel-2000T or the web/APP server over TCP/IP.
- A wireless sensor is fitted on each contact or busbar joint that needs watching. Because it is battery or take-power wireless, no cable crosses the live compartment.
- An ATC600 receiver inside the panel collects the channels and passes them out over RS485 with Modbus-RTU. An ATC600-Z booster extends the radio path where panels are metal boxes in a row.
- A gateway carries the same registers to the monitoring platform, where alarm limits are set per channel and every event is time-stamped.
- Where an operator needs a reading at the panel, a local display unit shows each channel on the door.
Confirmed device data
ATC600 series wireless transceiver
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Wireless frequency | 433 MHz or 470 MHz |
| Communication distance | 150 m in open field at 470 MHz; 50 m for the 433 MHz sensor set |
| Power source | AC 85-265 V, DC 100-300 V or DC 12-48 V |
| Backward communication | RS485, Modbus-RTU |
| Mounting | Inside the LV or MV switchgear panel |
| Matching sensors | ATE400, ATE100, ATE100M, ATE100P, ATE200, ATE200P, ATE210S, AHE100, ACE100 |
What we needed from the site
The same four questions apply to any factory retrofit: how many panels, what voltage class, how many contacts per panel, and whether the readings are wanted locally, on a platform, or both. With those answers we can size the sensor set, choose receiver or booster, and issue the wiring diagram and register list.
Related products: ATC600 wireless transceiver · ARTM-8 temperature controller
Post time: Jun-21-2023
