Chapter 6 - Wiring Techniques: Phase A

Chapter 6 - Wiring Techniques
system. The neutral conductor is typically grounded at the source. If the neutral is
grounded, the portion of the disconnect switch controlling the neutral is not required.
However, if the neutral ground is lost, it would be possible to receive a shock if the neutral
wire were touched. For safety, it is always better to totally disconnect power. Two fuses
are shown, one for hot and one for neutral. Again, if the neutral is grounded the neutral
fuse is not required. However, for the same reason as the disconnect, the second fuse is
desirable since it will protect the system against heavy neutral current that could result if
the ground is lost. Some discussion of the terms hot and neutral may be required here.
Utility power is generally generated as three phase (3N) voltage. This is
accomplished by the wiring scheme in the generator which produces three voltage sources
at a phase angle of 120 from each other. The schematic representation of this type of
generator is shown in Figure 6-2. Notice that the generator has three windings - the
outputs of which are labeled PHASE A, PHASE B and PHASE C. There is also a fourth
terminal on the generator labeled NEUTRAL which is connected to the common connection
of all three phase terminals. For this discussion, assume we are using 120 VAC 3N. If the
generator of Figure 6-2 were producing this voltage, the following voltages would be
present. The voltage from any PHASE (A, B or C) to NEUTRAL would be 120 VAC. The
voltage between any two phases (PHASE A/PHASE B, PHASE B/PHASE C or PHASE
C/PHASE A) would be 208 VAC. The three PHASE leads are referred to as the HOT leads
and the common connection to all three phase windings is referred to as the NEUTRAL
lead. In practice, the NEUTRAL connection is connected to earth ground at the generator.
This is true in residential and commercial buildings with 120 VAC power. The NEUTRAL
wire in the building is connected to earth ground at the panel where power enters the
building. For this reason, if a voltmeter were placed between the NEUTRAL wire and the
safety ground wire in any receptacle, the voltage read would be close to or at 0 VAC.
Phase A
Neutral
Phase C
Phase B
Figure 6-2 - 3-Phase Generator

Schematic
6-3

In some cases, PLCs are operated from DC power instead of AC power. Figure 6-3
illustrates the power connection for a PLC requiring DC power, in this case, 24 VDC.
Figure 6-3 - Typical DC Power Wiring

This wiring also includes fusing and disconnecting for both power conductors. If the (-)
power line is grounded at the source, the (-) disconnect and fuse would not be required.
However, as with the AC power wiring, it is always safer to provide for fusing and
disconnection of both power conductors.
Care must be taken to insure that the wiring is properly connected to avoid damage
to the equipment and to the personnel coming into contact with it. For this reason, in this
chapter, a very simplistic approach will be taken to describe wiring techniques. This may
seem insulting to some readers but the hope is that it will explain the wiring requirements
thoroughly enough to allow all readers to understand the principles associated with properly
connecting the PLC to the system.
To connect power to the PLC, the PLC may be thought of as a lightbulb that needs
to be lit; the two power wires are connected to the two wires of the lightbulb and must be
insulated from each other. In the case of a PLC operating on DC power, it may be thought
of as an LED. For a lightbulb, it doesn't matter which power wire connects to which
lightbulb wire; the light will still light up. This is also true for an AC powered PLC. It
6-4

generally doesn't matter which power wire is connected to the power terminals as long as
both are connected and insulated from each other. In the case of the LED, though, the (+)
and (-) connections must be made to the proper LED wires and insulated from each other
if the LED is to light. The same is true for the DC powered PLC. The difference with the
PLC is that if it is connected wrong, the damage can be very expensive.
6-4.
Input Wiring
The inputs of modern PLCs are generally opto-isolators. An opto-isolator is a device

consisting of a light producing element such as an LED and a light sensing element such
as a phototransistor. When a voltage is applied to the LED, light is produced which strikes
the photo-detector. The photo-detector then provides an output; in the case of a
phototransistor, it saturates. The separation of the sensing and output devices in the optoisolator provide the input to the PLC with a high voltage isolation since the only connection
between the input terminal and the input to the PLC is a light beam. The light producing
element and any current limiting device and protection components determine the input
voltage for the opto-isolator. For instance, an LED with a series current limiting resistor
could be sized to accept 5 VDC, 24 VDC or 120 VDC. To accept an AC signal, two backto-back LED's with a series current limiting resistor are used. The resistor could be sized
to allow the LED to light with 5 VAC, 24 VAC, 120 VAC or 240 VAC or any voltage we
desire. PLC manufacturers offer different models having various input voltage
specifications. The PLC with the input voltage specification is chosen at the time of
purchase.
Figure 6-4 shows two types of opto-isolators which are utilized. The DC unit is
shown in (a) and the AC unit in (b). The wires from the switch or sensor are connected to
the left side of the drawing. The right side of the device is connected internally to the actual
PLC input. Notice that each opto-isolator has a series resistor to limit the device current.
Also notice that the AC unit has back-to-back LED's inside the device so light is produced
on both half cycles of the input voltage.
6-5
Figure 6-4 - Typical PLC Input Circuit
Since the input to the PLC is an LED, we can visualize the wiring of the input by
thinking of it as some type of device controlling a lightbulb and requiring that the input
device lights the lightbulb. The input device may be a switch or some type of on/off sensor
such as a photosensor or proximity sensor, but the problem is always the same; wire the
device so the LED will light when we want the input to be detected as ON. For the DC unit,
you can see that the polarity must be observed for the LED to light. In the case of the AC
unit, since there is a forward biased LED no matter which way current flows, polarity does
not matter. In fact, some manufacturers produce PLC's with AC/DC inputs which are really
the AC unit. When using this type of PLC, the polarity of the input, if it is DC, does not
matter because one of the LED's will light no matter which polarity voltage is applied.
PLC inputs are configured in one of two ways. In some units all inputs are isolated
from each other, that is, there is no common connection between any two inputs. Other
units have one side of each input connected to one common terminal. The PLC utilized
depends on whether the power for all input devices is common or not. The power supply
for the inputs may be either external or internal to the PLC. In low voltage units (24 VDC),
a power supply capable of supplying enough current to turn on all inputs will be internal to
the PLC. If all inputs will be from switches, no other power supply will be required for the
inputs. This internal power supply may not be large enough to also supply any active
sensors (photodetectors or proximity detectors) which may be connected. If not, an
external supply will have to be obtained. The PLC specification will indicate the capacity
of this internal power supply. The internal schematic for the inputs of a PLC having 3 inputs
with common connection is shown in Figure 6-5. One can see that all three opto-isolators
have one wire connected to the same terminal, the INPUT COM. Also, the wire that is
connected to the INPUT COM terminal for each opto-isolator is the negative connection for
6-6

Chapter 6 - Wiring Techniques: Phase A

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Chapter 6 - Wiring Techniques

Figure 6-2 - 3-Phase Generator