Expansion Cards

[BeanAnimal]

Don't have my P4 or Dosers / KH Director yet... but have some expansion questions.

Will have
P4 (Mega)
KH Director
Doser 2.1 (KHD - makeup water)
Doser 2.1 (4 part dosing)
PAB connected Power Bar (may not use.. see below)

I see the base unit has (built in)
S ports 1-8
L ports 1-6

With the KH Director and (2) Doser 2.1 units, are ANY of these ports reserved. The documentation under the "dosing" setting was unclear but appears to mention ports L1-4 being assigned to the doser if it is used? Did I read that wrong?

Reason for asking:
I have my own control system (Hand Off Automatic switches and indicator lamps) controlled by relay logic. Let's call it 16 opto-isolated relays that drive 16 120V receptacles. I want to control these relays with the P4. I clearly need Expansion cards. But do I only need (2) PLM-2L4S or will I need (4) of them (ugh Expansion Box 2 also?)

That brings me to my last question:
Why in the world is there no PLM-8S card (2 S ports on one card)? I assume maybe the pinout doesn't allow it but it would be nice.

 

[Lasse]

Don't have my P4 or Dosers / KH Director yet... but have some expansion questions.

Will have
P4 (Mega)
KH Director
Doser 2.1 (KHD - makeup water)
Doser 2.1 (4 part dosing)

Chose the normal P4 - not the 4e. 4e have no S ports

PAB connected Power Bar (may not use.. see below)

I see the base unit has (built in)
S ports 1-8
L ports 1-6

Profilux is mostly build in order to be backwards compatible. The S ports was the first interface (bus) that was used for power bars - this type

In this case - id you use the old powerbar S1-4 is the first 4 switches and S5-8 is the 5- 8 switches in this table

It will be the same if you use the break out box - If you use the left RJ12 connection for S1-4 and the right RJ12 for S5-8 - you will be able to control 8 of your 16 relays. Just knit the wanted function to one of the Switch channels in the software..

Now - because the ports and program switches is fixed in the software (you can´t freely adress the ports to switch channels as you can with ports that use the PAB interface) - I do not know whats happens if you add an extension card with more S ports to the P4 (PLM 2L4S) - It can probably take switch channels 9-12 in the program or you are able to configure at least the start channel in the system menu. Maybe @Gaël knows. However - if you use a expansion box 2 (that´s not have any S ports) and an PLM 2L4S (higher FW than 2.07) - you can adress the first physical port to the programs switch channel. the other 3 will follow in a row. I do not either know if you can have 2 PLM 2L4S cards in the main unit or in the expansion2 box

With the KH Director and (2) Doser 2.1 units, are ANY of these ports reserved. The documentation under the "dosing" setting was unclear but appears to mention ports L1-4 being assigned to the doser if it is used? Did I read that wrong?

With the Doser 2.x - there is no need for any use of S ports - they use the PAB bus. The old Doser 1 need the S ports in digital mode. But in your case - the S ports is available. P4 can have up to 32 dosing pump heads and up to 64 switch channels using the PAB bus

Reason for asking:
I have my own control system (Hand Off Automatic switches and indicator lamps) controlled by relay logic. Let's call it 16 opto-isolated relays that drive 16 120V receptacles. I want to control these relays with the P4. I clearly need Expansion cards. But do I only need (2) PLM-2L4S or will I need (4) of them (ugh Expansion Box 2 also?)

See answer earlier - the expansion box 2 does not have any S ports by themselves.

That brings me to my last question:
Why in the world is there no PLM-8S card (2 S ports on one card)? I assume maybe the pinout doesn't allow it but it would be nice.

Another way to go is to skip your old relay logic and get the power hubs. Basically - it is what you already have but they work with the PAB bus. If you get 3 - you will have 18 relay that is electrical isolated from each other - I.e you van switch 24 V DC in one relay and 120 V AC in another. Here is my cabinet - using power hubs

Sincerely Lasse

 

[BeanAnimal]

I did order the P4

I am not clear the difference (software control limitations) between the S? and PAB addressed relays as far as what functions that they can be assigned to. I guess I will figure it out when my controller gets here.

Thank you for clarifying the difference between the OLD doser and new as it relates to the instruction manual (not very well written to be honest) and Sports vs PAB.

Sadly (aside from cost) the Powerhubs are not available and I am told it could be that way for a long time.

I wish to continue using my control panel. It is not an option NOT to use it. Simple explanation. Wife and tank sitters have no clue how to turn things on and off if needed or in emergency. HOA switches allow that. It is a classic industrial control scheme. It was also a fun project

Here is how it is laid out:

-The control panel has fed by as many as (3) branch circuits from my electric panel. This was done to allow critical equipment to be on different main circuit breakers, which here in the Unites States will end up eventually needing to be Arc Fault and prone to nuisance trips. Currently all (3) power inputs to my panel are bridged to a single main circuit breaker (3 is overkill for the size of my system and component count).

The power INTO the control panel is split into (6) GFCI units, each of those is split into (3) individual low amperage circuit breakers and associated scr or phsyical relay.

This means that EACH piece of equipment has its own small beaker, control relay and indicator lamp indicating its status and mode. The HOA switches allow the device panel to override the controller and by turning the device ON or OFF - or allowing the controller to manage it if the switch is in the AUTOMATIC position.

So as I mentioned above, this allows anybody to override the controller for any device, with a simple switch instead of having to fiddle around in the software. It also allows me to bypass one or more controlled functions if I am having a problem or the controller fails, etc.

 

[Lasse]

Thank you for clarifying the difference between the OLD doser and new as it relates to the instruction manual (not very well written to be honest) and Sports vs PAB.

The manual says this - my bold

3.2.2 Powerbar Connection (ProfiLux 4 only) The control cable of the powerbars (STDL4-4, Powerbar 6D) is connected to the Red RJ12 Western sockets S1-S4 and S5-S8 (from left to right). Our first generation GHL Dosing pump unit (Doser with black housing and blue clips) can also be connected to this socket.

Here in Europe - I know people still running this older doser that´s was developed for the P3 series. GHL have done this backwards compatible, hence you can still use the old dosing pumps with P4

Sincerely Lasse