Pressure Sensor Failure from Spikes or Overload

How to Avoid Damage to

Pressure Sensors from Overload
and Spikes
March 26, 2015 | by Instrument Guru | Article, FAQs, Guidelines, In The News,
Knowledge, Products | No Comments

Despite the fact that pressure sensors are

available in many different pressure ranges
today, most pressure sensors failures in the
field can be traced to overpressure. Data
shows that over 50% of pressure sensors
that fail in the field have been subjected to
pressure well above the safe operating limit
resulting in shifted and drifting zero
signals, destroyed sensor elements or even
burst diaphragms.
To prevent pressures sensor failure from pressure spikes and overload,
the instrumentation engineer has to choose between:
1. a) Selecting a pressures sensor with a sufficiently high pressure
range to make sure it never, ever gets overloaded, and;
2. b) Selecting a pressure range small enough to give sufficiently
high signal levels and accuracy.

Selecting a Pressure Sensor

Measuring Range
Besides selecting the brand, model and accuracy (a detailed discussion
of which can be found in: Introduction to Pressure Measurement and
Interpreting Accuracy and Error), the selection of an appropriate
measuring range of a pressure sensor is one of the most important
steps in the purchasing process.
First and foremost it is important to understand that any pressure
sensor faces permanent damage if the pressure rises above the safe
operating pressure. Even slight or very short exposure to a pressure
above this level can lead to permanent and irreversible damage,
typically seen as a shifted zero signal. Furthermore, this is true even if
the pressure sensor is not on, as the sensor is still susceptible to

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Pressure Sensor Failure from Spikes or Overload

overload.
When selecting the pressure range of a particular sensor the typical
question is: What is the maximum operating pressure in the system? If
the answer is 2650 psi, a typical choice would be a 3000 psi sensor.
That sensor may easily have a safe overpressure rating of 2-3 times,
e.g. 6000 9000 psi. Sound safe? Absolutely. Can this sensor fail due
to overload? Absolutely!
A number of situations in fluid power systems can damage pressure
sensors. For example:
1. Water Hammer, i.e. highly dynamic pressures spikes caused by
fast closing valves when fluid is flowing;
2. Cavitation, either caused by pumps or sudden pressure drops;
3. Micro Diesel effect, i.e. explosion of tiny bubbles in the fluid with a
sudden rise in pressure;
4. Mechanical impact from outside on hydraulic cylinders, e.g. an
excavator bucket hitting a rock in full movement, or swing, or a
fork lift dropping the fork and hitting the floor;
5. Certain service conditions, e.g. overpressure testing of systems
during manufacturing or installation;
6. Extreme conditions during transit;
7. Extreme conditions when the system is shut off, e.g. pressure
rising in a refrigeration system when shut-off and temperature
rises on the roof top in the full sun with no cooling;
8. Inadvertently swapping the low pressure sensor (600psi) to the
high pressure (6000psi) side of a hydraulic system during
installation or service.
Keeping the above in mind, deciding on the right pressure range for a
sensor is a classical engineering dilemma: the rated pressure range
needs to be large enough to make sure the sensor is not damaged but
also small enough to get a sufficiently high signal and avoid
compromises in resolution and accuracy.
The first and most important step in making a decision is to understand
how the pressure range of a sensor is defined and how this is applied
to a particular situation.

Pressure Range Values

When looking at the data sheets of different manufacturers, you will
typically find three different values regarding the pressure range:
1. Rated pressure range (or operating/nominal pressure range)

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Pressure Sensor Failure from Spikes or Overload

2. Over pressure range (or safe operating pressure range, maximum

safe pressure range)
3. Burst pressure (or maximum permissible pressure)
The graph below shows how these three important values relate to each
other:

The most important facts to understand are:

Within the rated pressure range, the sensor can typically be used for a
virtually unlimited or at least a very large number of load cycles
(typically >10 million and often > 100 million) without any degradation
and with no effect on the specified accuracy or durability.
Once you leave the rated pressure range, the effects for a specific
application need to be carefully evaluated in regard to the exact
definition of each manufacturer for a particular model. On the other
hand, if you choose a pressure range that is too large for safety,
accuracy and resolution may be impacted. If your application requires
accurate measurements of only a fraction of the rated pressure range of
the device, you need to carefully evaluate your needs and the best
device for the job. WIKA is here to help you with all of your
instrumentation needs. Please contact us if you want to learn more
about selecting the right pressure range for your pressure transmitters
or if you have any questions about our products.
Contributing Blogger: Eugen Gassmann
Eugen Gassmann has more than 20 years of experience in the sales
and marketing of industrial sensors, instrumentation solutions and
automation systems. Gassmann, who wrote the book Electronic
Pressure Measurement, regularly speaks at industry conferences about
product management for industrial products in the B2B world. He has a
degree in electronics from the University of Applied Science in

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Pressure Sensor Failure from Spikes or Overload

Karlsruhe, Germany. He hasworked for other global organizations,

including Philips Electronics and Sartorius.

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