How does adding a 250-ohm resistor make HART work?

blog.lesman.com/2011/10/06/add250-ohm-resistors-to-make-hart-work/

October 6, 2011

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Sometimes
there’s a
problem getting a loop powered HART instrument Repair or replace? Which should I do? »
to communicate when it’s on the benchtop, but it
communicated fine when wired in the field. Why is that? It’s probably because when it’s on
the test bench, the loop doesn’ t have enough resistance for the HART signal to be ‘seen’ by
the HART handheld or HART modem.

In a bench test situation, power is applied to the transmitter, so it fires up and runs fine.
But there’s no analog input in the loop as there is when the transmitter is wired in the field.
What’s missing is the dropping resistor on the analog input that supplies the loop
resistance needed for the HART signal to develop.

4-20mA loops transmit the signal as electrical current (milliamps), but the receiver device
with the analog input ‘reads’ the signal as a voltage, whether the signal to be read is analog
or HART. The current signal becomes a voltage drop when the current passes through a
resistor (Ohms Law).

The HART signal is a 1200 baud signal superimposed on the loop’s 4-20mA DC
signal. 1200 baud is a relatively high frequency signal compared to the 4-20mA DC current
signal.

Some minimum loop impedance is needed so that the HART signal can be ‘seen’ or ‘read’
by a HART master, like a HART communicator or HART modem. The analog inputs on the
receiver device (DCS, PLC, RTU, PAC, controller, recorder, or indicator) have a precision
shunt resistor installed at each analog input. It is usually 250 ohms, but not always.

The voltage (IR) drop needed for HART communications is produced by the resistance at
the loop receiver’s analog input. The loop’s wire resistance contributes very
little resistance. When a transmitter is powered up with just a DC power supply there isn’t
enough voltage from the 1200 baud HART signal for the for the HART master (handheld
communicator or a HART modem) to ‘see’ the signal. The internal resistance of a DC
power supply is insufficient to develop a HART voltage drop, and its filter capacitors act as
a low pass filter to squelch the relatively high frequency 1200 baud HART signal.

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In the absence of a receiver device with its analog input resistance being part of the loop,
there is insufficient loop resistance for a HART master device to ‘see’ the FSK HART signal
and HART communications fails.

The good news is that a resistor can be inserted into the loop and the HART signal will
develop a voltage drop and the HART master can ‘see’ the HART signal.

The HART Foundation’s website has a technical specification that states that the minimum
loop resistance needed is 230 ohms. A 250 ohm resistor is commonly used because 250
ohm resistors work for that purpose and are typically available in the instrument shops
where these types of bench tests are done. The resistor need not be a precision resistor.

Connect a 250 ohm resistor with alligator clips, like this one, to a wiring terminal and a loose wire in a loop circuit to
test HART communications at the benchtop.

HART handheld communicators (275/375/475, Meriam 5150) usually have a pair of banana
jacks on the handheld for the purpose of connecting a plug adapter with a 249 or 250 ohm
resistor to provide the needed loop resistance. If a HART communicator or HART modem
fails to establish communications, it is advisable to insert a 250 ohm resistor in series in
the loop (or use the banana plug adapter with a communicator).

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This entry was posted on October 6, 2011, 4:46 pm and is filed under Communications, Configuration, HART,
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