defcon.klaxon
Lifetime Supporting Member
Hi all,
Had an interesting question sent my way, and thought I'd ask you guys for some input.
New project I'm working on has two ultrasonic liquid level sensors, both are loop powered 4-20mA. Simple enough. My question is, can a single 24V power supply provide power for multiple loops and other gear in the panel (radio, lights, etc) or does each current loop require a dedicated power supply?
I can look at this two ways. First, it would seem that each circuit, whether it's a loop powered circuit or not, is its own "loop". Power supply provides as much current as each loop needs and all is well. But second, while that seems fine ideally is the reality more complicated, and weird things can happen in the real world if they're not isolated? I'm worried about things like voltage drop, but since they're all separate "loops" as long as I spec a power supply with enough wattage, wouldn't that mitigate the issue?
Thanks for any help!
Had an interesting question sent my way, and thought I'd ask you guys for some input.
New project I'm working on has two ultrasonic liquid level sensors, both are loop powered 4-20mA. Simple enough. My question is, can a single 24V power supply provide power for multiple loops and other gear in the panel (radio, lights, etc) or does each current loop require a dedicated power supply?
I can look at this two ways. First, it would seem that each circuit, whether it's a loop powered circuit or not, is its own "loop". Power supply provides as much current as each loop needs and all is well. But second, while that seems fine ideally is the reality more complicated, and weird things can happen in the real world if they're not isolated? I'm worried about things like voltage drop, but since they're all separate "loops" as long as I spec a power supply with enough wattage, wouldn't that mitigate the issue?
Thanks for any help!
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