Hi Guys, per the AB7900 spec sheet it says that the two EtherCAT slave devices have galvanic isolation. Our customer is concerned that this might not provide adequate isolation between our system and their system. They are asking that we go with a competitor’s device that provides 500V isolation between the two bus sides. Do you have any additional information that I could provide to them that might ease their minds?
Hello,
Is there a particular specification they are looking for?
From our spec sheet I see we have a surge protection ± 1kV and Fast Transients ± 1kV.
Deryck
Hi Deryck, Thanks for your help. Correct me if you think I am way off base here, but whether those items apply here depends on how the testing was performed. Typically the EN 61000-4-4 and EN 61000-4-5 transient and surge testing are performed to see if the device under test works reliably when subjected to those things. If the testing was performed while other devices were attached to the upper and lower ports, and those other items were also monitored to ensure that they worked reliably, then maybe they would apply? However, question that that level of testing would have been performed as the results might be dependent upon the differences between devices that could have been attached.
The customer hasn’t mentioned what type of specification they are looking for. As an example, AC-DC power supplies have Withstand Voltage (e.g., I/P-O/P:3KVAC) and Isolation Current (e.g., I/P-O/P, I/P-FG, O/P-FG:>100M Ohms / 500VDC). Maybe they want some kind of spec like that? Now, I understand that is different because that is a required isolation to protect the generated safe low voltages (<50VDC) from the input voltage (e.g., >100VAC). In the case of the Anybus it is assumed that both sides will only be operating with safe low voltages for EtherCAT bus to function correctly.
It is because of that last statement that I am not personally concerned. I just thought I’d ask if there was any other data you could provide me. I’ll try throwing your recommendation to the customer and see if that satisfies them.
Hello @Nathaniel,
I don’t have any additional info on how the testes were performed. I’m not sure what standards would apply here. As you mention you are typically not expecting high voltage on an ethernet network.
Deryck