Applications Note

For two wire circuits:

Extended Field Wiring Total capacitance = capacitance core to core +
Introduction capacitance core to screen.

The standard maximum cable run for Bently Nevada C total = C core −to −core + C core −to − screen
transducers is 305 meters. In some cases the end
For three wire circuits:
user has found this to be inconvenient and are
interested in running field wiring extended distances Total capacitance = 2 X capacitance core to core +
to suit their needs. The key issues with extended field capacitance core to screen.
wiring are specific capacitance limits for hazardous
C total = 2 * C core−to −core + C core−to − screen
areas and frequency response degradation.
The goal is to determine the total capacitive load for a
given length of cable. To find this, multiply the cable
Cable Capacitance capacitance per unit length by the total cable length. You
Resistance, capacitance and inductance all affect the must take this capacitance into account when
frequency response of the cable, but capacitance will considering the hazardous area and signal integrity
usually be the first to cause problems. Before studying issues.
the core issues, note the following aspects that may Bently Nevada Cable:
affect the total capacitance. In addition, installations
into classified areas usually limit the capacitive load Bently Nevada has field wiring cable available. The note
allowed. In either case, the total cable capacitance below shows the respective capacitance per unit length
must be calculated and evaluated against the of these cables.
pertinent limits.
BN PN Description
The total cable capacitance depends on the number
of conductors in the circuit and cable and the length 02173006 18 AWG two conductor cable. Cable
of the cable. capacitance is 98 pF/meter
02120015 18 AWG three conductor cable. Cable
Number of Conductors: capacitance is 289 pF/meter
In most cases, field wiring can have two or three
wires, depending upon the type of transducer
being used. Specific installations often run field wiring cable with
lower capacitance than that offered by BN to mitigate
Specifications: long field wire lengths. This is successful when end users
The relevant values for field wiring analysis are apply proper engineering practices to quantify the
the cable capacitance per unit length and the performance.
total capacitive load. The data sheet typically lists
cable capacitance per unit length. If you cannot
find this value you can usually calculate it from Applications
other datasheet values as explained below.
Certain applications are known to generate high
Total Capacitance: frequency signals. Some common high and low
frequency applications are noted below.
High Frequency Applications:
Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 1 of 8
 Gearboxes, Turbine Blade Pass, Roller Element Frequency response is 0 – 10 kHz. Note Graph 1 for
Bearing signatures, Turbo Expanders. frequency vs. capacitive load.
Low Frequency Applications: 3300XL 11mm Proximitor® Sensor:
Thrust, Differential Expansion, Fans, Hydro, Pulp & Frequency response is 0 – 8 kHz.
Paper, Power Generation, Steam Turbines,
3300XL 25mm Proximitor® Sensor:
Industrial Gas Turbines.
Frequency response is 0 – 2.7 kHz.
Use your application to determine the desired range of
frequency response.
3300XL 50mm Proximitor® Sensor:
Signal Quality
This system is internally filtered at 50Hz.
Driving a large capacitive load can be problematic.
Large loads can attenuate higher frequencies. What is
considered ‘too large’ will depend of the type of XL Radiation Resistant Proximitor® Sensor:
transducer being used and the frequencies of interest. 15 ft. system: 0 – 10 kHz
40 ft. system: 0 – 9 kHz
3300XL 8mm and NSv Proximitor® Sensor: 110 ft system: 0 – 5 kHz

Frequency Response to Different Cable

Lengths without Barriers (5M)

0
Magnitude (dB)

-1

-2

-3

-4
100 1000 10000 100000
Frequency (Hz)

no cable 44nF 88nF

176nF 440nF 1050nF
Graph 1: Cable Frequency Response without Barriers

Velomitors: Accelerometers:
Using long field wire lengths can reduce the full Using long field wire lengths can reduce the full signal
signal range. range.
Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 2 of 8
LVDT:
Extended field wiring lengths are not Temperature RTD Parameters, Channels 5 through 8
recommended under any circumstance due to the (1900/65A ONLY)
LVDT’s sensitivity to resistance.
Gas group: IIC IIB IIA
Thermocouples:
Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo
Extended field wiring lengths are not (mH) (mH) (mH)
recommended under any circumstances due to
the thermocouple’s sensitivity to resistance. 100 1 1000 1 1000 1

Hazardous Areas
Temperature TC Parameters, Channels 5 through 8
Another common issue with extended length field
wiring is violating hazardous area energy limitations. Gas group: IIC IIB IIA
Hazardous area installations must limit the energy Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo
stored in the system. Although both inductors and (mH) (mH) (mH)
capacitors can store energy, the energy stored in the
capacitance of the field wiring will first exceed 100 1 1000 1 1000 1
certification limits in this application. Consequently,
the capacitance of the field wiring is our top concern.
3500
Zone 0 /1 Entity Parameters for Gas Group IIC, Internal
Determining Hazardous Area Limits: Barrier Modules
Limits for capacitance will depend upon the
Barrier Module Number Co by gas group (uF)
classification of hazardous area and the type of
module being used. Applications with barriers use
intrinsic safety as the protection means and are used 135470-01
in Zone I or Zone 0 areas, which will have the most Proximitor & 0.083
severe limitations on capacitance. The Zone 2 Accelerometer
equivalent to intrinsic safety is energy limitation or
non-incendive circuits. Some limitations for Bently 135471-01
Nevada products are noted below. Velomitor 0.088
1900 / 65 137101-01
Zone 2 Process Variable 0.76
Transducer Power Parameters, Channels 1 through 4 135472-01
Gas group: IIC IIB IIA Temperature 8.8
Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo
(mH) (mH) (mH)
188 1 188 1 188 1 Zone 2
Co by gas group (uF)
2-wire, Constant Current Transducer Parameters, Module Number IIC IIB IIA
Channels 1 through 4
146031-01
Gas group: IIC IIB IIA
3500/22M-01 1000
Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo Co (uF) Lo
(mH) (mH) (mH) 140471-01,-02

100 1 1000 1 1000 1 3500/25,

Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 3 of 8
 3500/4x Prox / 0.2 IIA 4876 127
Velomitor
3500/64
169459-01, -02 Accelerometers/Velomitors

3500/4x Multimode 0.2 Zone 0 / 1

Prox/Velom (IT and ET) Model Co (nF) Lo (mH)

169715-01, -02 190501 39 3

3500/4x, Multimode 0.1 330400 72 4

Positive Input (IT and 330425 72 4
ET)
330500 64 4
125800-01
330525 64 4
3500/25 0.2
133819-02
Proximitors
3500/61, 1.5 10. 42
Zone 0 / 1
Thermocouple and 6 5
RTD Gas Groups Co (uF) Lo (mH)
133835-02 Internat’l/No.America
3500/61, Isolated 1.5 10. 42 IIC / A, B, C, D 0.07 1.0
Thermocouple 6 5
IIB / C, D 0.6 5.0
136491-01
IIA / D 2.09 11.0
3500/62, +/- 10Vdc 1.7 11. 48
I/O 1 7
Zener Barriers

ProTIM If barriers are used you must comply with the limitations
determined by the barrier. These can generally be found
Zone 0 / 1 in the barrier’s datasheet. Additionally, there will be some
resistance from the barriers, which will lower the overall
Gap Group Co (uF) Lo (mH) L/R
signal. This can be compensated in the monitor if the
(uH/ohm)
correct barrier is selected.
IIC 0.09 2 16
Some commonly used barriers are noted below:
IIB 0.705 8 64
IIA 2.23 16 130 Barrier Channel BASEEFA (ATEX) gas
Note : Maximum of 32 ProTIMs per line. group IIC
Co (uF) Lo (mH)

Zone 2 796 ALL 0.1 1.94

Gap Group Maximum Cable Maximum 7796a 1 0.1 4.91

Length Number of 7796b 2 0.22 13
ProTIMs per line
7796c * 0.1 1.94
IIC 1000 125
764a 1 1.41 240
IIB 3599 127

Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 4 of 8
764b 2 1.41 61 728 ALL 0.12 4.0
7764a/ 1 and 2 1.41 240 7728 ALL 0.083 3.05
b
787 ALL 0.11 4.0
7764c * 1.41 61
7787 1 0.083 3.05
760a 1 3.0 0.91
7787 2 0.083 -
760b 2 3.0 0.20
7787 * 0.011 4.2
7760a/ 1 and 2 3.0 0.91
788 ALL 0.11 0.5
b
7788 1 0.083 3.05
7760c * 3.0 0.20
7788 2 3.0 0.91
728 ALL 0.083 3.02
7788 * 0.083 0.33
7728 ALL 0.083 3.05
787 ALL 0.083 3.05
Notes on the above table:
7787a 1 0.083 3.05
1. All barriers are MTL.
7787b 2 0.083 -
2. * Denotes both channels of a dual channel
7787c * 0.083 3.05 barrier connected in parallel, with respect to
earth.
788 ALL 0.083 0.33
3. All values are posted here for ease of use. Verify
7788a 1 0.083 3.05 with the vendor’s datasheet before installing per
7788b 2 3.0 0.91 the above values.

7788c * 0.083 0.33

Galvanic Isolators
Galvanic isolators are used in areas where a high quality
ground is not available. There are galvanic isolators
Barrier Channel FM (gas groups A & B) available for the 3500 Series Monitor, 1701 Fieldmonitor®
Co (uF) Lo (mH) and Trendmaster® DSM or an end user may specify an
external galvanic isolator.
796 ALL 0.13 2.0
The limitations for the galvanic isolators used by Bently
7796 1 0.1 4.91 Nevada are noted below:
7796 2 0.22 13
7796 * 0.096 1.94 3500 Galvanic Isolators
764 1 1.5 200 The 3500 galvanic isolators come in two backplane types.
These types are the vibration backplane (P/N 141660) and
764 2 1.0 60 the temperature backplane (P/N 143320). The vibration
7764 1 and 2 1.41 240 backplane uses isolator MTL 4031, while the temperature
backplane uses isolator MTL 4073.
7764 * 1.0 61
760 1 3.0 0.9
Vibration Signals:
760 2 3.0 0.20
7760 1 and 2 3.0 0.91 MTL 4031 ATEX (Baseefa)
7760 * 3.0 0.20 Gas Group IIC IIB IIA

Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 5 of 8
Co (uF) 0.13 0.39 1.04 Transducer Gas group: IIB IIA
I/O Module IIC
Lo (mH) 4.2 12.6 33.6
Co Lo Co Lo Co Lo
(uF) (m (uF) (m (uF) (mH)
Temperature Signals:
H) H)
MTL 4073 ATEX (Baseefa) 170180-01- 0.07 2.7 0.68 11. 2.33 22.2
05 4 3 1 5
Gap Group IIC IIB IIA
170180-03-
Co (uF) 0.26 0.78 2.08
05
Connector 1
170180-02- 0.70 110 0.69 443 2.34 886
Co (uF) 0.60 1.8 4.8
05 w/ 8 8
Connector 2
170190-01
Lo (mH) 6 18 48
170180-02- 0.10 207 0.93 883 3.43 166
Connector 1
05 w/ 6 8 8 7
Lo (mH) 47 141 376 170190-02
Connector 2
170180-04- 0.05 2.7 0.68 11. 2.33 22.2
05 2 3 1 5
Temperature Signals:
Channel A
170180-04- 0.07 110 0.69 443 2.34 886
MTL 4073 North America (FM)
05 0 8 8
Gas Group A+B C D
Channel B
Co (uF) 11 33 88
Connector 1 Trendmaster® Galvanic Isolator
Terms 1 & 2
Co (uF) 1000 1000 1000 Combined Output Parameters with
Connector 1 respect to TIM_COM
Terms 5 & 6
Gas group IIA IIB IIC
Co (uF) 0.6 1.8 4.8
Connector 2 Co (uF) 3.38 0.94 0.126
Lo (mH) 500 1500 4000 Lo/Ro 168 84 21
Connector 1 (uH/ohm)
Terms 1 & 2
Lo (mH) 3.6 10.8 27.8
Connector 2 Number of TIMs
Terms 5 & 6 Using the 162495-01 Trendmaster® Galvanic Isolator,
Lo (mH) 47 141 376 number of TIMs / proTIMs allow per Galvanic Isolator
Connector 2 output:

Max Cable Max number of Max number of

1701 Galvanic Isolators Length flexiTIM, TIM ProTIM-C or
channels ProTIM C
When using the 170190 isolator the following entity channels
parameters apply for the stated Transducer I/O
modules: 500ft 233 254

Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 6 of 8
1000ft 199 236 C i = 6nF
1500ft 170 205 83nF ≥ C cable + C i
2000ft 145 177 77nF ≥ C cable
2500ft 122 153
You may perform similar calculations for inductance, but
3000ft 102 131 this is generally not the parameter of concern.
3500ft 84 112
Determining maximum lengths

LCIE / ATEX Limit:

Sample Calculations Consider the case of a 3300XL Proximitor® sensor that is
being installed with the cable sold by Bently Nevada LLC.
Example 1: It will be installed in a Zone II area with no barriers. This
cable has a capacitance per meter rating of 289 pF/m.
Goal: Interface a 3500 / 42M with Prox / Velom I/O The input capacitance for the Proximitor® sensor is 6 nF.
to a 3300 XL Proximitor system in a Zone II You would be able to have a wire run of:
area.
Consult the above table for the 3500 Zone 2
hazardous area limitation. This table shows that 0.2
0.2uF = 200nF
uF of capacitance can be attached to the PWR/SIG C o ≥ C cable + C i
outputs of the Prox / Velom monitor, regardless of gas 200nF ≥ C cable + 6nF
class. The input capacitance for the Proximitor®
sensor is 6 nF. Therefore: 194nF ≥ C cable
194nF = 194000 pF
C o ≥ C cable + C i pF
C cable = 289
0.2uF = 200nF m
C i = 6nF 194000 pF
= 671m
pF
200nF ≥ C cable + 6nF 289
m
194nF ≥ C cable
So in this case you could have a field wiring length of 671
So 194 nF or 0.194 uF is available for the capacitive meters without exceeding the 0.2 uF max capacitance
field wiring load. load. While cabling length does not violate the maximum
capacitive load it may have compromised the frequencies
of interest. Note Graph 1 on page 2 to observe the effect
Example 2: upon frequency response. There is not a curve for 200 nF,
Goal: Interface a 3500 / 42M with a Proximitor® but there is one for 176 nF. The 200 nF of capacitive load
sensor I/O to a 3300 XL Proximitor system in a curve will be worse than the 176 nF curve, but the 176 nF
Zone 0 area. curve provides a decent estimate. The –3dB point is
before 9kHz. At –3dB the signal has 70.7% of the
You would need the 135470-01 module to use this amplitude that it had at full strength.
system in a Zone 0 area so the limitation would be 83
nF. The input capacitance for the Proximitor system is Let us now presume that you are going to install the same
6 nF. Therefore: Proximitor® sensor with the same cable in a Zone I area
that requires internal barriers. The input capacitance for
C o ≥ C cable + C i the Proximitor® sensor is 6 nF. The limit is now 0.083 uF.

Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 7 of 8
 So you would need to select a cable with a capacitance
0.083uF = 83nF . lower than 154 pF / m to stay within the certification limit.
C o ≥ C cable + C i Reduced Frequency Range:
83nF ≥ C cable + 6nF A 3300 XL Proximitor® sensor application has a field-
wiring run of 600 meters. With Bently Nevada cable the
77nF ≥ C cable total capacitive load is:
77000 pF
= 266m pF
pF 600m * 289 = 173400 pF
289 m
m 173400 pF = 173.4nF
173.4 nF is less than the 200 nF limit for Zone II
So in this case the field wiring run could be 266m
applications. While the approvals limits are not violated,
without violating the hazardous area specification.
the field wiring is twice the length that is recommended
The frequency response in this case would be the
by Bently Nevada. To view the impact upon frequency
83nF curve. This corresponds to 30% of the amplitude
range note Graph 1 on page 2. 173.4 nF is closest to the
being lost at 10.3kHz.
176 nF curve, so this gives a good estimate of the
Lower Capacitance Solution: frequency response. This corresponds to 30% of the
amplitude being lost at 8500 Hz.
You must connect a length of field wiring between a
3300XL Proximitor® sensor and a 3500 monitor using Summary
a 135470-01 module. The Proximitor® sensor is 500
meters from the monitor in a Zone I application. Using The maximum length between sensors and monitoring
standard Bently Nevada cable with a capacitance of systems depends upon a variety of factors.
289 pF/m the total capacitive load will be: Capacitance
289 pF / m * 500m = 144500 pF or Know the capacitance per unit length of the cable.
144.5nF Application
This capacitive load would violate the limit of 83 nF,
which comes from the 135470-01 module. However, Know the range of frequencies that must be monitored by
using lower capacitance cable could mitigate this the device being used.
problem. To stay within the limits, and allowing 6 nF Hazardous Areas
for the Proximitor® sensor, you would need a cable
with: Know the designation for the area that will be monitored.
Applying these three key pieces of information will allow
83nF − 6nF = 77 nF you to determine the suitability of extended field wiring
77000 pF / 500 m ≥ 154 pF / m lengths.

© 2007 Bently Nevada LLC

1631 Bently Parkway South
Minden, Nevada USA 89423
Phone: 775.782.3611
Fax: 775.215.2873
www.ge-energy.com/bently

Bently Nevada, Fieldmonitor, Proximitor, and Trendmaster are trademarks of General Electric Company.

Applications Note
Part Number 178454-01
Rev. NC (11/07)

Page 8 of 8