Re: How 2-Wire, 3-Wire & 4-Wire Connection Done in Control System?

02/24/2012 7:24 AM

Two-wire and 4-wire 4-20 mA signaling circuits look like this. First, the 4-wire circuit, where two wires carry power to the field transmitter and two additional wires carry the mA signal back to the controller:

Next, the 2-wire circuit, where the same two wires carry transmitter power and signal:

Then you also have 2-, 3-, and 4-wire RTD circuits:

The difference between the 2-wire, 3-wire, and 4-wire RTD circuits is how they handle the error caused by cable resistance between the RTD sensor and the receiving instruments. In a 2-wire system, the cable resistance causes a positive error. In the 3-wire and 4-wire systems the cable resistance error is compensated. 4-wire systems are considered the most robust. 3-wire systems properly compensate for cable resistance, but only if all three wires (and their associated connections) have exactly the same amount of resistance. If you need more detailed information on these subjects, refer to this online book: http://www.openbookproject.net/books/socratic/sinst/book/liii.pdf The chapter entitled "Analog Electronic Instrumentation" discusses the 2-wire and 4-wire 420 mA signaling systems, while the chapter entitled "Continuous Temperature Measurement" discusses the RTD circuit configurations. __________________