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Power supply During the rainy season, an outdoor station has had LAN and COM ports burn out several times after lightning. How do we protect it… Lightning rarely strikes the machine itself. Ports burn out from induced surges travelling along long cables: network cable, RS-485 lines and power cables enter… Power supply When choosing a DIN-rail 24 VDC power supply for an industrial computer, how many watts is enough? Add up everything that draws power through the machine, then add headroom.
1. Maximum machine power: from the datasheet, often given as maximum current at a gi… Connectivity A remote station cannot be reached by network cable. How do we add Wi-Fi or 4G/5G to an industrial computer reliably? Whether wireless connectivity on an industrial machine is stable depends mostly on the antenna and installation, rarely on the module.
Module slots: check for … Connectivity How many LAN ports should an industrial computer have? Does it matter whether the network chip is Intel or Realtek? Count LAN ports by the number of networks you need to separate, not by the number of devices.
Most projects need at least two: one for the control network (PLC… Connectivity The machine's COM port supports RS-232/422/485, but our RS-485 device is not detected. Where do we change the setting? A multi-standard COM port runs one mode at a time, and the default is usually RS-232. Switch it to RS-485 in the place the vendor specifies.
1. Mode setting: d… Connectivity Industrial cameras come in USB3 and GigE versions. Which should we choose, and what ports does the computer need? Choose by the distance from camera to computer and the number of cameras.
USB3 Vision: about 5 Gbit/s of bandwidth, low latency, power over the cable. The limi… Connectivity Our machine has PoE ports to power cameras. How do we know there is enough power for 4 cameras, and how do 802.3af, at and bt diff… The three PoE standards differ in power per port (measured at the source / at the powered device):
802.3af: 15.4 W / about 12.95 W. Enough for most small indus… Connectivity We need to read CAN bus data from vehicles and machinery. How do we choose a CAN port on an industrial PC, and what matters in wir… First identify the standard your equipment uses:
CAN 2.0A/B (classic CAN): up to 1 Mbit/s, widely used in machinery and vehicles.
CAN FD: a faster data phase (… Connectivity What is isolated DIO? When do we need isolated DI/DO rather than standard DI/DO on a computer? DIO (digital input/output) ports read push buttons, sensors and relay contacts, and output on/off signals to lamps, valves and relays. Isolated means the field-… Choosing a machine We plan to add a discrete graphics card to an industrial computer for AI. What should we check before buying? A discrete graphics card is the item most likely to derail a plan if not checked carefully, because it affects power, mechanics and thermals at once.
1. Slot: … Choosing a machine Should an industrial computer run two drives in RAID 1? With RAID in place, do we still need backups? RAID 1 writes the same data to two drives. If one fails, the machine keeps running on the other; you fit a new drive and the array resynchronises. Use it on mac… Choosing a machine Should an industrial computer use an M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD? What happens if we fit the wrong type? Speed: SATA III tops out around 550 MB/s; NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 reaches about 3,500 MB/s, and Gen4 is faster still. NVMe only makes a difference with large continuo… Choosing a machine Industrial SSDs cost several times more than consumer SSDs. What is actually different, and is it worth it? They differ in four ways, and the cost is justified when the machine runs continuously or sits in a harsh location.
1. Temperature: consumer SSDs are usually r… Choosing a machine How many GB of RAM should an industrial computer have? Do we need ECC memory? Reference levels by workload, assuming Windows 10/11 IoT:
8 GB: HMI, gateway, a single control application. Below this, current Windows versions feel cramped.
… Choosing a machine Industrial machines come with everything from Atom and Celeron to Core i7. Which level avoids both overspending and underpowering? Choose by what the machine does every day, then add about 30% headroom for software that grows heavier over the years.
Atom, Celeron: data collection, gateways… Installation Our machine has fans because it needs a powerful CPU and expansion cards. How should we maintain fans and dust filters so it lasts… A fan-cooled industrial machine lasts well with scheduled maintenance. Failures usually come from dust blocking airflow rather than from the fan itself.
Refere… Installation Our cabinet is in a coastal area, and early in the morning there is condensation inside the door. How do we protect the computer i… Condensation forms when surfaces inside the cabinet are colder than the dew point of the air, typically at night and early morning. Water plus coastal salt corr… Choosing a machine The datasheet lists two temperature ranges, operating and storage, plus 95% non-condensing humidity. How do we read them correctly… The two ranges apply to different situations, and mixing them up leads to the wrong machine.
Operating temperature: the machine is running and still guaranteed… Troubleshooting The housing of our fanless machine is too hot to keep a hand on. Is that normal, or is the machine about to fail? Usually it is normal. The housing of a fanless machine is its heatsink, and a hot housing means heat is being carried out as intended.
A hand starts to feel un… Choosing a machine With the same CPU, does a fanless machine run slower than one with a fan? Under light and moderate load there is almost no difference. The gap only appears when the CPU runs hard for long periods in a hot environment.
Modern CPUs thr…