FF Troubleshooting Guide

PROCESS AUTOMATION Troubleshooting
Manual Type
FOUNDATION Fieldbus
Connecting Fieldbus Power and Knowledge

With regard to the supply of products, the current issue of the following document is applicable:
The General Terms of Delivery for Products and Services of the Electrical Industry, as published by
the Central Association of the "Elektrotechnik und Elektroindustrie (ZVEI) e.V.v",
including the supplementary clause "Extended reservation of title".
We at Pepperl+Fuchs recognise a duty to make a contribution to the future.

For this reason, this printed matter is produced on paper bleached without the use of chlorine.
Troubleshooting Guide
Table of Contents
1 How to use this documentation .............................................................. 3
2 FF segment Checklist .............................................................................. 4
3 Introduction to the FF communication signal ....................................... 5
4 Shielding & Grounding ............................................................................ 8
5 Measurements on a FF segment .......................................................... 10
6 Troubleshooting ..................................................................................... 12
Date of issue 25.08.2003
Subject to reasonable modifications due to technical advances. Copyright Pepperl+Fuchs, Printed in Germany
Pepperl+Fuchs Group • Tel.: Germany +49 621 776-0 • USA +1 330 4253555 • Singapore +65 67799091 • Internet http://www.pepperl-fuchs.com 1
Table of Contents
2 Pepperl+Fuchs Group • Tel.: Germany +49 621 776-0 • USA +1 330 4253555 • Singapore +65 67799091 • Internet http://www.pepperl-fuchs.com
How to use this documentation
1 How to use this documentation
This troubleshooting manual is intended to provide information about measurement

techniques and important facts when dealing with Foundation Fieldbus installations.
It is meant to be used by engineers to help them troubleshoot FOUNDATION Fieldbus
installations. The diagrams shown represent actual test topologies and measure-
ments.
FF segment Checklist
2 FF segment Checklist
There can be multiple reasons for a FOUNDATION Fieldbus installation to be in a

faulty condition. In order to assure that communication can be established, the follow-
ing requirements must be met:
! device supply voltage must be higher than 9 VDC with a maximum of 32 VDC
! device polarity must be correct
! two 100 Ω, 1 µF terminators must be connected at each end of the segment
! cable length plus spur length must not exceed the following values:
! The cable shield is to be hard grounded only at one point close to the DCS. In
addition, the cable shield can be capacitively grounded in multiple places to
improve EMC protection.
If all of these requirements are met, a stable communication should be established.

Introduction to the FF communication signal
3 Introduction to the FF communication signal
The digital fieldbus signal is a current modulated ±10 mA signal on a 50 Ω test load -
this generates a 1.0 Vpp signal. A valid signal can range from 150 mVpp up to 1.0 Vpp
and noise must not exceed 75 mVpp (see figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1: FF signal levels and max. noise level
low noise level

Figure 3.2: Example for a valid FF communication signal
The communication on a fieldbus segment follows a cyclic pattern. The figure below
shows the pattern that can be observed when an Emerson DeltaV DCS is used as
host along with three instruments.
A time distribution signal

is sent by the DCS after
a set number of cycles
Communication cycle
Delta V Instrument 1 Instrument 3

Instruments Instrument 2
Figure 3.3: Communication cycle

The FOUNDATION Fieldbus signal is Manchester encoded and uses special charac-
ters for the preamble, start delimiter and end delimiter. The preamble is used to syn-
chronize the receiver with the sender - start and end delimiters frame the actual
message or data.
Figure 3.4: Special FOUNDATION Fieldbus characters (courtesy

Fieldbus FOUNDATION)
Preamble
Start delimiter Data
Figure 3.5: Structure of a FF message

Shielding & Grounding
4 Shielding & Grounding
The FOUNDATION Fieldbus specification requires the shield of the transmission line
to be hard grounded at only one point.
There are 4 ways this can be done:

1. Hard grounding on both ends of the field bus transmission line and on each field
instrument. This requires establishing a potential equalization system.
2. Hard grounding on all field devices, capacitive grounding on the cabinet side.
3. Hard grounding on the cabinet side, capacitive grounding on all field devices.
Shielding & Grounding
4. Hard grounding only on the cabinet side.
The best EMC protection is achieved by hard grounding both ends of the transmission
line and each field instrument. This requires a potential equalization line between the
marshalling cabinet and the field installation thus increasing installation costs.
North America:
Most installations in North America are done as shown in version 4 - leaving the shield
floating on the field device side. However, if communication problems due to noise are
encountered, the shield can be capacitively grounded in as many places as neces-
sary to improve the shield effectiveness (see version 3).
Europe:
In Europe version 2 or 3 are the common practice because they are considered a
good compromise between installation costs and EMC protection.
Measurements on a FF segment
5 Measurements on a FF segment
In order to troubleshoot a FOUNDATION Fieldbus segment, electrical measurements

must be performed. Simple tests can be done with a hand-held bus monitor, but these
devices typically do not perform accurate noise level measurements and do not pro-
vide information on the signal form. Therefore, measurements should be performed
with an oscilloscope.
Measurements on fieldbus segments must be done properly in order to be precise. If
a desktop oscilloscope is used, it is necessary to be aware of its internal structure.
Due to internal capacitance in respect to ground, the scope may induce common
mode noise into the fieldbus because the bus is also grounded.
If done improperly the measured noise level can be much higher than actually present
on the bus.
Therefore, the scope must be used with two channels in differential mode so the com-
mon mode noise is cancelled out and a proper signal and noise level measurement
of the bus can be taken.
In order to operate in differential mode, the scope must be set to display the difference
of the two channels.
If a battery-powered scope is used, a single channel can be hooked up directly to the
bus without inducing additional noise.
Figure 5.1: Using a single scope channel can induce additional noise onto the bus
Measurements on a FF segment
Figure 5.2: Using the oscilloscope in differential mode leads to more precise meas-
urement of the actual communication
Troubleshooting
6 Troubleshooting
The following suggestions should be considered once the checklist has been com-
pleted and still no stable communication has been established.
Low supply voltage
In order to guarantee all field devices function properly, at least 9 VDC must be sup-
plied to each of them. The voltage drop due to the cable and the current consumption
of all the field devices must be considered. In addition one or more short-circuits
should be added to the total current to guarantee operation during a fault condition. If
the segment extends over long distances, a power supply with 32 VDC can be used
to compensate for the voltage drop due to the cable. In addition, power repeaters can
extend the possible maximum cable length or better cable can be used to decrease
the signal attenuation.
The voltage at each device can be calculated with this formula (some supplies may
have Rin = 0 Ω):
 x x
 x

U x U out  Rin ∑
= −  ∗
n =1
I n
+ ∑ 
m =1 
R m ∑In 
∗
n=m


Voltage drop of the first device: (Rin + R1) * (I1 + I2 + .. + Ix)

Voltage drop of the second device: (Rin + R1) * (I1 + I2 + .. + Ix) + R2 * (I2 + .. + Ix)
Last device on the segment: (Rin + R1) * (I1 + I2 + .. + Ix) + R2 * (I2 + .. + Ix)
+ … + Rx * Ix
If you are installing short-circuit protection devices on your network, it is suggested to

calculate the voltage drop using a current consumption equal to the holding current of
one channel of that short-circuit protective device. This will simulate a short-circuit
condition at the most onerous point in the network. It is also suggested to calculate
the network with one or two additional instruments to simulate future expansion.
Troubleshooting
Low signal amplitude
There are multiple causes for a low signal amplitude:

• more than two terminators are installed into the same FF segment
FF segment with 1 terminator FF segment with 2 terminators
FF segment with 3 terminators FF segment with 4 terminators
Figure 6.1: Additional terminators cause signal attenuation

Troubleshooting
• long cable lengths

If the installation stretches out over a long distance, the cable attenuates the signal
amplitude. This leads to the effect that the host signal and the instrument signal
show a different amplitude depending on where the measurement is taken.
Figure 6.2: Long cable attenuates the communication signal

Troubleshooting
High noise level
Reasons for high noise levels can be:

• wrong measuring technique, more noise is measured than actually present - see
page 11
• a non-regulated supply can pass supply voltage glitches onto the bus
Figure 6.3: Supply Voltage glitches are passed into the FF segment by a non-regu-
lated FF supply
• bad shielding/grounding, make sure ground is only connected at one point.
• Noise from the DC power supply can be injected into the fieldbus. An indication of
a noisy power supply is a thick baseline. The noise amplitude can be determined
by measuring the baseline amplitude. Noise must not exceed 150 mV pk-pk.
• A regulated FF power supply can inject switching noise into the bus.
Troubleshooting
Figure 6.4: Regulated FF power supplies can cause high frequency switching noise
Troubleshooting
Figure 6.5: A high noise level disrupts the communication signal

Troubleshooting
Distortion / bad signal form
The communication signal can be distorted leading to unstable or unreliable commu-

nication.
These problems are generally caused by a change in the overall bus impedance.
Such an impedance change can occur due to:
• improper termination
Figure 6.6: Bad signal form caused by improper termination (no terminator in the
segment)
• damaged components
• changes in component behavior.
Troubleshooting
Figure 6.7: Bad signal due to changes in component behavaior

This basic information should enable the reader to troubleshoot a FOUNDATION
Fieldbus installation.
This document will be continously updated according to new test results.
If you need more information check out Pepperl+Fuchs' dedicated FOUNDATION
Fieldbus website at www.fieldconnex.info or call your local sales office.
Troubleshooting
With regard to the supply of products, the current issue of the following document is applicable:
The General Terms of Delivery for Products and Services of the Electrical Industry, as published by
the Central Association of the "Elektrotechnik und Elektroindustrie (ZVEI) e.V.v",
including the supplementary clause "Extended reservation of title".
We at Pepperl+Fuchs recognise a duty to make a contribution to the future.

For this reason, this printed matter is produced on paper bleached without the use of chlorine.

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PROCESS AUTOMATION Troubleshooting

Connecting Fieldbus Power and Knowledge

We at Pepperl+Fuchs recognise a duty to make a contribution to the future.

1 How to use this documentation .............................................................. 3

2 FF segment Checklist .............................................................................. 4

3 Introduction to the FF communication signal ....................................... 5

4 Shielding & Grounding ............................................................................ 8

5 Measurements on a FF segment .......................................................... 10

Date of issue 25.08.2003

1 How to use this documentation

This troubleshooting manual is intended to provide information about measurement

There can be multiple reasons for a FOUNDATION Fieldbus installation to be in a

If all of these requirements are met, a stable communication should be established.

3 Introduction to the FF communication signal

Figure 3.1: FF signal levels and max. noise level

low noise level

Figure 3.2: Example for a valid FF communication signal

A time distribution signal

Delta V Instrument 1 Instrument 3

Figure 3.3: Communication cycle

Figure 3.4: Special FOUNDATION Fieldbus characters (courtesy

Start delimiter Data

Figure 3.5: Structure of a FF message

4 Shielding & Grounding

There are 4 ways this can be done:

4. Hard grounding only on the cabinet side.

In order to troubleshoot a FOUNDATION Fieldbus segment, electrical measurements

Date of issue 25.08.2003

Low supply voltage

Voltage drop of the first device: (Rin + R1) * (I1 + I2 + .. + Ix)

If you are installing short-circuit protection devices on your network, it is suggested to

Low signal amplitude

There are multiple causes for a low signal amplitude:

FF segment with 1 terminator FF segment with 2 terminators

FF segment with 3 terminators FF segment with 4 terminators

Figure 6.1: Additional terminators cause signal attenuation

• long cable lengths

Figure 6.2: Long cable attenuates the communication signal

High noise level

Reasons for high noise levels can be:

Figure 6.5: A high noise level disrupts the communication signal

Distortion / bad signal form

The communication signal can be distorted leading to unstable or unreliable commu-

Figure 6.7: Bad signal due to changes in component behavaior

Date of issue 25.08.2003

We at Pepperl+Fuchs recognise a duty to make a contribution to the future.

You might also like