Small HMI for Outdoor Use?

[JIM60406 0]

I have a small PLC application (Micrologix 1100) where I need a small HMI located outdoors. Virtually all HMI's that mention NEMA 4/4X are indoor only. Does anyone know of a small panel for for this service or have they used an indoor rated HMI outdoors that has worked satisfactorily? As is usual, small equates to the cost also.

[Ken Moore 23]

I have a model 9800 from these folks: http://www.quartechcorp.com/products.htm It's not a graphical display, text only, LED instead of LCD, you can read it out doors. I don't know if it's rated for outdoor use or not. I'm using a DH+ model, but serial DF1 is available also, I don't think they do ethernet. Ken

[JIM60406 0]

I had hoped for a little larger screen....like a 6" graphic panel. There is a little too much information the one you mentioned. We are considering trying a small inexpensive touchscreen and putting a sunshade and flip up transparent cover over it. If anyone has a recommendation for a HI-Contrast screen, I'd love to hear it.

[JRoss 84]

What about this? This is not a recommendation, as I've never used it, but Beijer makes decent stuff.

[Mike Dyble 0]

Have a look at Red Lion, they quote 'Sunlight visible outdoor unit with UV rated overlay available' for the G308 on their brochure, and they are Nema 4X/IP66. I think the other units are available with an outdoor option as well. Another thread on this forum indicates they are well liked

[Walter Anderson 0]

Hi JIM60406 We haven't yet put a panel outdoors, though we are planning to sometime (after a bunch of other things are done), so I'm interested to know how your project turns out. Indoors in cement/concrete plants in extremely dusty environments exposed to temperature extremes we have used AB PanelView and C-More touch panels. The C-Mores didn't look overly sturdy to us, but we decided to give them a try and they are holding up well so far (over a year). They also look better, and are easier to program and maintain than the PanelViews, in our opinion (though all of our PLCs are AB, we've used PanelBuilder for some time, and C-More was new to us). All of ours are Ethernet connected, which allows updating while live from anywhere in the world via VPN into the plant. I am not certain if any of C-More's offerings would be great outdoors, but would definitely look into them (www.automationdirect.com) after our initial experience with them. Good luck!

[Guided_monkey 0]

Fitted a Maple Systems MAP460D to a Water De-ioniser. Spends all day outside..... although a small roof was placed over the cabinet/panel to keep the worst of the weather off . Or you could try a Hope Industrial Systems touch screen. Haven't had much experience but a good price .... even when it was sent to NZ.

[paulengr 44]

NEMA 4 means that you can hit it with a water spray from a fire hose at any angle without issues according to my MG-1 book. It's really not an "indoor/outdoor" thing. Most NEMA 4 panels do have a problem operating outdoors though. Since they are super well sealed, they tend to accumulate condensation on the inside from temperature changes, and sometimes ice for the same reason. If you have a big enough heat source in the panel though it will dry itself out and avoid the issue. This is a general problem not limited to displays. This is the reason that if you are truly outdoors, NEMA 3R is the way to go. It is effectively a NEMA 4 box but has weep holes in the bottom of the box to equalize the temperature/humidity and allow condensation to escape out the bottom. Often you can also cheat and pay significantly less for a box by doing the opposite...buy NEMA 3R instead of NEMA 4 and silicon-caulk the holes. The second problem specifically with LCD's is that as the liquid crystal gets cold, the viscosity goes up and you will find you will have problems getting it to respond (if at all). Once you get into the -20 F to -40 F territory, most LCD's simply stop working altogether (screen is blank). But some are better than others and often the "indoor/outdoor" rating is based on this problem. The only other reason this stuff gets rated as indoors/outdoors is due to anti-glare coverings and/or brighter LCD's, which is getting to be less and less of an issue overall. So...before you just assume that "indoors" means "indoors", ask the question. Since a "NEMA 4" rating is not split into two separate categories for indoors/outdoors inherently, ask why they rate it as "indoors" and whether it makes a difference. Usually you will find out it's just because they're not using an extended temperature range display. The display works but they didn't want to explain to a customer why the display is blank when the temperature is <32 F. If this is OK with you, go for it. If not, you could buy an enclosure heater too. That being said, I have two Red Lion 6" units (G306) in the outdoor rated version. I bought them that way because the "indoor" models weren't NEMA 4. They cost $1300 each from Omega (about twice as much as the base model). One is mounted on a paint machine using solvent based paint and has held up well against repeated sticky paint-laden gloves followed by solvent (usually mineral spirits) cleaning. The other is right next to an operator that uses a pressure washer to remove excess cement from the product units while it's still wet. Very, very messy operation with lots of grit, water, and high pH. Both have been in operation now for a few months without any problems. The temperature in the plant usually tends to push the upper limits (PC's without A/C crash constantly), rather than the lower ones.

[danyost 0]

The only 2 HMIs we offer that are 'outdoor rated' are the 3 and 10 inch models. They have a UV protective overlay so the sun does not fade the front panel. However, all of the G3 series are rated NEMA 4X. Regards, Dan

[lito_solomon 0]

Try panelview 300 anyway its cheap