Established as one of the more popular trends of building automation controls is the concept of the control panel. Its popularity makes sense, having one location for all your controls is ideal for doing maintenance or making modifications to your controls. Of course, the control panel wouldn't even be possible without a few key technologies, the foremost being mounting track for components. Personally, I'm a bit partial to our very own mounting track, such as the MT4, but by far the most popular around is the DIN rail.
Admired for its durability and versatility, DIN style rail can be found in controls panels across the nation. Naturally, we here at Functional Devices have hopped on the bandwagon too and created our own line of DIN rail mount relays. These come in a variety of options, such as SPDT and DPDT, with and without a switch, and some even with replaceable relays. Of course, if you're like me and still want to use some of our Track Mount relays, you can also get our AT4 series adaptable track that clips onto DIN rail.
In addition to DIN rail, another important component of Control panels are low voltage DC power supplies. There are lots of ways to generate low voltage DC power, the most efficient of them is the Switch Mode Power Supply, or SMPS for short. They also happen to be the most conservative on space, making them the perfect candidate for control panels. And wouldn't you know it, Functional Devices offers some SMPS that are also DIN rail mount! (Its almost like we planned it that way or something... )
The SMPS themselves all have an adjustable output of 24-28 Vdc, many of them being Class 2 rated. Inputs can take anything from 100 Vac to 240 Vac, and the outputs range in power from 15W all the way up to 240W. Some of the larger models, such as the PULS-PIC240-241D, even have an auxiliary contact so that your controller can know when its power output is good. They also are compatible with the relays mentioned above.
DIN rail mount power supplies and relays might not be the heart of a good control panel, such as the controller itself, but a panel is still not complete without them. Speaking of, make sure your panel is complete by checking out our housings as well as DIN rail itself. And as always, if you need help finding any other components for your control panel, or have any other questions, be sure to contact us at tech support.