Factory Acceptance Test Explained - Part 1 | Power the Control Panel
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⌚Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:35 - Acceptance Test
01:56 - FAT example
02:52 - Step 1) Power the control panel
03:46 - Point #1
04:23 - Point #2
04:38 - Step 2) Switch on all the devices in the control panel
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In the world of industrial automation, a Factory Acceptance Test or FAT is simply a test for a newly manufactured control system that takes place at your factory or your workshop before you ship the control panel to the customer.
With a Factory Acceptance Test, you make sure that everything works properly before you deliver a control cabinet to a customer.
Let’s explore FAT a bit further through a practical example.
Let’s say that you are a company that designs and implements industrial control systems. These control systems often come in the form of a control panel built into a control cabinet.
You’ve built the control panel and now it’s ready to ship to the customer. But before you ship it you want to make sure that everything works properly. The last thing you want is to ship it to the customer’s site only to find out that things are not quite working the way they should.
Consequently, you will have to spend countless hours at the client’s site solving issues that you could have easily taken care of before shipping the control panel. So, as the name suggests, a FAT is completed at the factory.
Now you may be wondering, where should I start? What do I need to test? Well, I will show exactly that through a step-by-step example.
Step 1
As the first step, you need to connect the power to your control cabinet and turn it on. We have a main circuit breaker for every control panel. This is where the power comes into the control panel for all of the devices.
To let the electricity come into the panel, you need to connect the power to the topside of the circuit breaker. This is a wire that comes from outside of the panel.
You connect it to the circuit breaker only for testing and once you are done and want to ship the cabinet, you simply disconnect the wires from the topside of the circuit breaker.
The power that comes into the panel can be anywhere from 480 volts AC to as low as 120 volts AC depending on where you are and the country you are based in.
Once you have the power connected to the topside of the circuit breaker, you can switch it on for the power to flow to the control panel.
Although this seems a very simple process so far, there are two important points that you need to consider when trying to power on your control panel:
#1
The circuit breaker generally has a disconnect on the outside of the panel that allows you to shut off the power. Before you want to connect the cable to the main circuit breaker inside the panel make sure that you have disconnected the power using this switch.
Don’t take the hot power into your hand and try to connect it to the circuit breaker. This is dangerous.
#2
The second point to consider here is that when you switch off the circuit breaker, the topside of it will still have power. So, again, before you want to disconnect the power you need to make sure that you have disconnected the power from the outside of the panel.
Step 2
Now that you have connected the power cable to the control panel and switched on the circuit breaker, you also need to switch on any other breakers or fuses that you may have on the way to power the PLC and the other devices.
In the end, I also switch on the PLC power supply as well. The PLC power supply could be installed on the same rack as the PLC or somewhere else on the panel. We may have one, two, or three power supplies on our panel depending on how many devices we need to power on in the control panel. The more devices we have, the more power we need to turn them on.
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Control system FAT usually comprises of Hardware and Software FAT. Before starting with FAT, it is important that all the documents required for performing FAT are available: system configuration, P&IDs, I/O list, Functional design specifications, HMI design specification, Alarm and trip setting list, Logic diagrams, Control loop diagrams, HMI screen, Specification of Control system hardware, panel GAD and wiring diagram, Bill of material, list of signal exchange with third party interface ( hardwired and soft signals) and FAT procedure as a minimum. All these documents should be approved by your customer before you can take a panel into manufacturing and start with system development.
A FAT procedure lists the detailed procedure for testing of hardware, I/Os, program, HMI interface and third party interface as much as practicable.
Saurabh, thank you for the extended explanation of many of the components (hardware, software, documentation, drawings, etc.) that are included in the FAT process. Your comments will certainly help our viewers to better understand the scope of the FAT test!
RealPars Team, you are most welcome. Understanding the documentation requirement and the purpose of each type of document at each stage of FAT is a pre-requisite to a successful FAT. In my experience, I have seen that FAT procedures are not so well written by control system vendors and end up widening a gap between one's expectations and what is offered by the vendor.
Hope my feedback serves as a value addition to your team responsible for developing content for TH-cam channel.
@@realpars Great❤️
@@saurabhbhardwaj9667 thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and experience. Much respect.
Thank you Realpars team!!
Our pleasure, Emmanuel!
These vids are helpful as there aren't many in the UK. Thanks
Glad you like them!
Very basic but very important. Wonderfully explained. Thx
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you Realpars team🙏
You're very welcome, Behrooz!
Valuable for me to level up my knowledge
Very Valuable Information
Thank you, RealPars
Glad it was helpful, Mohamed!
Nice and good job. Thanks for sharing.
Our pleasure, happy learning!
It's an important video, i like to learn by watching all your videos. A step that i used to do before turn on the main braker is to check with the multimeter with continuity, the possibles shorts circuits between lines that helps tolo correct the conections and saves the elementd of the control panel.
Thanks for your kind support, Marlon!
In developing a new plant, we also use the FAT to test SCADA checking TAGs, units, scalings, texts, alarm areas etc. We also let the operators get a hands on experience by navigating in a safe environment and let them give their inputs before the functionality and software is locked for site testing.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
I have started my career in automation last year.. Your every presentation is very useful.
Glad to hear that! Best of luck!
In my experience, the secret to a good FAT is to identify and test all functionality. It's usually not possible to reproduce all the inputs, outputs, and interfaces of the destination plant. But identify every type and test a representative sample, and scale your system so that it can handle the full requirement.
Alexander, this is a great observation! In small FAT tests of a single panel, it may practical to test every point and I/O terminal. However, in very large systems, a representative sample, perhaps one point from every I/O card, or verification of power at the "endpoints" per the panel drawings, will give a high probability of suitability for installation in the field. Again, the client has the final say in the scope of the FAT, since they are "footing the bill" for the time it takes to complete the testing.
Can't wait part 2 video
Glad to hear your anticipation, Amin!
Thank you RealPars
Our pleasure, Bitebo! Happy learning.
I would like to see a video on incorporating a battery backup into the PLC. Nice job on the FAT.
Hi Paul!
Thanks for your comment and your suggestion. I will pass this on to our course developers!
Thanks for sharing and happy learning!
Nice. Would like to see more videos .
More to come!
Very useful 👍
Thanks a lot!
Thanks for introducing FAT to me
Our pleasure, Preetam!
I have already done this kind of task for automotive industry in France, and they asked to check the tension too, and in the end you must sign.
Awesome video 🔥 🔥 🔥
Thank you, Amin!
Nice one. would you kindly make a vedio about PLC software based PC
Hi Karim!
Thanks for your comment and your suggestion. I will pass this on to our course developers!
Thanks for sharing and happy learning!
thanks.....Explained Very Nicely.....Really Helpful...…..Keep it up...…Waiting for the Video on SAT (Site Acceptance Test)
Happy to hear that!
I like this vedio because i found it sooo useful
That's great to hear, Hamza!
Hello Realpars. If it's possible kindly make a video for ground bond test. Insulation resistance test. HV test, Megger test, Earthing leakage relay test.
Thank you.
Hi Nalla!
Thanks for your comment and your suggestion. I will pass this on to our course developers!
Thanks for sharing and happy learning!
I believe first step is to check the integrity of wiring and if proper grounding is in place.
I have had bad experience of wrong wiring where short circuit happened just after panel is powered on.
Also in one instance the grounding was not properly fixed and one of the PLC card burnt because of electrostatic discharge.
Thanks for adding that, Sikandar!
Wonderfully explained. #first_to_comment
Thanks for your support!
very good
Thank you!
Nice
Make sure to do a point-to-point test before turning on the main power. Somestimes the connections made during the building of the panel can be wrong.
Thank you, Kevin!
Nice 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you!
Hai, What is Configuration Acceptance Test for PLC?
SA Configuration Acceptance Test for a PLC is a systematic test and/or verification that the configurable parameters in the PLC (IP address, port baud rates, connected device node numbers, etc., meet the values contained in the hardware or configuration specification document.
Hi can anyone tell me how to check pull test (any device available) of the the Connected wire in Terminal block , MCB, PSU, ,,,
If I understand your question correctly, you want to verify that the wires are securely terminated. The "pull test" is actually a very good test to perform, since many times, a panel builder will not tighten the wires per spec. To do a pull test, make sure the power is disconnected from the panel. Then gently tug each wire (small amount force) to see if the wire comes loose from the terminal. If so, reinsert and tighten. If wires do not make good solid contact with the terminals, they could arc, or simply not make contact such that the device wiring prevents proper operation.
@@realpars yeah thanks for the info.i am asking about any device or instruments are there to check pull test.with the equipment not with hands.
👍🏻
🙏🌹🌹
Full point to point wire test should be at least undertaken before power up, this will minimize short circuit faults etc.