WAGO Rail-Mount Terminal Block System: At Its Best

Table of contents

RoadTest: WAGO Rail-Mount Terminal Block System

Author: meera_hussien

Creation date:

Evaluation Type: Connectors & Cable

Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: False

What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: The other parts or products which are comparable to this product are the Phoenix Contact and Weidmuller

What were the biggest problems encountered?: There were no big problems which I encounter except that I feel that if the kit comes with a few jumper wires and terminal block jumpers would have been better.

Detailed Review:

WAGO Rail-Mount Terminal Block System: At Its Best

Introduction

          Wago has been in the industry for many years, to be correct since 1951. It has come through tremendous innovation. I personally came to know about Wago, back in 2014. That's when I joined as a DCS system engineer at Yokogawa Kontrol Malaysia. During this time I was involved mainly on the hardware side of the DCS. So I deal a lot in building panels and systems for plants. The first project to which I was attached as a DCS system engineer is the Shell Malikai Project. This project has lots of I/Os. And we decided to use Wago terminal blocks for the entire plant. The reason was TRUST and RELIABILITY. The decision was made by my late supervisor Sokkalingam Ramanathan who has vast experience in DCS fields. He used to say this about Wago terminal blocks "If it works then it works, if it doesn't work and it will never work". That's the trust that was built between Yokogawa and Wago. For the Malikai project, we have about 10,000 I/Os and all of them use the Wago terminal block. Till now we don't hear any complaints from the customer about the Wago terminal block. This is my personal experience using the Wago terminal block, others may have a different opinion. And the other cool thing about Wago is their cute screwdriver(i will share the picture later).

Getting Started

          Now let's talk about the Roadtest test. The video below is the unboxing of the WAGO Rail-Mount Terminal Block System. 

The kit comes with mostly all the terminal blocks which are commonly used, in my opinion, and are very useful. The only thing that they have missed to include is the terminal block jumper. In my opinion, if the terminal block jumper were included, it will make this kit complete. Below is the picture of the Wago screwdriver and also the terminal jumper.

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Putting It Together

          Once I have finished unboxing. The next step is to put together all the parts together. For this, i referred to the Wago Roadtest sample configuration graphic, as shown in the figure below.

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The video below shows how I put all the parts together.

To assemble the devices is very straightforward and easy to handle as well due to the design. The next step is to test the devices.

Testing The Device

          Once all the parts are in place, we can now test the device. One thing that I felt that needs to be included in this kit is the Terminal block jumper. As can be seen in the picture below, the terminal works by having one side as the input and the other side as the output. For the testing, I first powered up the DC power supply. Connecting the wire to the power supply is straightforward as you only need to apply a little bit of force and the wire be gripped at the connecter. And if the wire needs to be disconnected, press the orange colour rectangular with a flat screwdriver and the wire will be released. When powered up, the green color led will light up, which indicated that the power supply is working fine.

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And when measured with the multimeter it shows an output voltage of 24V. Next is to test the relay module. The module is as shown in the figure below.

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The model of the Relay Module is 857-304. The input voltage for this module is 24V and it can control the output device with up to a max rating of 250V AC / 6A. One of the features which I like the most about this relay module is that the relay is removable. Most of the time the relay will work fine but in case you accidentally burned the relay, it can be replaced with a new one in less than a minute because the relay is pluggable. The figure below shows the relay module which I have removed from its place.

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 Next, we will try to check the output contacts of the relay before and after powering up. Upon powering up the relay module, an orange light will light up which indicated that the relay module is healthy (as shown in the figure below). The video below demonstrates the functionality of the relay module.

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And the video below is the test before powering up the relay module.

Next is to test the DC-DC Converter. The module number is 786-2801. This module is responsible to convert the input voltage from the range of 10V DC to 30V DC to 5V DC. Below is the image of the module.

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On both the left and right sides, there are 4 connectors on each side. On the right side from the bottom, is V input. The bottom two is N.C whereby is not connected anywhere. And on the left side, the 2 connectors from the bottom is for the output and the top two connectors are for the DC O.K functionality. Basically, if the module is working fine, we can see the same Vin voltage on the DC O.K connectors as well. And on top of it, there is an indicator led on the top of the module. There are two LEDs actually. If the module is working fine, a green led will light up and if there is any short circuit the red light will light up. The figure and video show the testing of the module.

The green LED indicates that the module is working in good condition.

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The red LED indicates that there is short circuit on the output.

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And below is the measured output voltage.

And below is the voltage measured at the DC O.K terminal

Conclusion

Overall, testing this kit was a good experience. As mentioned before two items that would make this kit complete are the Wago screw and the terminal jumper. Other than that this kit would give a better hands-on feeling of what Wago product is all about. Not 100% but at least it would give a feel-good start about Wago products. Personally, I have worked with Wago products for quite some time and have no plan to switch to other brands in the near future. And would definitely like to work on more different Wago products. And definitely, this kit would be a good start for someone who wish to get started with WAGO.

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