Panel indicator lamps

[al695]

Can someone settle an argument about which colours should be used to indicate the state of a devices in a control system.

e.g. according th EN60204 10.3.2 for a circuit tripped on overload this is interpreted as an amber lamp for an abnormal condition, but I would prefer this to be red. The same as with an overtemperature trip.

Where a blocked filter is just a warning indication but does not cause a trip and is given the same colour, amber.

To me a trip requires a higher level of warning of indication and should be red.

Secondly when looking down a row of lights in a switch room the red ones naturaly stand out.

Is EN60204 being interpreted wrongly or have I got to the age where I should pack up me screwdriver and retire.

Al

 

[welshmadness]

We normally use amber for a trip indication (overload, thermistor, seal leak tripped e.t.c.) Red we would use on a e-stop circuit, White would be Power on/Available in auto Green for running.
Dont have the regs you stated with me at the mo, but what we use is agreed with the customers spec.

 

[al695]

Thanks for that.
That's basically how it reads in the standards but I have took a quick poll round some of our panel buiders and the jury is still out.
The colour Red is used for an emergency condition which requires an imediate action from the operator.
Some of the people who operate our equipment would recognise a red lamp as a trip requiring a reset and amber as a warning.
So I think the best thing to do is let the customer decide.

Many thanks again Al

 

[thepurple1]

i work as a BMS engineer and all the panels that i come across the lamps are green is a heathy state and red is a fault,trip, blocked filter basically red needs attention

 

[deakin09]

Thats how it is on are site

green = running healthy

white = power,

amber = process needs a reset,

red lamp = trip,overload,Estop press,

but again if the process that needs a reset is urgent then it will be lit in red, by urgent im mean pottental to trip driffrent parts of the system out i.e pressurised sytems or power over load what ever. hope this helps

regards chris

 

[Nipex83]

Hi just wondering can anybody help with with this question..the job that I'm doing is 2 pumps in a basement that is wired back to a small panel with 2 run lights and 2 trip lights in case of fault..I need to wire in 2 extra trip lights up on the 3rd floor of the building to alarm the owner if the pumps fail what's the best way of doing this?

cheers

 

[Darkwood]

Hi just wondering can anybody help with with this question..the job that I'm doing is 2 pumps in a basement that is wired back to a small panel with 2 run lights and 2 trip lights in case of fault..I need to wire in 2 extra trip lights up on the 3rd floor of the building to alarm the owner if the pumps fail what's the best way of doing this?

cheers

You need to tell us a lot more about the set-up than a general query.

Distance-
Install methods-
Existing control voltage....i could go on so try help us a little bit.

 

[Darkwood]

Indicator lamp colours are recognised as listed above if you use your own code this must be agreed with end user and it should not be ambiguous their should be clear definitions between different conditions and no sharing of colours between differing conditions.

Reasons to change the BS60204 designated coding is the premises that new controls will be in already has a set colour coding that the employers are used to and to change this may lead to confusion. You should be following BS60204 colour coding unless you can justify good reasoning and agree with the end user, of course common sense must prevail when adopting a different code i.e. - Don't pick green for an Emergency condition.

 

[Nipex83]

The supply voltage to the pumps is 230v
the run/ trip lights on the panel is 24v and the distance from the basement to the 3rd floor is about 30 meters of a cable run.. Basically what I need is 2 indicator lights,, one for each pump to let somebody no on the 3rd floor of the building that either 1 or 2 pumps have failed..

 

[Darkwood]

Common a couple of 24v relays in a separate enclosure to each indicator... have a fused 230v supply been switch by each relay and run the outgoing 230v as you would design any other circuit in a building. Note rcd cover may be needed if required by your install methods. The 230v supply will be common to the control panel supply and fully isolate with it.

This is a solution that requires little knowledge of your set-up ..other solutions require more info and we could be here all night asking different questions.

 

[Robotstar5]

You should also consider a "power" indicator (white) and lamp test facility, although they will probably ignore the label stating "test once a week" until the cellar floods with no indication!.

 

[Darkwood]

You only require a lamp test option if you have warning lights though and the test button only has to function the warning lamps although it common to design a full lamp test if your going to fit test option, and yes your right you can usually see the dirty grimy buttons they use and the test button with a dust covering - never been touched.

Lets assume on Nipex83's panel it should already have a test facility as it has trip lights.

 

[Nipex83]

Cheers for the replys

 

[Engineer54]

Indicator Colour lamps coding, ...One of the bain's of every project i've ever worked on. It seems every manufacturer has a different view, so i always end up having to make a project wide standard, and based on what i was familiar with, when working for the company i did all my training with!! Although they used far more colours on the operational indicating flowboards....

Green= on/running, Red = off/stopped, Amber = trip/fault, White= normal operation, Blue= out of sequence.

The ONLY deviation from this colour code, is within the MV switchrooms on our withdrawable VCB/GCB's, ... where Red = danger/energised, Green = safe/open. .... Breaker Push buttons, ....Red = On, Green= Off ... It can get very confusing believe me!! lol!!

 

[Knobhead]

What ever the standards say doesn’t take precedent over company convention.

I got used to:
Green – stopped
Red – running
Amber - starting if it’s a big drive.
Blue – fault

For alarms:
White – nice to know
Amber – still going but needs something doing
Red – too late it’s broken.

Distribution:
Red – ON
Green - OFF