DeltaV™ M-series Traditional I/O

 Decreases capital equipment costs

 Decreases installation time and expense

 Increases productivity

 Increases process availability

Introduction

Traditional I/O is a modular subsystem that offers flexibility 

during installation. It’s designed to be installed in the field, 

near your devices. Traditional I/O is equipped with function 

and field wiring protection keys to ensure that the correct

I/O card is always plugged into the corresponding terminal 

block. Modularity, protection keys, and plug and play 

capabilities make DeltaV™ Traditional I/O a smart choice 

for your process control system. 

Benefits

Decreases capital equipment costs

Full system modularity. The Traditional I/O 

subsystem was designed with your investment in mind. All 

components are fully modular and may be installable 

under power.1 You add I/O interface carriers and I/O 

interfaces in groups of 4, 8, 16, or 32 channels as you 

need them. The modular design enables you to purchase 

the exact amount of I/O cards, 8-wide carriers, 

power/controllers, and 2-wide carriers you need and add 

more DeltaV I/O as your system grows. 

Reduced system footprint. The DeltaV system’s 

state-of-the-art form factor design of the I/O components 

enables you to mount the I/O interface carrier in a junction 

box in the field so you significantly reduce the footprint of 

your equipment and increase valuable control room space 

for other uses. 

Installation. Save on wiring expenses by installing 

Classic Instrumentation in the field, near the actual field 

devices. Mounting the controller with the I/O further 

reduces your wiring expenditures by eliminating the need 

for long runs of multi-cores. The integrated design of the 

Traditional I/O subsystem can eliminate the need for 

marshaling panels. This saves you even more in your total 

capital costs.

The provision of in-line fuses and bussed power saves on 

installation costs compared with external fuses and power 

distribution.

Decreases installation time and expense

Plug-and-play installation saves money. All 

Traditional I/O components plug into the I/O interface 

carrier. You can install the I/O interface carriers to manage 

anticipated growth and postpone the I/O interfaces until 

you’re ready to install your additional field devices.

Phased installation saves time. As soon as you 

mount the I/O interface carrier, you’re ready to begin 

installing the field devices. I/O terminal blocks plug directly 

onto the I/O interface carrier. There is no need to have the 

I/O cards installed. 

1 Refer to Zone 2 installation instructions (12P2046) and/or 

Class 1 Division 2 installation instructions (12P1293) for 

details.

Traditional I/O terminal block.

Keys. Traditional I/O interfaces and terminal blocks have 

I/O function keys. These keys ensure that the correct I/O 

card is always plugged into the corresponding terminal 

block. It’s incredibly easy to use and gives you time to do 

more. 

This design enables you to initially install Traditional I/O 

quickly and efficiently. When you need to replace an I/O 

card, the function key design ensures that you will always 

install it correctly. This keying system provides a safety 

measure by preventing the wrong I/O interface’s being 

installed.

Increases productivity

Real-time, online equipment additions. Online 

addition of new I/O interfaces means your process does 

not get interrupted. As new equipment is added, the 

DeltaV Explorer acknowledges it and assigns it basic 

configuration.

Increases process availability

1:1 Redundancy for Traditional and HART I/O 

cards. DeltaV redundant I/O uses the same Series 2 I/O 

cards as non-redundant I/O. This allows you to leverage 

your investment in installed I/O and in I/O spares. No 

additional configuration is needed when using a redundant 

channel. The redundant terminal blocks provide the same 

field wiring connections as simplex blocks, so there is no 

extra wiring needed. 

Autosense of redundancy. DeltaV autosenses 

redundant I/O, which greatly simplifies the task of adding 

redundancy to the system. The redundant pair of cards is

treated as one card in the system tools.

Automatic Switchover. Should a primary I/O card fail, 

the system automatically switches to the "standby" card 

without user intervention. The operator is given clear 

notification of a switchover at the operator display

Product Description

The Traditional I/O subsystem includes:

 I/O interface carrier (a DIN rail surface mounted) on 

which all I/O related components are installed.

 Bulk AC to 24 VDC power supply for field devices.

 An I/O interface consisting of an I/O card and an I/O 

terminal block.

 A variety of analog and discrete I/O cards enclosed in 

a common form factor that easily plugs into the I/O 

interface carrier.

 A variety of I/O terminal blocks mounted on the I/O