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 

interface carrier that can be pre-wired before I/O card 

installation.

A Traditional I/O card easily plugs into an I/O carrier

I/O Cards

A variety of analog and discrete I/O cards are available to 

meet your specific requirements. The following cards 

support simplex or redundant installation:

 AI 4-20 mA HART 8 channels

 AO-4-20 mA HART 8 channels

 DI, 24 VDC Dry Contact, 8-channels

 DO 24 VDC High Side, 8-channels

The following I/O cards are supported in simplex format to 

meet your field wiring needs.

 AI 4-20 mA HART 16 channels

 AI Isolated, 4 channels

 RTD, 8-channels

 Thermocouple, 8- channels

 Millivolt, 8-channels

 DI, High Density, 32-channels

 DI 24 VDC Isolated, 8-channels

 Multi-Function, 4 channels (Isolated DI)

 Sequence of Event, 16 channels (DI 24 VDC)

 DI 120 VAC Low Side Detection, 8-channels

 DI 120 VAC Isolated , 8-channels

 DO, High Density, 32-channels

 DO 24 VDC Isolated, 8-channels

 DO 120/230 VAC High Side, 8 channels

 DO 120/230 Isolated, 8 channels

All I/O cards are enclosed in a common form factor that 

plugs into the I/O interface carrier. The housing is clearly 

labeled with the enclosed I/O card type. All cards have 

power and internal error indicators. Eight channel cards 

have clearly visible channel status LEDs.

All cards meet ISA G3 corrosion specifications by the 

careful selection of superior electronic components and 

the use of conformal coating.

Pulse Counters are available on most DI cards. The 

supported maximum frequency varies from 0.1 Hz on AC 

signals to 75 or 120 Hz on 24 VDC inputs. For higher 

pulse counts up to 50 KHz, use the Multi-Function card’s 

high speed pulse input. 

DeltaV provides control module level time stamping for log 

events and alarms. For greater event resolution the 16 

channel Sequence of Events DI card can provide signal 

driven events to a resolution of +/- 0.25 ms per card, or 

within 1 ms per controller. Please refer to the Sequence 

of Events PDS for more information on Sequence of Event 

data collection and system options for this feature.

I/O Card Redundancy

Redundant I/O cards are available for critical applications. 

The same card can be used in simplex or redundant 

applications. When installed on a two-wide redundant 

terminal block, the cards are recognized as a redundant 

pair by the controller. The controller scans each card and 

determines which card is acting as the active interface. 

When a fault is detected, the system automatically 

switches to the standby I/O card. 

DeltaV Control modules reference simplex and redundant 

I/O channels identically and there is no special 

configuration required to take advantage of redundancy. 

Switchover of a redundant I/O card is completed within 

two scans of the I/O bus. Make-before-break contacts 

ensure digital field instruments remain powered and the 

process is undisturbed. Analog output signals are briefly 

driven by both cards for < 5 ms during switchover of the 

card.

Hardware Alerts automatically report hardware integrity 

errors for both the primary and secondary cards. Any 

event that causes a switchover is also reported 

automatically through the system hardware alerts and is 

logged in the Event Chronicle. 

Events that can cause a switchover include.

 Hardware failure within the active card.

 Communications failure between the active card and 

the controller.

 Detection of a fault in the field wiring

A switchover may also be initiated from the diagnostics 

explorer, and the health and status of both cards and their 

channels are available in the diagnostics explorer.

The system automatically commissions a new standby 

card. In safe areas, failed cards can be replaced under 

power. In hazardous areas, appropriate installation 

procedures must be followed.

 Fused 8-Channel Terminal Block

 AI 8-Channel Terminal Block

 AI 16-channel Terminal Block

 4-wire AI 16-channel Terminal Block

 Discrete 32-Channel Terminal Block 

 Isolated Input Terminal Block

 RTD/Resistance Terminal Block

 Thermocouple Terminal Block

The following redundant I/O terminal blocks are available 

on some I/O interfaces, allowing a pair of cards to be 

installed as a redundant pair.

 Redundant AI 8-Channel Terminal Block 

 Redundant AO 8-Channel Terminal Block

 Redundant Discrete 8-Channel Terminal Block 

The table on the following page lists the compatible 

terminal blocks for each card, along with the cards unique 

key positions. The first terminal block listed is the 

recommended terminal block. 

In addition to standard signal wiring, some cards may also 

be ordered with Mass Termination blocks that allow these 

cards to be connected to M-Series Mass Connection 

Solution or to third party wiring solution, mounted in an 

adjacent cabinet in order to meet special signal 

conditioning or for optimizing field wiring solutions. Please 

refer to the PDS M-series Mass Connection Solution or to 

the Alliance Program website for details on approved 3rd

party products.

 10-pin Mass Termination Block 

 16-pin Mass Termination Block 

 24-pin Mass Termination Block

 40-pin Mass Termination Block

The keying mechanism consists of two keying posts that 

rotate and lock into the terminal block base. Each post 

has 6 positions: A-F and 1-6. Each card is assigned a 

unique key which is marked on the side of the I/O card:

Terminal Block keying example

The keys prevent installation of an incorrect card, and the 

graphical information on the card makes it easy to 

determine if a keyed slot will accept a particular card.

There are 8 different I/O terminal blocks available to meet 

the wiring needs of field signals. 

 8-Channel Terminal Block