Powering Resilience: Unveiling the GE Duo - IC698PSA350 & IC698PSD350

Powering Resilience: Unveiling the GE Duo - IC698PSA350 & IC698PSD350

An engineer is designing the control system for a new water treatment plant. The PLC hardware will be the robust Emerson (formerly GE) PAC Systems RX3i. The critical decision: How to power it? The control room has standard AC power, but the remote pump stations run on secure 24V DC battery banks.

Q: What is the primary difference between the IC698PSA350 and the IC698PSD350?

A: The core distinction is their input voltage. The IC698PSA350 is designed for standard 85-264V AC input, making it the go-to choice for control cabinets connected to the main AC grid. Its sibling, the IC698PSD350, accepts 24V DC input, serving applications powered by DC sources like batteries, rectifiers, or solar systems. Both, however, are 150W redundant power supplies for the RX3i platform.

Q: Why would I need a specialized DC power supply like the IC698PSD350 instead of just using an external AC-to-DC converter with an IC698PSA350?

A: Using the native IC698PSD350 offers integrated, reliable, and efficient DC power conversion directly within the PLC rack. It eliminates the need for an additional, separate converter component, simplifies system design, reduces potential failure points, and is engineered for seamless monitoring and redundancy within the RX3i ecosystem, just like the IC698PSA350.

Core Specifications

Why Choose the IC698PSA350?

For the vast majority of industrial installations, the IC698PSA350 is the premier choice for several compelling reasons:

Ubiquitous Compatibility: It plugs directly into the ubiquitous AC mains power found in every factory and plant control room, requiring no intermediate conversion.

Engineered for Critical Uptime: When paired with the IC698CRE030 redundancy chassis, the IC698PSA350 enables a true N+1 hots-wappable power system, eliminating the power supply as a single point of failure.

Proven Reliability: As a cornerstone of the RX3i platform, the IC698PSA350 benefits from a design proven in countless mission-critical applications worldwide, from power generation to pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Simplified Maintenance: Its AC input design aligns with standard industrial electrical practices, making troubleshooting and replacement straightforward for plant electricians.

The Synergistic Relationship

The IC698PSA350 and IC698PSD350 are not competitors but strategic partners designed for a unified system architecture. Their relationship is defined by functional parity and input flexibility.

Identical Role & Output: Both serve the exact same purpose: providing clean, regulated, and redundant power to the RX3i backplane and modules. They deliver identical output specifications.

Shared Infrastructure: They are both installed into the same IC698CRE030 redundancy chassis. A system can even mix them in a redundant pair if the application has dual power sources (e.g., one AC, one DC backup).

System-Wide Cohesion: Whether you deploy the IC698PSA350 in the main AC-fed control center or the IC698PSD350 in a DC-powered remote substation, they ensure consistent, high-availability power across the entire distributed control system.

Conclusion & Outlook

The IC698PSA350 solidly holds its market position as the standard-bearer for high-availability AC power in modern PAC Systems RX3i installations. Its importance cannot be overstated; it is the engineered heart that powers the logic controlling essential global infrastructure. While the IC698PSD350 expertly covers niche DC requirements, the IC698PSA350 remains the default, trusted choice for core automation applications. Looking ahead, as the installed base of RX3i systems continues to operate for decades in critical roles, the IC698PSA350 will remain a vital component, ensuring that the legacy of GE and Emerson's robust industrial computing endures. Its design philosophy of resilient, redundant power continues to set the standard for mission-critical control.

GENERAL ELECTRIC IC698ETM001 PAC System RX7i Ethernet interface module

The GENERAL ELECTRIC IC698ETM001 is a high-performance, dual-port Ethernet interface module designed for the PAC System RX7i platform. It provides robust 10/100 M bps connectivity, enabling seamless integration with supervisory systems, HMI s, and other networked devices through standard Ethernet/IP and Mod bus TCP protocols.

GENERAL ELECTRIC IC698CRE030 Pentium-M redundancy CPU

The GENERAL ELECTRIC IC698CRE030 is a critical redundancy chassis component designed for the PAC Systems RX7i platform, serving as the physical and logical backbone for implementing fault-tolerant CPU configurations. This specialized module enables the deployment of a primary and backup Pentium-M processor pair, facilitating automatic fail over and uninterrupted operation in mission-critical applications.

GENERAL ELECTRIC IC698CPE020 CPU Processor Module

The GENERAL ELECTRIC IC698CPE020 is a high-performance Pentium-M based CPU processor module for the PAC Systems RX7i platform, featuring 32 MB of user memory and executing control logic at speeds up to 166 MHz. This module supports the PAC Systems' high-availability architecture when paired with redundancy components, while providing native Ethernet connectivity, extensive I/O control capabilities, and robust diagnostic functions.