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4
Connections
4.1 Front Panel Connections
For each output, the load should be connected to the positive (red) and negative (black)
terminals marked OUTPUT.
Both are fully floating and either can be connected to ground or to a terminal of another output.
Remote sense connections to the load, if required, are made from the positive (+) and negative
(-) SENSE terminals. Switch the SENSE switch to REMOTE when remote sensing is required.
Switch back to LOCAL when remote sensing is not in use. See section 11.1 for more
information.
The grey terminal marked with an Earth symbol is connected to the chassis and safety
earth ground.
4.2 Rear Panel Connections (MX180TP)
The MX180T has only an AC power connection socket on the rear panel. The MX180TP has
duplicate power and sense terminals on the rear panel and offers full remote control capabilities
through USB, RS232, GPIB and LAN interfaces.
All interfaces are fully isolated from the power supply output terminals. USB, RS232 and GPIB
interfaces are connected to chassis ground. The LAN interface is isolated by standard network
transformers.
Rear connections for the MX180TP are detailed in section 12.1.
4.3 Terminal Voltages and Safety
The outputs of the power supply are fully floating and may connected to other equipment resulting in
the voltage appearing at a terminal being greater than the output voltage alone.
The maximum permissible voltage between any terminal and earth ground (
) is 300VDC;
the maximum permissible voltage between either terminal of one output and either terminal
of another output on the same power supply is also 300VDC.
WARNING!
Such voltages are exceedingly hazardous and great care should be taken by the user.
The front terminals are intrinsically touch proof, but hazard may still exist depending upon the type
of connection made to the terminal. On no account should the connections be touched under such
use.
For the MX180TP only, voltages appearing on the front terminals will also appear on the
rear terminals. The rear terminals have protective walls but are not intrinsically touch proof,
and the instrument should always be operated with the rear terminal cover fitted if voltages
above 70 volts DC could be present.
It is good practice to always keep the terminal cover fitted.
If any hazardous voltages could exist, all connections to the front or rear terminals must be made
with the power switched off on all voltage sources.
Note that, for output 1 only, voltages up to 120 volts can be set. As an additional warning to
the user, a flashing high voltage lightning symbol will appear on the display whenever a
voltage above 60 volts is set.
4.4 Output Protection
Each output is protected against the application of external forward voltages up to 140 volts for
output 1, 70 volts for output 2, and 16 volts for output 3. Each output is protected against the
application of reverse voltages by a clamp diode with a maximum continuous current capability
of 3 amps.
Further protection is provided by OVP and OCP trips and an over-temperature trip.
