Schneider / Phaseo power supplies

The last two digits of a Phaseo part number are the output current in tenths of an amp. ABL8REM240 30 is 3 A and ABL8MEM240 12 is 1.2 A.

Phaseo is the Schneider DIN rail power supply range, ABL1, ABL7 and ABL8, with the newer ABL2. Regulated switch mode supplies feeding control circuits across New Zealand panels.

Reading a Phaseo part number

Take ABL8RPS24030.

The current digits

So you can read the rating straight off the number. 240 for the volts, then the amps to one decimal place.

Note ABL8REM24030 and ABL8RPS24030 are both 24 V 3 A and are different supplies. The three letters in the middle are the family, and that is where the real difference sits.

Two families, and the difference matters

The universal range runs off 500 V

The most useful difference, and it is easy to miss.

A universal Phaseo takes 100 to 500 V, single or three phase. So it can run directly off two phases of a 400 V supply with no control transformer.

That removes a transformer, its enclosure space and its fusing from a panel. On a machine with no 230 V supply available, it is often the reason the universal range was specified in the first place.

Substituting a modular supply, which is 100 to 240 V only, will not work on that panel. Same output rating, wrong input range.

Check the input voltage on the label before matching on the output.

Screw mounting on the modular range

A small point that matters in a crowded enclosure. The modular and optimum supplies can be fixed by screw or on DIN rail; the universal range is DIN rail only.

If the existing supply is screwed to a backplate rather than clipped to a rail, that narrows the options.

What the universal range does that a basic supply does not

From the Schneider description of the ABL8RPS24030, and these are the features people rely on without knowing it.

The 150 percent power reserve is the one to check

A panel full of contactor coils and relay modules draws far more at switch-on than in steady running.

A supply with a 150 percent reserve rides through that. A basic supply of the same nominal rating may not.

So a panel that has run for years and then starts tripping on a cold morning, when everything energises at once, is often a supply substitution rather than a fault.

Same point as the ABB CP-C power reserve on our ABB power supply page.

Automatic and manual reset are different

Worth checking. Most Phaseo supplies have automatic protection reset. A few have automatic or manual reset.

Manual reset means someone has to attend. On an unmanned site that is a real operational difference, and it is not obvious from the model number.

Derating starts at 50 degrees C

Schneider specifies the nominal ambient temperature for the Universal range as 50 degrees C, with derating necessary above that.

That is more generous than several competing ranges, where derating starts at 40 degrees C. Worth knowing when comparing.

The intensive operation warning

Schneider specifically flags intensive operation: output current permanently close to the nominal current, combined with a high ambient temperature.

Those two together are what shortens a power supply's life. Either alone is usually fine.

So if a supply keeps failing in one particular panel, the question is not just the ambient temperature or the loading, it is both at once. The fix is usually a larger supply rather than the same one again.

That is a conversation worth having before selling the third identical replacement.

Schneider recommends specific upstream protection

Useful and rarely quoted. For the ABL8RPS24030, Schneider recommends these thermal magnetic circuit breakers for protection:

A switch mode supply has a high inrush at switch-on, so the upstream device has to tolerate it without tripping while still protecting the circuit. That is why Schneider names specific parts rather than a current rating.

If a new supply trips its upstream breaker on switch-on, the breaker is the thing to look at.

Converter modules extend the output voltages

A capability specific to the universal range.

The universal supplies output 24 V, and Schneider provides 5 to 15 V by converter modules, plus 48 V.

So a panel needing an odd control voltage may not need a separate supply. A converter module on the existing 24 V universal supply can produce it.

Schneider describes these as function modules that extend what the supply does. They are separate parts.

Confirmed references

ABL8RPS24030 physical data

RCM certification is the one that matters in New Zealand. If a panel needs to comply locally, check the mark rather than assuming.

The generations

ABL1 and ABL7 are superseded and still widely installed. If a panel has one, a like-for-like used unit avoids checking whether the current equivalent fits the same footprint and terminals.

What to check when replacing a Phaseo

The input voltage range. Universal against modular is 500 V against 240 V.

The output voltage setting. If the existing unit was adjusted up to compensate for volt drop, the replacement arrives at default and devices at the far end may drop out.

Whether the relay contact is wired. The universal range has one and the modular range may not.

Whether a function or converter module is fitted.

Reset behaviour. Automatic or manual.

The panel temperature, if the supply has failed more than once.

Sizing a replacement

Two points, the same on any brand.

Inrush beats steady state. Contactor coils, relay modules and PLC supplies all draw more at switch-on. That is what the 150 percent reserve exists for.

Leave headroom. Panels get added to, and a supply sized exactly to today's load combined with a warm cabinet is the intensive operation case Schneider warns about.

What we can supply

Current production. The ABL8 and ABL2 ranges across modular, optimum and universal families, plus converter modules, function modules and ABT transformers. Quoted with a delivered lead time.

Superseded. ABL1 and ABL7 supplies. Surplus and tested used, which avoids a panel modification.

Related

Schneider overview. Zelio relays and smart relays and TeSys contactors, the loads these usually feed.

For power supplies from other brands see ABB CP, Phoenix Contact QUINT and TRIO and Omron S8.

Send us your part numbers

Check the input range before matching on output. A universal Phaseo running off 400 V cannot be replaced by a modular one of the same output rating. Quotes in NZD including GST.

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Industech is an independent supplier of new, surplus and used industrial automation equipment. We are not an authorised distributor of, approved by, sanctioned by, or affiliated with Schneider Electric. Schneider Electric and Phaseo are trademarks of Schneider Electric. All trademarks, brand names and part numbers are the property of their respective owners and are used here for identification purposes only.