Influence of the mains frequency 50/60 Hz
Stationary electrical devices are usually supplied directly or via UPS from the building supply. There, 110 … 240 V AC is common worldwide, although 50 Hz is used as the mains frequency in many countries and 60 Hz in some. Power supplies/voltage transformers deliver a highly smoothed DC power on the output side, e.g., when converting 230 V AC to 24 V DC. However, in areas where supply lines are laid, 50 or 60 Hz radiation remains, which affects grounding/FE/PE, metallic structures, communication and signal lines – if no shielding measures have been taken. Since building PE/FE is therefore usually also exposed to the base frequency (and its harmonics) as a selected interference sink, this interference signal can in turn enter the signal flow via the PE connection connected to an ELM3xxx terminal, for example.
To eliminate/attenuate this interference signal from analog signals, analog input devices have at least a (digital) 50 and 60 Hz filter.
- It is advisable to set this to the mains frequency of the respective country of use
50 Hz: Europe, Australia, China, India, Africa, …
60 Hz: North/South America, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, … - If a different filter is used for signal-related reasons, e.g. 3 kHz, band-pass, … check the signal to see whether the local mains frequency is interfering and whether several (digital) filters may have to be used in succession.