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An intrinsically safe pressure transmitter is designed to operate in hazardous environments with flammable gases or dust. It limits electrical and thermal energy to levels incapable of causing ignition, ensuring safe operation without the need for heavy protective enclosures.

Intrinsic safety involves designing devices to operate on low energy levels, preventing ignition within hazardous areas. Explosion-proof protection, however, uses robust enclosures to contain any internal explosions, preventing them from igniting the surrounding atmosphere.

Yes, an intrinsically safe barrier is essential. It regulates the electrical power supplied to the transmitter, ensuring energy levels remain below ignition thresholds in hazardous areas.

Transmitters should have certifications such as ATEX and IECEx, indicating compliance with international safety standards for use in hazardous locations.

The calibration frequency depends on factors like industry standards, usage frequency, environmental conditions, and manufacturer recommendations. While some industries mandate annual calibration, pressure transducers and transmitters used frequently or in harsh environments might require calibration every three to six months.

Absolute pressure is the measurement of pressure relative to a perfect vacuum (zero pressure). It represents the total pressure exerted by a fluid or gas, including atmospheric pressure.

Gauge pressure measures pressure relative to ambient atmospheric pressure, meaning it shows the pressure above or below atmospheric pressure. In contrast, absolute pressure includes atmospheric pressure in its measurement, using a perfect vacuum as its reference point.

Absolute pressure is crucial in processes where variations in atmospheric pressure can affect measurements, such as in vacuum systems, altimeters for aviation, and certain industrial applications. It provides a consistent reference unaffected by environmental changes.

The calibration of USB transducers is quite involved and includes pressure testing at various temperatures from -20°C to +80°C to load a full temperature/pressure map into the EEPROM using our proprietary software, and proprietary calibration equipment, if this is not done correctly then the transducer may be inaccurate or even stop working. Any alteration of the calibration offsets could even render the unit as useless!

Any calibration laboratory will be able to check the calibration of the USB transmitters and assuming that they are within the limits alter the calibration date to show that they have been checked, but any alteration to the parameters will require the units being returned to the factory, or to our Authorised Calibration Centres. (The calibration lab will need to contact the factory for the password to change the calibration date)

The ESI-USB© software has been tested on all versions of Windows from Windows 3.11 through to Windows 11. However, we will only offer support for Windows 8.1 onwards. It will not work with Android, IOS or Linux.

It is not possible to run any USB device with a normal USB cable that is over 5m in length.
The USB specification limits the length of a cable between USB 2.0 devices to 5 meters. In other words, you cannot just connect a bunch of extension cables together and run them 10m to another room. However, you can connect a 2m cable with a 2.5m extension cable for a total of 4.5m, which is below the maximum cable length for USB 2.0.

It is possible to extend beyond the 5m limit by using active cables. USB active extension cables contain electronics that regenerate the USB signal. Active cables are essentially 1 port USB hubs. You can use a regular USB cable in conjunction with an active cable as long as the regular cable is not more than 5 meters long. Typically, active cables are bus-powered cables. To ensure you receive the full 500mA power of a USB port, consider purchasing an active cable that includes a separate power adapter.

Just like there is a limit on a regular (passive) USB cable, there is also a limit on how long an active cable can be. This number depends if you are using a regular cable with an active cable or not. If you are not using a regular cable, then the maximum active cable length for USB 2.0 is 30 meters. If you are using a regular cable (max length of 5 meters) with an active cable, then the maximum length for USB 2.0 is 25 meters

You can connect up to 16 USB transmitters at once, however, you will only be able to start and stop the transmitters at the same time, you will not have independent control of each transmitter.

All transducers from version 2 firmware onwards, use native Windows drivers. All units with version 1 firmware will need to have the FTDI drivers installed. These can be found, once the USB software has been installed, at C:\Program Files\ESI Technology\ESI-USB\Drivers\CDM21226_Setup.exe

If your software looks like this:

Then you are using version 1 software, please contact the factory, to obtain the download password for the very latest version of the software, please remember to have the serial number of your USB transmitter to hand.

Unlike analogue pressure transmitters where you need to match the pressure range exactly, with the USB transmitter you would select the next pressure range over your working pressure, in this case for 800 bar you would use a 1000 bar unit. The software will just display the pressure seen on the screen.

Please contact the factory on sales@esi-tec.com and describe the feature you require. We regularly update the software, and collect all requests from end users for consideration. However, not all requests are possible.

Just modify the Report Template provided with the ESI USB Software at C:\Users\Public\Documents\ESI\ESI-USB\Report.dot