Control deadband tutorial

The dual valve PCD-Series maintains fast, precise closed system pressure control with minimal gas waste. This stable control is primarily due to a well-balanced PD²I algorithm. However, changing ambient conditions can still cause oscillation loops.

Controller deadband creates a ± band of change around the chosen setpoint, minimizing oscillation loops in dual valve control systems. This provides stability in fluctuations systems by limiting the changes a controller will respond to.

The following instructions explain how to set control deadband.

Video tutorial

Video transcript

“Hello, my name is Michael Whiteside, I am an applications engineer here at Alicat Scientific. In this video, I am going to show you how to set up a control deadband on your Alicat device. Now let’s get started.

In order to establish a control deadband on your Alicat device, we will hit menu (bottom right button), control (top left button), advanced control (bottom middle button), control options (bottom middle button), and deadband at the top here (top middle button).

Now what this deadband functionality does is it tells the device not to change its valve position if the flowrate is within the deadband of the setpoint. If we give a 1 SLPM deadband, that means if the flowrate is within 1 SLPM of the setpoint, the device will not adjust its valve.

That is how to establish a control deadband.”

Step-by-step instructions (front panel)

Press The bottom right hand button on the main screen for the “MENU”.
Press the top left hand button for the “CONTROL” selection.
Press the bottom middle button for “CONTROL OPTS” selection.
Press the bottom middle button for “ADV CONTROL” selection.
Press the top middle button for “DEAD BAND” selection.
Use the select digit and the up and down buttons to set your desired range of setpoint deadband.
Press the bottom right hand button for “SET” Selection.
Your control deadband setting has been applied to your controller.

Contact an applications engineer for support