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EDWartens UK

Free course · Instrumentation

Instrumentation for PLC Engineers

The half of the loop that is not code. Follow one measurement from the transmitter in the field, down the 4-20 mA loop, into the analog card, through NORM_X and SCALE_X into engineering units, out again to a valve, and back to the control room when the reading is wrong.

See the modules

Free to learn. Verifiable certificate £19 when you pass the final exam (optional, VAT included).

Level
Intermediate
Modules
12
Video
11 hours
Price
Free

Outcome

What you will be able to do

Trace a control loop end to end and say who owns each part of it; read a transmitter's range and predict what the PLC will read at any current; wire two-, three- and four-wire transmitters and diagnose a loop from its current alone; convert between milliamps, percent and engineering units in both directions; scale an analog input with NORM_X and SCALE_X and unscale an output to a valve; build alarm levels with deadband and detect a transmitter you cannot trust; read a P&ID and an ISA tag; choose between a switch and a transmitter and wire PNP or NPN correctly; put PID_Compact on a real process variable; and work backwards from a wrong number on the HMI to the fault in the field.

  • Trace one loop from sensing element to final element and say which half a wrong reading is in
  • Read a transmitter's range and span, and work out the process variable at any current
  • Wire two-, three- and four-wire transmitters, and tell a fault current from a measurement
  • Convert between milliamps, percent of span and engineering units without looking anything up
  • Scale an analog input with NORM_X and SCALE_X, and unscale a demand back out to a valve
  • Alarm on the scaled value with a deadband, and hold a safe state when the signal cannot be trusted
  • Read a P&ID and an ISA tag, and find the card and channel on the loop sheet
  • Put PID_Compact on a real process variable, tune it, and say when a loop should not be PID at all
  • Work backwards from a wrong number on the screen to the fault, cheapest check first

Software

TIA Portal V17+ (21-day trial) with S7-PLCSIM for the scaling, alarm and PID exercises. The instrumentation modules need nothing installed.

Hardware

None. A multimeter and a loop calibrator are useful if you have them, and every exercise is written to work without them.

Syllabus

12 modules

Each module has video lessons, notes and a short quiz. The final exam closes the course.

  1. 1The Signal Path: Field Device to PLC to Valve3 lessons
  2. 2Transmitters: What the Field Device Actually Sends4 lessons
  3. 3The 4-20 mA Loop and How It Is Wired5 lessonsLab
  4. 4Percent, Milliamps and Process Variable4 lessons
  5. 5Into the PLC: Analog Cards, Raw Counts, NORM_X and SCALE_X3 lessonsLab
  6. 6Out of the PLC: Unscaling, I/P Converters and Valves4 lessons
  7. 7Alarms, Interlocks and a Signal You Cannot Trust4 lessonsLab
  8. 8Reading the Drawings: P&ID and the Loop Sheet3 lessonsLab
  9. 9The Other Half: Switches, Proximity Sensors and Encoders5 lessons
  10. 10Closing the Loop: PID_Compact on a Real Measurement3 lessonsLab
  11. 11Calibration and Finding the Fault from the Control Room3 lessons
  12. 12Final Assessment1 lesson

How it works

How this course works

  1. Watch the video lessonsOne module at a time, at your own pace.
  2. Take the module quizA short quiz at the end of each module shows what stuck.
  3. Keep your notesWrite in My notes beside each module and ask the trainer if you are stuck.
  4. Practise in the labOptionalTry a task from the module in the EDWartens Lab, in your browser.
  5. Sit the final examPass it once you have been through the modules.
  6. Certificate, if you want oneOptionalPaid, and only after you pass. Anyone can check it online.

EDWartens Lab

Practise this in the EDWartens Lab

Calibrate a 4 to 20 mA transmitter, tune a level or flow loop and read the trend in the Lab's process simulator.

Works alongside Instrumentation for PLC Engineers. The Lab is process control practice in your browser: no install, no hardware, free to use. Sign in as a learner and it opens with your account.

Open the free lab See the Lab
Process control: Tune a real process loop.

Levels to try with this course

Optional. Skip it whenever you like: it never blocks your progress or your certificate.

Why practise in a lab

Technical work is judged on what you can do: wiring, commissioning, finding a fault. Doing a task yourself teaches more than watching it a second time, and a lab lets you try it safely before you meet real equipment. It does not replace working on real hardware.

  • Practise safely, so a mistake costs nothing.
  • The lab checks your work like a site test, so you know when it is right.
  • Free, in your browser, with nothing to install.

Certificate

An optional certificate when you pass

Learning is free. Pass the final exam and you can have a certificate for £19, including VAT, with a number employers can check online. It records that you completed a free online course; it is not a regulated qualification or a CPD certificate.

  • Your name, the course, its study time and your final exam score
  • A unique certificate number and a QR code to its verification page
  • Issued by Wartens Ltd; add it to your LinkedIn profile in one click
  • Pay now or after you pass: it is issued the moment you pass the final

How the certificate works

Sample certificate for Instrumentation for PLC Engineers

Credits

Who made the lessons

The video lessons belong to their creators. EDWartens wrote the study plan, notes, quizzes and the final exam.

  • Instrumentation Tools

    the 4-20 mA loop, transmitter wiring, the percent and process variable calculations, control valves, P&ID reading, calibration and the loop in a PLC or DCS

  • Instrumentation Academy

    the animated fundamentals: what instrumentation is, pressure transmitters, why 4-20 mA, proximity sensors, I/P converters, positioners and P&ID drawings

  • Hegamurl

    analog processing in TIA Portal: NORM_X and SCALE_X, output unscaling, and PID_Compact with its tuning

Questions

About this course

Is this an instrumentation course or a PLC course?
It is the join between them, written for the PLC side. There is a full Industrial Instrumentation course in this catalogue that covers pressure, level, flow and temperature measurement in depth, and this course does not repeat it. What this one does is follow one signal all the way through: what the transmitter sends, how the loop carries it, what the analog card turns it into, how you scale it, how you alarm on it, how it gets back out to a valve, and how you find the fault when the number is wrong.
I have never touched an instrument. Can I follow it?
Yes. Nothing about instrumentation is assumed, and the arithmetic is done in full every time rather than left as a formula. What is assumed is the programming side: you can write ladder logic in TIA Portal and you have seen an analog input before. If you have not, do the Siemens TIA Portal course first.
Do I need a multimeter, a loop calibrator or a real transmitter?
No. They help if you have them and the course points out where, but every exercise is written to be done with S7-PLCSIM and forced values instead. The scaling, alarm and PID work is all provable in simulation.
Do I need to buy TIA Portal?
No. Siemens publishes a free 21-day trial with S7-PLCSIM included, and it needs only a free Siemens account. Modules 1 to 4 need no software at all, so install it when you reach module 5.
Does it cover HART and fieldbus?
It covers what a PLC engineer meets: that HART rides on the same two wires as the 4-20 mA signal, what it lets somebody change in the field without telling you, and why that matters to your scaling. Configuring HART devices and designing fieldbus segments is instrument engineering and is not in this course.
Is the course really free?
Yes. Every module, every practice task and the final assessment. You create an account so your progress is saved and the assessments can be marked. The only paid item is the certificate, and only if you decide you want it.
What certificate do I get?
An EDWartens Certificate of Completion, issued when you have worked through every module and passed the final assessment, with a unique number anyone can verify on our site. It is not a vendor credential and we will never describe it as one.

The Professional Module is five live days of Siemens PLC, HMI and SCADA with an instructor, then a resume session and a CPD certificate.

See the Professional Module