Introduction
 Traditional I/O is a modular subsystem that offers flexibility 
during installation. It’s designed to be installed in the field, 
near your devices. Traditional I/O is equipped with function 
and field wiring protection keys to ensure that the correct I/O 
card is always plugged into the corresponding terminal block. 
Modularity, protection keys, and plug-and-play capabilities 
make DeltaV™ Traditional I/O a smart choice for your process 
control system

Benefits
 Decreases capital equipment costs
 Full system modularity: The Traditional I/O subsystem was 
designed with your investment in mind. All components are 
fully modular and may be installable under power. You add  
I/O interface carriers and I/O interfaces in groups of 4, 8, 16,  
or 32 channels as you need them. The modular design enables 
you to purchase the exact amount of I/O cards, 8-wide or 
4-wide carriers, power/ controllers, and 2-wide carriers you 
need and add more DeltaV I/O as your system grows.
 Reduced system footprint: The DeltaV system’s state-of-the- 
art form factor design of the I/O components enables you to 
mount the I/O interface carrier in a junction box in the field  
so you significantly reduce the footprint of your equipment  
and increase valuable control room space for other uses.
 Installation: Save on wiring expenses by installing Classic 
Instrumentation in the field, near the actual field devices. 
Mounting the controller with the I/O further reduces your 
wiring expenditures by eliminating the need for long runs  
of multi-cores. The integrated design of the Traditional I/O 
subsystem can eliminate the need for marshalling panels.  
This saves you even more in your total capital costs.
 The provision of in-line fuses and bussed power saves  
on installation costs compared with external fuses and  
power distribution.
 Decreases installation time and expense
 Plug-and-play installation saves money: All Traditional  
I/O components plug into the I/O interface carrier. You can 
install the I/O interface carriers to manage anticipated growth 
and postpone the I/O interfaces until you’re ready to install  
your additional field devices.
 Phased installation saves time: As soon as you mount the 
I/O interface carrier, you’re ready to begin installing the field 
devices. I/O terminal blocks plug directly onto the I/O interface 
carrier. There is no need to have the I/O cards installed.
 Keys: Traditional I/O interfaces and terminal blocks have  
I/O function keys. These keys ensure that the correct I/O  
card is always plugged into the corresponding terminal block. 
It’s incredibly easy to use and gives you time to do more.
 This design enables you to initially install Traditional I/O  
quickly and efficiently. When you need to replace an I/O card, 
the function key design ensures that you will always install  
it correctly. This keying system provides a safety measure  
by preventing the wrong I/O interface’s being installed.
 Traditional I/O terminal block.
 Increases productivity
 Real-time, online equipment additions: Online addition  
of new I/O interfaces means your process does not get 
interrupted. As new equipment is added, the DeltaV Explorer 
acknowledges it and assigns it basic configuration.
 Increases process availability
 1:1 Redundancy for Traditional and HART I/O cards: 
DeltaV redundant I/O uses the same Series 2 I/O cards as  
non- redundant I/O. This allows you to leverage your investment 
in installed I/O and in I/O spares. No additional configuration 
is needed when using a redundant channel. The redundant 
terminal blocks provide the same field wiring connections  
as simplex blocks, so there is no extra wiring needed.
 Autosense of redundancy: DeltaV autosenses redundant I/O, 
which greatly simplifies the task of adding redundancy to the 
system. The redundant pair of cards is treated as one card  
in the system tools.
 Automatic Switchover: Should a primary I/O card fail,  
the system automatically switches to the “standby” card 
without user intervention. The operator is given clear 
notification of a switchover at the operator display

 Product Description
 The Traditional I/O subsystem includes:
 I/O interface carrier (a DIN rail surface mounted)  
on which all I/O related components are installed.
 Bulk AC to 24V DC power supply for field devices.
 An I/O interface consisting of an I/O card and an 
I/O terminal block.
 A variety of analog and discrete I/O cards enclosed  
in a common form factor that easily plugs into the  
I/O interface carrier.
 A variety of I/O terminal blocks mounted on the I/O interface 
carrier that can be pre-wired before I/O card installation.
 I/O Cards
 A variety of analog and discrete I/O cards are available to meet 
your specific requirements. The following cards support simplex 
or redundant installation:
 AI 4-20 mA HART 8 channels
 AO-4-20 mA HART 8 channels
 DI, 24V DC Dry Contact, 8 channels
 DO 24V DC High-Side, 8 channels
 A Traditional I/O card easily plugs into an I/O carrier.
 AI (Plus) 4-20 mA HART, 16 channels
 AO (Plus) 4-20 mA HART, 16 channels
 DI (Plus) 24V DC, Dry Contact, 32 channels
 DO (Plus) 24V DC, High-Side, 32 channels
 The following I/O cards are supported in simplex format  
to meet your field wiring needs.
 AI Isolated, 4 channels
 RTD, 8-channels
 Thermocouple, 8 channels
 Millivolt, 8 channels
 DI, High Density, 32 channels
 DI 24V DC Isolated, 8 channels
 Multi-Function, 4 channels (Isolated DI)
 Sequence of Event, 16 channels (DI 24 V DC)
 DI 120V AC Low Side Detection, 8 channels
 DI 120V AC Isolated, 8 channels
 DO 24V DC Isolated, 8 channels
 DO 120/230V AC High-Side, 8 channels
 DO 120/230 Isolated, 8 channels
 All I/O cards are enclosed in a common form factor that plugs 
into the I/O interface carrier. The housing is clearly labeled with 
the enclosed I/O card type. All cards have power and internal 
error indicators. Eight-channel cards have clearly visible channel 
status LEDs.
 All cards meet ISA G3 corrosion specifications by the careful 
selection of superior electronic components and the use of 
conformal coating.
 Pulse Counters are available on most DI cards. The supported 
maximum frequency varies from 0.1 Hz on AC signals to  
75 or 120 Hz on 24V DC inputs. For higher pulse counts,  
up to 50 KHz, use the Multi-Function card’s high speed  
pulse input.
 The DeltaV system provides control module level time  
stamping for log events and alarms. For greater event 
resolution, the 16-channel Sequence-of-Events DI card  
can provide signal driven events to a resolution of +/- 0.25 ms  
per card, or within 1 ms per controller. Please refer to  
the Sequence-of-Events PDS for more information on  
Sequence-of-Event data collection and system options 
for this feature

 The keying mechanism consists of two keying posts that rotate 
and lock into the terminal block base. Each post has 6 positions: 
A-F and 1-6. Each card is assigned a unique key, which is marked 
on the side of the I/O card:
 Terminal block keying example.
 The keys prevent installation of an incorrect card, and the 
graphical information on the card makes it easy to determine  
if a keyed slot will accept a particular card.
 There are different I/O terminal blocks available to meet the 
wiring needs of field signals.
 8-Channel terminal block
 Fused 8-Channel terminal block
 AI 8-Channel terminal block
 2-wire AI Plus 16-Channel terminal block
 4-wire AI Plus 16-Channel terminal block
 AO Plus 16-Channel terminal block
 DI 32-Channel terminal block
 DI Plus 32-Channel terminal block
 DO Plus 32-Channel terminal block
 Isolated Input terminal block
 RTD/Resistance terminal block
 Thermocouple terminal block
 The following redundant I/O terminal blocks are available  
on some I/O interfaces, allowing a pair of cards to be installed  
as a redundant pair.
 Redundant AI 8-Channel terminal block
 Redundant AI Plus 16-Channel terminal block
 Redundant AO 8-Channel terminal block
 Redundant AO Plus 16-Channel terminal block
 Redundant Discrete 8-Channel terminal block
 Redundant DI Plus 32-Channel terminal block
 Redundant DO Plus 32-Channel terminal block
 The table on the following page lists the compatible  
terminal blocks for each card, along with the cards  
unique key positions. The first terminal block listed  
is the recommended terminal block.
 In addition to standard signal wiring, some cards may also  
be ordered with Mass Terminal blocks that allow these cards 
to be connected to the M-series Mass Connection Solutions 
or third party wiring solutions from Phoenix or if IS Barriers 
are required from Pepperl and Fuchs, mounted in an adjacent 
cabinet to meet special signal conditioning or for optimizing 
field wiring solutions. Please refer to the Alliance Program 
website for details on approved third-party products.
 10-pin Mass Termination Block (simplex only)
 16-pin Mass Termination Block (simplex only)
 24-pin Mass Termination Block (simplex only)
 40-pin Mass Termination Block (simplex and redundant)
 48-pin Mass Termination Block (simplex and redundant)