Controls Toolbox

Practical calculators, tools and references for the people who wire, program and maintain automated machines. Free, fast and clear about how each answer is worked out.

Calculators

• Voltage Drop and Wire Gauge CalculatorCheck a cable run and find the smallest AWG size that works.
• Ohm's Law and AC Power CalculatorSolve V, I, R and P from any two, plus kVA, kW and power factor.
• Motor Full-Load Current CalculatorNEC full-load current table lookup and a current estimate from kW or hp.
• 24 VDC Power Supply Sizing CalculatorAdd up your 24 V loads and pick a power supply with margin for growth.
• 4-20 mA and 0-10 V Scaling CalculatorScale 4-20 mA, 0-10 V and other analog signals to a process value and back.
• PLC Analog Scaling CalculatorScale raw analog counts to engineering units, with gain and offset.
• RTD Resistance to Temperature Calculator (PT100, PT1000)PT100 and PT1000 resistance to temperature, and back.
• Control Valve Cv Sizing CalculatorRequired Cv for a liquid flow, or flow from a known Cv.
• Encoder Counts and Resolution CalculatorCounts per revolution, per inch or millimeter, and count rate.
• Gear Ratio, Torque and Speed CalculatorOutput speed, torque and power through a gearbox.
• Motor Synchronous Speed and Slip CalculatorSynchronous speed, slip and the drive frequency for a target RPM.
• Conveyor Belt Speed CalculatorBelt speed from roller size, motor RPM and gear ratio, or the reverse.
• Air Cylinder Force and Air Consumption CalculatorExtend and retract force and air consumption for a pneumatic cylinder.
• PID Tuning Calculator (Ziegler-Nichols and Lambda)Starting PID values from Ziegler-Nichols, Tyreus-Luyben or lambda tuning.

Tools

• PLC I/O List Builder with CSV ExportTurn a list of I/O modules into a full I/O list with addresses and tags, ready for Excel.
• PLC Tag List Cleaner and Name CheckerClean and check a list of tag names against PLC naming rules.
• Wire Schedule and Wire Label GeneratorNumber your wires and make labels for both ends, then export to Excel.
• Engineering Unit ConverterPressure, flow, torque, power, speed, temperature and more.
• IPv4 Subnet Calculator for Industrial NetworksNetwork, broadcast and host range, and a same-subnet check.
• PLC Data Converter (Hex, Binary, BCD, Float Registers)Decimal, hex, binary, BCD and floating-point values in two registers.

Reference

• IP Rating Chart (IEC 60529)What each digit of an IP rating means, plus common ratings.
• Thermocouple Color Codes (ANSI and IEC)Wire color codes for types J, K, T, E, N, R, S and B.
• PLC Data Types and RangesSizes and ranges for BOOL, INT, DINT, REAL and related types.

Why use it

Every calculator shows the formula it uses and a worked example, so you can check the answer yourself. Calculations run in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere.