DS200FSAAG2ABA GE | New Surplus Coated Low-Density Card

Description

Product Introduction

A chemical plant on the Texas coast had four critical 4-20 mA loops. The salt air ate through two standard boards in 14 months. The ABA version fixed that. The DS200FSAAG2ABA is the conformal-coated, low-density isolated analog input board. Four channels. 4-20 mA only. 1500 VAC channel-to-channel isolation. Acrylic coating. Three mils thick. UV fluorescent. Update rate: 2 ms. No HART — this board focuses on isolation and corrosion resistance.

The coating covers everything except the terminal block screw heads and the LED lenses. The “ABA” suffix indicates the coated version. The board has four green LEDs — dimmer due to the coating. The terminal block has 8 positions (4 pairs). The board draws 260 mA on the +5 V rail — 10 mA more than the uncoated version. The operating temperature range expands from 0-50°C to -20°C to +55°C.

Key Technical Specifications

Quality Inspection Process (SOP Transparency)

Incoming Verification — UV light inspection first. 365 nm lamp. The acrylic coating should glow blue-white evenly. Dark spots around the isolation amplifiers mean missing coating — reject. The coating should be smooth, no brush strokes. The terminal block screws must have coating on the threads but not in the wire-entry holes. The board has empty pads where the second set of four isolation amplifiers would go (the 8-channel version). That’s normal.

Live Functional Test — Test rack uses a precision current source, a humidity chamber, and an isolation tester. Standard functional test at 25°C: test all 4 channels at 4.000 mA, 12.000 mA, 20.000 mA. Accuracy must be within ±0.006 mA.

Move the board to the humidity chamber. 40°C, 95% RH for 48 hours. Measure leakage current from the input common to the backplane (channel 1 inputs shorted). Must stay below 1 µA.

Condensation test: drop chamber temperature to 20°C rapidly. Condensation forms. Measure insulation resistance between channel 1 and channel 2. Must stay above 100 MΩ.

Temperature cycle test: -20°C for 2 hours, then +55°C for 2 hours, 5 cycles. Monitor accuracy at 20 mA. Drift must stay under 0.05% of span.

Isolation test after humidity: apply 1500 VAC between channel 1 and channel 2. Leakage below 10 mA (higher than dry spec but acceptable).

Electrical Parameters — Input impedance: 250.0 Ω ±0.1 Ω. Isolation capacitance: <10 pF. Coating dielectric strength: test between adjacent terminal block screws — no breakdown at 1000 V DC.

Firmware Verification — The firmware version is printed on a sticker. Version 2.1 or later. V2.1 adds temperature compensation for the coating’s thermal insulation effect. Connect via the backplane. The signature is 0xFA21.

Final QC & Packaging — QC sticker on the metal bracket. UV light inspection video. Coating thickness measurement (3 mils ±0.2 mil). Humidity chamber test report — 48 hours at 95% RH, leakage current log. Calibration certificate for all 4 channels. UV flashlight included. Anti-static bag. Foam-lined carton.

Field Replacement Pitfalls

Coating on Terminal Block Screws — The coating may creep onto the screw threads. The screws turn more easily. You may over-torque and strip them. Use a torque screwdriver set to 4 in-lb. A power plant in Indiana stripped two terminal block screws because the coating made them turn too easily. Switched to a torque driver. No more stripped threads.

LED Dimness Confusion — The coating diffuses the LED light. A green LED that would be bright on a standard board looks dim on a coated board. I’ve seen a tech replace a board because “the channel 2 LED is too dim.” Use the HMI to verify channel status. A refinery in Texas replaced a coated board because the LEDs looked dim. The board was fine. The coating just made the LEDs hard to see.

No HART Support Reminder — This board does not support HART. The coating doesn’t change that. If you connect a HART transmitter, the analog signal will work. But the HART communication will be blocked. Don’t use this board for HART loops. A chemical plant in Louisiana installed the ABA board on a HART loop. The analog signal worked. The HART communication failed. Replaced the board with a HART-compatible version.

Field Coating Repair — If the coating gets scratched in the field, the exposed area is vulnerable. You can repair small scratches with acrylic conformal coating spray (MG Chemicals 419C). Clean the area with isopropyl alcohol first. Apply a thin coat. Let it cure for 24 hours. Don’t use silicone or urethane sprays. A compressor station in Oklahoma had a scratch from a screwdriver. Repaired it with acrylic spray. The board lasted another 3 years.

Lower Channel Count for Tight Spaces — The G2ABA has four channels. That’s exactly what some small skids need. But if you have five loops, you’ll need two boards — 8 channels total, 3 wasted. The 8-channel coated version (FSAAG1ABA) costs less per channel. Do the math before buying. A water treatment plant in Florida needed five isolated loops in a corrosive environment. They bought two G2ABA boards (1,300 each = 2,600 for 8 channels). The 8-channel G1ABA costs 2,000. They overspent by 600.

Get these five right and you’ll cut rework time by 90%.

New Original vs. Refurbished: Why It Matters

What “New Original (New Surplus)” means — This DS200FSAAG2ABA came from GE’s coated analog input production line. GE manufactured this board for harsh environments where only a few isolated loops are needed. Zero operating hours. The coating is uniform, 3 mils thick. The isolation amplifiers are factory-sealed under the coating. This is a new board for corrosive environments with small I/O counts.

Refurbished risk in plain terms — Refurbished G2ABA boards are often standard FSAAG2A boards with hand-sprayed acrylic coating. The hand-sprayed coating is uneven. It bubbles. It doesn’t cover under the isolation amplifiers. We tested one “refurbished FSAAG2ABA” board from an online seller. It had brush strokes visible under UV. The coating thickness varied from 1 mil to 6 mil. The board failed the humidity test — leakage current reached 15 µA after 48 hours at 95% RH. The isolation amplifiers had corrosion starting under the coating edges.

Real cost of a refurbished failure — An offshore platform in the North Sea bought two refurbished G2ABA boards at 1,000 each. They installed one on a wellhead pressure monitoring system. The hand-applied coating failed in the salt spray environment. Corrosion under the coating shorted the isolation amplifier on channel 3. The pressure reading was wrong. The platform had to shut in the well. Production loss: 250,000. The two refurbished boards cost 2,000 total. New surplus would have cost 3,000. The 1,000 “savings” cost them 250,000.

What we provide as proof — GE packing slip showing the G2ABA suffix. UV light inspection video — even coating, no brush strokes. Coating thickness measurement (3 mils ±0.2 mil). Humidity chamber test report — 48 hours at 95% RH, leakage current log. Calibration certificate for all 4 channels. UV flashlight included.

Pricing context — Our price sits 20–30% above refurbished boards (which have hand-applied coating) and 10–15% below GE’s last list price. The premium covers factory-applied uniform coating, full isolation testing, a 12-month warranty that includes corrosion-related failures, and the certainty that your four isolated loops will survive the salt air.

Performance Benchmarks & Test Results

Coating thickness — 0.075 mm (3 mils) ±0.02 mm. Uniform across the board.

Humidity performance — 95% RH for 100 hours, board powered. Leakage current from channel 1 to channel 2: started at 0.01 µA, ended at 0.06 µA. Well below the 1 µA threshold.

Condensation test — Rapid temperature drop from 40°C to 20°C at 95% RH. Condensation visible. Insulation resistance between channels: >400 MΩ.

Salt spray test — 5% NaCl, 35°C, 96 hours. Sample board only (destructive). After 96 hours, no visible corrosion on coated areas. The terminal block screws showed slight discoloration. The uncoated control board had green corrosion on the isolation amplifiers and terminal block after 48 hours.

Thermal performance with coating — At 25°C ambient, the isolation amplifiers run at 50°C — 2°C warmer than uncoated. At 55°C ambient, they hit 76°C — 3°C warmer. Still within their 85°C rating.

Accuracy with coating — 4.000 mA input: 4.001 mA reading. 12.000 mA: 12.000 mA. 20.000 mA: 20.000 mA. Unaffected.

Update rate — 2.1 ms typical. The coating doesn’t affect speed.

LED brightness reduction — The coating reduces LED intensity by about 30%. A green LED that measures 50 mcd on a standard board measures 35 mcd on a coated board.

Power consumption — 260 mA at +5 V (1.3 watts) plus analog rails. Total about 2.1 watts.

Reliability — GE’s published MTBF for the FSAAG2ABA: 190,000 hours (ground fixed, 40°C ambient, humid environment). The G2ABA is for the places where you need isolation and coating, but only four channels. Offshore platforms with a few critical loops. Chemical plants with small skids. Wastewater facilities with isolated pressure transmitters. It’s not cheap per channel. But it’s the right size for small applications. Just remember: no HART. Use a torque driver. Clear the terminal holes. And don’t buy refurbished. The hand-applied coating will bubble and peel. The corrosion will come. And you won’t know until the pressure reading drifts. At 2 AM. On an offshore platform. In the North Sea. Ask me how I know.

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