{"id":9933,"date":"2018-08-20T22:15:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T03:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\/?p=9933"},"modified":"2025-05-15T10:36:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:36:41","slug":"industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Prevent False Alarms in Industrial Thermocouples"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Electrical temperature measuring instruments have an alarm that warns operators of a malfunction, such as an open circuit. However, loose wires or a broken terminal block can cause the alarm to sound, even though the device itself is fine. To prevent such false alarms, WIKA USA has developed a practically engineered terminal block for industrial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wika.com\/en-us\/thermocouples.WIKA\" rel=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">thermocouples<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Although extremely robust and accurate, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\/products\/temperature-products\/six-common-causes-thermocouple-temperature-measurement-errors\/\">industrial thermocouples can fail and result in temperature measurement errors<\/a>. The reasons are age, oxidation, mechanical stresses, material incompatibility with the process, and so on. A useful feature of modern temperature measuring instrumentation is an alarm that warns operators when the device malfunctions. If a thermocouple is damaged, the circuit opens and an alarm sounds. A quick thermocouple replacement solves the problem, and operations continue as usual.<\/p>\n<p>However, sometimes technicians find that the supposedly broken thermocouple they are replacing was actually in fine condition. These false alarms are not only a nuisance, but they also waste time and lead to unnecessary thermocouple replacements. What\u2019s more, there\u2019s the problem of \u201ccrying wolf\u201d: Too many false alarms diminish the confidence operators have in their system. So, why would an alarm sound if the instrument was not defective?<\/p>\n<h2>Causes of False Alarms in Industrial Thermocouples<\/h2>\n<p>The temperature experts at WIKA USA set out to discover the reasons behind false alarms in industrial thermocouples. They soon found a problem with the terminals and the terminal block, and not with the sensor itself: The terminal blocks were cracked or broken, and the thermocouple terminals were becoming loose inside the block. These loose connections were giving intermittent signals to the instrument and triggering the alarm. This was the case particularly in applications where the <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\/products\/temperature-products\/pt100-sensors-high-vibration\/\">temperature measurement system was subjected to high vibrations<\/a>. Thermocouples with stranded wires made it worse, as the strands can separate with time and lose proper contact altogether.<\/p>\n<h2>WIKA\u2019s Solution for False Alarms<\/h2>\n\n      <div class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width:396px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\/files\/2018\/08\/crastin-terminal-block-388x321.png\" alt=\"Crastin\u00ae terminal block for industrial thermocouple assemblies\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Crastin\u00ae terminal block prevents loose connections, a cause of false alarms in industrial thermocouples.<\/p><\/div>\n    \n<p>WIKA\u2019s engineers went back to the drawing board and designed a robust, reliable terminal block that eliminates the problems of loose thermocouple connections.<\/p>\n<p>The improved terminal block is made of Crastin<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> PBT (<span>polybutylene terephthalate)<\/span>, an easily moldable \u2013 though stiff and tough \u2013 thermoplastic polyester resin. It has good heat resistance and excellent electrical insulation properties. WIKA\u2019s Crastin terminal blocks are manufactured to match the temperature rating of the junction box or of the field connection wires. The screws that hold the terminals have special slots that spread stranded wires and clamp them tightly. These screws can safely secure wires from 16AWG down to 36AWG. The block also has channels that separate the wires and prevent them from shorting out against each other.<\/p>\n<p>For years of reliable service with minimal downtime, pair an industrial thermocouple \u2013 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wika.com\/en-us\/tc15.WIKA\" rel=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">TC15<\/a> or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wika.com\/en-us\/resistance_thermometers.WIKA\" rel=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">TR10-X series<\/a> is\u00a0a solid choice for a variety of applications \u2013 with a Crastin<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> terminal block.<\/p>\n<p>A reliable monitoring system ensures safe operations. False alarms, on the other hand, are a huge waste of time, effort, and money. To learn more about WIKA USA\u2019s innovative terminal block for industrial thermocouples, contact our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wika.com\/en-us\/contact.WIKA\" rel=\"external\" target=\"_blank\">temperature specialists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[contact-form-7 id=&#8221;14552&#8243; title=&#8221;Blog Contact Form&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Electrical temperature measuring instruments have an alarm that warns operators of a malfunction, such as an open circuit. However, loose wires or a broken terminal block can cause the alarm to sound, even though the device itself is fine. To prevent such false alarms, WIKA USA has developed a practically engineered terminal block for industrial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":9935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[437,692,791,750],"class_list":["post-9933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-temperature-products","tag-temperature-measurement","tag-temperature-sensor","tag-terminal-block","tag-thermocouple-replacement"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Industrial Thermocouples False Alarms Prevention- WIKA Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"False alarms in industrial thermocouples usually happens due to an open circuit. However, sometimes the malfunction stems not from the temperature sensor itself, but from a bad terminal connection.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Industrial Thermocouples False Alarms Prevention- WIKA Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"False alarms in industrial thermocouples usually happens due to an open circuit. However, sometimes the malfunction stems not from the temperature sensor itself, but from a bad terminal connection.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WIKA blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/files\/2018\/08\/tc15-tr15_false-alarms-post_copyright-wika_resized.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"838\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"471\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gabriel Gonzales\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gabriel Gonzales\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gabriel Gonzales\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/e34259b854b19ecb70ef67d7cd06d280\"},\"headline\":\"How to Prevent False Alarms in Industrial Thermocouples\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-21T03:15:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-15T15:36:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/\"},\"wordCount\":545,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/files\/2018\/08\/tc15-tr15_false-alarms-post_copyright-wika_resized.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"temperature measurement\",\"temperature sensor\",\"terminal block\",\"thermocouple replacement\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Temperature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/\",\"name\":\"Industrial Thermocouples False Alarms Prevention- WIKA Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/files\/2018\/08\/tc15-tr15_false-alarms-post_copyright-wika_resized.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-21T03:15:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-15T15:36:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/e34259b854b19ecb70ef67d7cd06d280\"},\"description\":\"False alarms in industrial thermocouples usually happens due to an open circuit. 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To prevent false alarms caused by faulty connections, WIKA has developed a practically engineered terminal block.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/products\/temperature-products\/industrial-thermocouple-false-alarms\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Prevent False Alarms in Industrial Thermocouples\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"WIKA blog\",\"description\":\"Our blog offers many interesting articles on pressure, temperature, level, flow measurement calibration technology and provides insights into the WIKA Group.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/#\/schema\/person\/e34259b854b19ecb70ef67d7cd06d280\",\"name\":\"Gabriel Gonzales\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/files\/2025\/02\/gabrielgonzales117-3-120x120.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/files\/2025\/02\/gabrielgonzales117-3-120x120.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.wika.com\/us\/files\/2025\/02\/gabrielgonzales117-3-120x120.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Gabriel Gonzales\"},\"description\":\"I have been with WIKA Group since 2005 while steadily advancing through a variety of technical and sales-oriented roles, honing expertise in temperature and pressure products for the oil and gas industry. 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