Performance
  Excess Gain
    Air Environment
    Poorly Reflective Surfaces
      Material Distinction
  Beam Diameter

Geometry
  Line Of Sight
  Object Size
  Proximity To Sensor
    Touch For Detection
    Minimum Distance
    Maximum Distance
  Mounting
    Through Barrier
    Space

Environment
  Temperature
  Power Supply
    Ac
      12VAC
      24VAC
      120VAC-60HZ
      120VAC
      230VAC
    Dc
      12VDC
      24VDC
      11-28VDC

Load
  Current
    Minimum Current
    Maximum Current
  Response Time

Excess Gain

Excess gain indicates how close an environment is to allowing ideal performance.

How well a photoelectric control can perform under less-than-ideal conditions is measured in terms of excess-gain. Excess gain is the ratio of the light signal available to the light signal necessary for the control to barely work.

If degrading factors such as dirty air-environment, poorly reflectivity, or misalignment exist, an excess gain greater than one is required. Each of these factors should be multiplied to produce the required excess-gain. The total required excess gain can be used to determine operating range.

For example, if material reflectivity in a proximity sensor requires an excess gain of 2 in clean air and your dirty environment requires an excess gain of 5, then you need an excess gain of #10 (2 x 5) to detect your material in your dirty environment.

Other Considerations