ABB 800xA PID parameters explained
ABB controllers — 800xA, Symphony and the Freelance line — express proportional action as a dimensionless gain, with integral and derivative time in seconds. The gain choice is shared with most modern systems; the seconds rather than minutes is the detail that catches conversions.
A gain convention means a higher number is stronger proportional action, and integral time in seconds means a higher number is slower integral action. Both directions matter when a tuning set arrives from a system that counts differently.
Which direction makes the action stronger
On your system a HIGHER proportional number means MORE aggressive proportional action.
Reset is in seconds/repeat, so a LOWER number means FASTER integral action.
This is the single most consequential thing to get right. Proportional band and gain move in opposite directions, and so do repeats-per-time and time-per-repeat. An engineer who has moved from one system to another and carried the old habit across will make loops worse while believing they are improving them.
- Proportional term: gain
- Reset units: seconds/repeat
- Rate units: seconds
- Algorithm form: ideal noninteracting
The PIDA block
On 800xA the tuning block is the PIDA, descended from the Advant and IndustrialIT PID blocks. It presents gain, integral time and derivative time, and carries a configuration choice for where derivative acts.
Derivative on the process value avoids a kick on setpoint changes and is the usual choice on these systems, as it is on most others.
Why the algorithm form matters
The algorithm form matters because the same three numbers behave differently in each. In the series (interacting) form the derivative term multiplies the proportional-plus-integral term, so changing rate also changes the effective gain and reset. In the ideal (non-interacting) form the three terms are independent of each other but all scaled by gain. In the parallel (independent) form even that scaling is absent — gain does not affect integral or derivative action at all. Moving a tuning set between systems without converting for form is one of the commonest ways a loop that worked on one plant fails on another.
Before you change anything
Confirm the units on the actual controller rather than trusting the platform default. Systems get configured in unusual ways, engineering units get changed during a migration, and a controller imported from another site may carry conventions from there.
The fastest check is to make a small deliberate change and watch which way the loop responds. If it gets more aggressive when you expected less, the convention is not what you assumed.
Questions that come up
Is ABB reset in seconds or minutes?
Seconds is the common configuration on 800xA and the related lines. Read the units off the block rather than assuming, because a factor of sixty between conventions changes a stable loop into a hunting one.
Does a higher ABB gain mean more aggressive action?
Yes. Gain is the direct multiplier on error, so a higher number is more aggressive proportional action — the opposite of a proportional-band system.
Related
Last reviewed 2026-08-01.