The Allen-Bradley 1738-OE4CM12 Serial Encoder is a Series A 1738 ArmorPoint Encoder. This serial encoder is compatible with Allen-Bradley Series B 1738 ArmorPoint I/O Ethernet I/P adapters. It is rated at 24 Volts DC. The 1738-OE4CM12 ArmorPoint Serial Encoder is sensitive to ESD or Electrostatic Discharge, and ESD can damage the encoder or disrupt normal device operation. To avoid damage and disruption, the users of the 1738-OE4CM12 ArmorPoint Serial Encoder should wear grounded wrist straps when servicing the encoder and its most static-sensitive parts, avoid touching the most static-sensitive parts such as the pins and circuit components, use static-safe workstations when these are available, and store the encoder in a static-safe packaging when it is not in use or not ready to be installed. The 1738-OE4CM12 ArmorPoint Serial Encoder does not need an enclosure because it is manufactured with an IP 67 rated protective housing.

The Allen-Bradley 1738-OE4CM12 ArmorPoint Serial Encoder can be mounted on a panel or wall with screws threaded through the holes in the ArmorPoint base. This Encoder has status indicator lights on its front panel that light up in different colors to send the users different device status updates. When the 1738-OE4CM12 ArmorPoint Serial Encoder is powered off, none of the indicator lights are illuminated. A steady green light means that the encoder is operating normally, a flashing green light means that the encoder needs to be commissioned again because of an incomplete or incorrect configuration, a flashing red light means that the encoder is experiencing a recoverable fault, a steady red light means that the encoder has experienced a fault that it cannot recover from and that it may need to be replaced, and flashing red and green lights together means that the encoder is running a self-test.