The 9 Motor States Every HMI Should Show
Show a panel operator a pump symbol that is just on or off and you have given them a boolean when they need a diagnosis. The pump might be commanded on but tripped. It might be running but with vibration above setpoint. It might be in maintenance bypass while a tech replaces a seal. None of those situations is captured by a green/gray binary.
That is why HMI Library — and most ISA-101-aligned style guides — model motorized equipment as a 9-state machine. Each state has a unique visual identity that an operator learns once and recognizes across every screen of every project for the rest of their career.
The 9 states at a glance
1. Stopped
The motor is commanded OFF and the run-feedback is OFF. Drawn in neutral gray. This is the most common state on a normal screen — by design, it should not draw attention.
2. Starting
The motor was commanded ON but the run-feedback has not confirmed yet. The accepted convention is blinking green with a short period (1 Hz). If the feedback never arrives, transition to No feedback after a tunable timeout (typically 3–10 seconds).
3. Running
Commanded ON and run-feedback confirmed. Drawn in solid green — never blinking, never animated, because it is the normal operational condition. Animation in this state is the most common ISA-101 violation.
4. No feedback
Commanded ON but run-feedback never arrived (or commanded OFF and the run signal is still ON). This is a diagnostic state drawn in yellow. It often indicates a failed auxiliary contact, a stuck contactor, or a wiring fault — and it is the state operators ask for most when retrofitting old HMIs.
5. Manual
The motor is in local/manual mode — usually the local disconnect or a hand-off-auto selector at the MCC has bypassed the HMI's automatic logic. Drawn in blue. Crucial for the operator: it tells them an out-of-HMI command path exists right now, and they should physically check before reasoning about the state.
6. Disabled
The motor is intentionally taken out of service — often for maintenance, often through a permissive in the PLC. Drawn in dark gray. The visual language conveys “this is dimmed because it is supposed to be out of service.”
7. Running + P1 alarm
The motor is operating but a critical alarm is active (think bearing temperature high-high, vibration trip imminent). Drawn as the running state with a red P1 badge overlaid. The badge is the alerting device — the symbol body still tells you the equipment is running.
8. Running + P2 alarm
Same as above but at P2 priority — often a high alarm rather than a high-high. Orange badge.
9. Fault
The motor has tripped or has an active P1 fault that prevents operation. Drawn in red. The difference from Running + P1 is the equipment is not running — typically because the fault has stopped it.
Reversible motors get FWD/REV
Compactor motors, conveyor belts that can run forward and reverse, and screw conveyors that need to back out a jam all use the motor-rev variant. The 9 states still apply — but the running and starting states gain a small FWD or REV arrow inside the symbol body to disambiguate direction. The forward direction is convention-dependent; you typically tag it on the screen legend.
Implementation: PLC tag mapping
The cleanest implementation is a single UINT16 state tag per motor:
| Value | State |
|---|---|
| 0 | Stopped |
| 1 | Starting |
| 2 | Running |
| 3 | No feedback |
| 4 | Manual |
| 5 | Disabled |
| 6 | Running + P1 |
| 7 | Running + P2 |
| 8 | Fault |
The PLC computes this state from the underlying signals (command, feedback, alarms, mode, fault) so the HMI just renders one tag. This decoupling is what makes the screen cheap to maintain: change the state machine in the PLC and every screen updates without touching the HMI project.
HMI implementation by platform
Weintek EasyBuilder Pro
- Download the 9 PNGs (or 9 SVGs for cMT-X) from HMI Library at 256×128 or 512×256, transparent background.
- In EBPro: Library → Picture Library → Import. Group by motor type.
- Place a Multi-state Lamp on the screen and bind it to your PLC state tag (UINT16). Map values 0..8 to the imported pictures.
- If you want to show the tag (
M-101) above the symbol, place a separate Text Object rather than burning the tag into the picture. This way you can re-skin the project in Spanish, English, or Portuguese without re-exporting symbols.
Siemens WinCC Unified
Use a custom faceplate (Custom Web Control) with the SVG body as a background image and the state value driving a CSS class transition. WinCC's symbol library already has motor blocks, but they ship with 3 states by default — replacing them with the 9-state set gives you situation awareness without changing your control code.
Rockwell FactoryTalk View ME / SE
Multi-state Indicator with Image library. Same pattern as Weintek: 9 states mapped to 9 imported PNGs.
Ignition Perspective
Drop the SVGs into the project's icons folder, then bind the icon property of an Image component to an expression that maps the state tag to the right SVG path. Or use embedded views per state and a Tab Container that selects on state.
Common implementation mistakes
- Mixing display state with command state. The HMI shows what the equipment is doing, not what someone asked it to do. If the operator pressed Start and nothing happened, the symbol stays in No feedback until the feedback arrives.
- Skipping the “No feedback” state. This is the single most useful diagnostic state and the most commonly skipped. Always wire it.
- Treating Manual as a fault. Manual mode is a normal operational condition — it just means the HMI is not the controlling authority. Color it blue, not red.
- Burning tags into the symbol PNG. Makes localization and tag changes painful. Always overlay tags as a separate text object.
The full 9-state set is in the catalog. Filter by category “Motors” and drag any state into your HMI project as PNG or SVG.
Open the catalog →