testing pulse-output from water meter

Author: Jesse

Aug. 12, 2024

testing pulse-output from water meter

Post by ngant17 » Mon Feb 20, 8:13 pm

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Well, I can say that I'm still sold on EKM's pulse-output water meters for my irrigation system.

Lately I rigged up an Arduino Uno and a hall-effect (3-wire) flow sensor to use Monnit's pulse counter/transmitter and ethernet gateway. The Monnit (4-input) 2-wire pulse counter seems to be a little better, as I suspect but not sure that some kind of "pulse lockup" issues may be affecting the 1-input memory registers. Their tech people haven't been able to help so far.

I just dropped $200 into a Hunter 1in. Flow-Sync and saddle-body tee. A 2-wire system, so I thought it would be plug n' play. It appears to be proprietary for their I-Core controllers. The drawback is that no flow data gets pushed to the cloud, the data stays in the controller so all the smart decision-making wrt water flow is internal to that device only. Bummer, no SMS text alerts or cloud graphs of flow to check up on! I am guessing that, since Hunter controllers supply 20vdc to the flow sensor terminals to function adequately, that it would be necessary to 'energize' the sensor with a little bit of DC to get a pulse counter to test output. If you hook up a pulse counter to 2-wire (red/black wires) from the Hunter Flow-Sync, there is no measurable output. So I'm thinking it needs some voltage to get the signal, similar to 3-wire hall-effect flow sensors(signal, positive and negative) which only need a 3.3vdc supply to push out the pulses to measure.

So that puts me back on your top-notch product again. It need no external dc voltage source to produce a signal and again, price can't be beat but I would actually prefer a flow sensor only and not worry so much about the meter showing up numbers on a dial for manual read-out. But that's just me. I don't normally go digging into dirty valve boxes with a flashlight to look at the meter dials.

Well Metering

 

Use and Measurement Rules

In response to issues surrounding interstate compacts and intra-basin concerns, the State Engineer promulgated rules regarding the measurement of groundwater for the following river basins: the Republican River Basin (within an eastern portion of Division 1, the Arkansas River Basin (Division 2), the Rio Grande Basin (Division 3) and the South Platte River Basin (Division 1).

These rules require certain wells to have a measurement device, such as a totalizing flow meter (TFM) or, under specific qualifications, a power conversion coefficient value (PCC), installed and verified by a certified well tester.

tnma Product Page

The types of wells that are likely to be subject to these use and/or measurement rules have a pumping rate greater than 50 gallons per minute (gpm).

Those wells which may be exempt pump less than 50 gpm and are used for residential purposes in one to three single family dwellings, home lawn and garden irrigation of a maximum of one acre, certain livestock or domestic animal watering, or some limited commercial purposes.

Finally, in addition to the above referenced measurement rules, Designated Ground Water, outside the Republican River Basin, may also be subject to the Ground Water Commission&#;s rules and policies governing the measurement of water. Additional information on the Ground Water Commission&#;s Rules may be found on the Ground Water Commission page and specific requirements for a well may be referenced in the well permit file. Please consult the well permit file for additional details and if you have any questions, please contact the Division of Water Resources.

Certified Well Testers Lists show approved water well testers, identifying contractors willing to do contract work within their geographic area. Well owners wishing to obtain a Meter Verification or Power Consumption Coefficient determination should contact someone from this list in their geographic area. 

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Are you interested in learning more about Water Meter Test Bench Systems? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

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