In line flow meter

[allan]

I wouldd like to install a flow meter in my 1-inch pipe to measure the flow rate of the water moving in the pipe. Anyone have any suggestions? Even a meter that showed the velocity would work as I can figure the flow rate if I know the velocity. I would like to eventually use this information to figure the flow rate to match demand.

 

[TCaldwell]

try dwyer instruments, they have several to chose from

 

[allan]

try dwyer instruments, they have several to chose from

Thanks Tom

Those meters sure add up in a hurry! But they are what I'm looking for. Have you used one in your system?

 

[patch53]

Just remember that a flow meter will increase head and slow the actual flow down, not a lot, but somewhat.
Where abouts are you in the EUP? I live near Rapid River.

Pat

 

[jebatty]

Blue-White is the brand I have, a 2-20 gpm variable area rotameter. Info shows maximum 2 psi pressure drop = 4.6' potential maximum head increase. If you have a circ with little gpm change within your calculated head +/- 3', then the flowmeter should work quite well to provide an accurate reading. If the flow chart shows quite a change in gpm at +/- 3' calculated head change, then the flowmeter really won't provide very accurate info, or you need to estimate an adjustment accordingly.

Also, to be accurate, you need a vertical pipe run and quite a long straight distance before and after the flowmeter, i.e, mount the flowmeter midway between a floor to ceiling pipe run. Further, I would mount it on a return line, as high supply temps likely will be higher than the rating of the flowmeter.

I would install the flowmeter with a straight bypass pipe and use ball valves both to isolate the flowmeter and to shut-off the bypass line. That way, you can do your measurements and experiments with the flowmeter, and then when done, shut-off flow to the flowmeter and use the bypass line to obtain the lower pump head.

If you are patient or lucky, you can get a good deal on ebay or similar; otherwise these things are quite pricey.

I would be cautious about getting a spring loaded flowmeter without carefully understanding the specs as to how it might work in a circulator system.

 

[SnowTraveler]

Look for an industrial surplus vortex meter (Rosemount, Yokogowa, etc) on ebay, 1". Virtually no pressure drop. Likely will be ANSI 150 flanged, so worst case is you will have to buy a couple of threaded flanges to mount it. With so many industrial plants closing in the US, there is a lot of industrial surplus being offered cheap. I have quite a bit of industrial instrumentation on my system, way over engineered for the application, but will last forever.

 

[allan]

Just remember that a flow meter will increase head and slow the actual flow down, not a lot, but somewhat.
Where abouts are you in the EUP? I live near Rapid River.

Pat

Pat

I live in Sault Ste Marie area. If you ever in this area shoot me a PM. I had thought of building the Seton boiler. I have talked to Fred a couple of times over the years and almost bought his plans to build the Seton. I'm very happy with my home made "Garn". I don't think I have to worry about head loss as I have a B&G PL-36 pump in a loop that is about 200 feet in length (to and from boiler). I mounted my pump in my house basement so that I could get as much water over the pump as possible.

 

[allan]

Blue-White is the brand I have, a 2-20 gpm variable area rotameter. Info shows maximum 2 psi pressure drop = 4.6' potential maximum head increase. If you have a circ with little gpm change within your calculated head +/- 3', then the flowmeter should work quite well to provide an accurate reading. If the flow chart shows quite a change in gpm at +/- 3' calculated head change, then the flowmeter really won't provide very accurate info, or you need to estimate an adjustment accordingly.

Also, to be accurate, you need a vertical pipe run and quite a long straight distance before and after the flowmeter, i.e, mount the flowmeter midway between a floor to ceiling pipe run. Further, I would mount it on a return line, as high supply temps likely will be higher than the rating of the flowmeter.

I would install the flowmeter with a straight bypass pipe and use ball valves both to isolate the flowmeter and to shut-off the bypass line. That way, you can do your measurements and experiments with the flowmeter, and then when done, shut-off flow to the flowmeter and use the bypass line to obtain the lower pump head.

If you are patient or lucky, you can get a good deal on ebay or similar; otherwise these things are quite pricey.

I would be cautious about getting a spring loaded flowmeter without carefully understanding the specs as to how it might work in a circulator system.

Thanks Jim

I will keep my eyes open. One problem I may have is finding a vertical pipe to mount it on. I have my pex entering my house near the floor and then my pump and valves to remove pump and them a small distance and its horizontal over to the 40 plate HX. Could mount it on a vertical on the return side where the flow is heading down the pipe.

Keep up the posts..

 

[allan]

Look for an industrial surplus vortex meter (Rosemount, Yokogowa, etc) on ebay, 1". Virtually no pressure drop. Likely will be ANSI 150 flanged, so worst case is you will have to buy a couple of threaded flanges to mount it. With so many industrial plants closing in the US, there is a lot of industrial surplus being offered cheap. I have quite a bit of industrial instrumentation on my system, way over engineered for the application, but will last forever.

Thanks Snow Traveler. Will keep my eyes peeled for one.

 

[patch53]

Just remember that a flow meter will increase head and slow the actual flow down, not a lot, but somewhat.
Where abouts are you in the EUP? I live near Rapid River.

Pat

Pat

I live in Sault Ste Marie area. If you ever in this area shoot me a PM. I had thought of building the Seton boiler. I have talked to Fred a couple of times over the years and almost bought his plans to build the Seton. I'm very happy with my home made "Garn". I don't think I have to worry about head loss as I have a B&G PL-36 pump in a loop that is about 200 feet in length (to and from boiler). I mounted my pump in my house basement so that I could get as much water over the pump as possible.

Sounds good. yeah, I did buy the plans from Fred and me and a buddy built it. I think it came out great and seems to be working well.

What kind of wood are you burning out your way? I know there is a hell of a lot of beech in the eastern UP, and I've heard a lot of it is dying.

Pat

 

[jebatty]

Could mount it on a vertical on the return side where the flow is heading down the pipe.

I don't think that will work. Mine operates with flow coming in from the bottom and going out the top. It operates by means of water flow pushing a weight up a rod, and the higher the weight goes up the rod, the higher the gpm. If the flowmeter is installed the other direction, the weight simply slides down the rod and it will not measure flow. You can mount it where return flow is going up, but not down.

 

[allan]

Could mount it on a vertical on the return side where the flow is heading down the pipe.

I don't think that will work. Mine operates with flow coming in from the bottom and going out the top. It operates by means of water flow pushing a weight up a rod, and the higher the weight goes up the rod, the higher the gpm. If the flowmeter is installed the other direction, the weight simply slides down the rod and it will not measure flow. You can mount it where return flow is going up, but not down.

I was afraid that mounting the flow meter where the water flows down the pipe wouldn't work. I appreciate the info. I'll think some more on it.

 

[allan]

Sounds good. yeah, I did buy the plans from Fred and me and a buddy built it. I think it came out great and seems to be working well.

What kind of wood are you burning out your way? I know there is a hell of a lot of beech in the eastern UP, and I've heard a lot of it is dying.

Pat[/quote]

Pat

I burn mostly maple and white ash and a little beach. I hear that beach is dying in the area. I woul dlike to get some as it is good wood. I just bought some maple for two-three years out that I need to start working on.

What did it cost you to build the Seton? The refractory is not cheap when I priced it.

 

[patch53]

I figured it out to about $5200 w/ labor costs and the plans. I bought the refractory pieces from John at Bethel. That was $2K . I didn't want to deal with making the forms and all that stuff. I just had to pour the floor and door. I slow fired it for about a day, and then cleaned it out and checked for cracks. None to be found so that was a relief. It would have cost over $9K w/shipping for the 130, so I figured I saved about $4K. The guy that helped me build it is a crack welder. It turned out even better than I thought it would. Now I just need to get some storage for next year, change out some pumps and plumbing, and I should have a nice efficient system with little maintenance. At least that the plans? ! LOL

I'm going to re-do the back panel next spring. I'm going to split it into 2 pieces so you can take the top 1/2 off to access the vertical water tubes and top row of the horizontals. My wood isn't as dry as I would like it and I'm getting a fair amount of soot and some light creosote on the tubes. I can easily scrape the bottom ones in the firebox, but the rest are hard to get at. I will have better seasoned wood for next year, and with longer burn times because of the storage I shouldn't have as much build-up. But all in all I'm happy with the unit so far. I'll definitely be using a lot less wood than w/ the old Aquatherm.

Pat

 

[mbovee1]

Blue White, King Instruments and Dwyer are all really reliable rotameters. Be sure to get one rated for the temperatures your system will see, because some are limited to 150 deg. or so. Also, keep in mind that you should leave 5 pipe diameters top and bottom of the gauge free of any fittings.

 

[in hot water]

a bit more money than a plastic tube flowmeter... This valve is unique in that the fluid does not go through the indicator window. Pull the pin, balance the flow and release. Operating temperature up to 212 °F

www.caleffi.it/en_IT/Technical_brochures/01149/01149.pdf

 

[in hot water]

For branch circuits like baseboard or small AH units 1/2 or 3/4", here is another auto-balance valve.

www.caleffi.com/en_IT/Technical_brochures/01166/01166.pdf