alternative mounting orientations

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dainichi
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 2:22 pm

alternative mounting orientations

Post by dainichi »

Hi, QQ
I'm trying to get a better idea of my water usage, and am installing a meter on the cold side of my water heater.
But, like most water heaters in garages, the top of this one is a good 7+ft off the ground, and mounting a meter in the recommended horizontal-face-up position would result in an unreadable meter. This won't be a problem in a few months when I get some more parts to build my monitoring system, but until then, I'd rather not need a step ladder to read my meter.
What are the consequences of mounting a meter in alternative orientations? Horizontal-face-sideways and vertical are both ideal orientations for me. (horizontal-face-down, mounted to the ceiling is another that *just* ocurred to me.)

Do alternative orientations affect reading accuracy, or is there some other aspect I don't know of?
Jameson
Posts: 860
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Re: alternative mounting orientations

Post by Jameson »

Hello dainichi,

Welcome to the forum!

With our standard 3/4" Horizontal Water Meter the only way to mount the meter so that it will be accurate is with the dial in the level horizontal position with the dial facing up.

You may be interested in our 3/4" Vertical Water Meter which lets you easily mount the meter inline in a vertical pipe. It is more $, but could be an overall savings in certain situations: http://www.ekmmetering.com/3-4-vertical ... utput.html

Or you could mount the horizontal water meter in a place that is hard to read and use either the Omnimeter Pulse v.4 or our 8 digit Pulse Counter to remotely count the pulses. This way you could mount the pulse counters in a position that is easy to read. Or better yet, connect the Omnimeter Pulse v.4 to your computer or to the Push system to really get an accurate idea of usage over time.

Here is a screenshot of our development EKM Widget showing water consumption of a 2" water meter over a 90 day period (hopefully soon to be released):
Screenshot 2015-07-23 16.12.24.png
Screenshot 2015-07-23 16.12.24.png (32.59 KiB) Viewed 26420 times
Let us know if you have any questions.
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
dainichi
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 2:22 pm

Re: alternative mounting orientations

Post by dainichi »

Can you please define "accurate"?
Are we talking "we can't guarantee the accuracy of the meter, but 'probably' within 5%"
or are we talking "only heaven knows, it could be up to 100% off"?
Jameson
Posts: 860
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Contact:

Re: alternative mounting orientations

Post by Jameson »

Ah good question. But it is a "depends" kind of an answer.

Here is what happens inside the water meter when it is out of level. There is a spinning wheel that floats inside the water meter and when this wheel rotates it drives the meter mechanism. When the water meter is out of flat the wheel can rub on the sides.

So if the Horizontal Water Meter were installed in the vertical position or even at an angle, the wheel would rub the most. At very low flows the wheel might not turn at all but at a full flow it might turn quite well (just not as fast as it would if it were unrestricted). So it would work as an indication of water consumption, but not as an accurate meter. Im going to guess if it were vertical it would be slowed by about 10 to 20% (wild guess mind you).

Hope this helps.
Jameson
EKM METERING
http://www.ekmmetering.com
831.425.7371
dainichi
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2015 2:22 pm

Re: alternative mounting orientations

Post by dainichi »

AH! Ok, that makes sense. I didn't know that the wheel was floating. (of course in retrospect, I suppose that would be the best way to design a meter to allow for longest life and greatest accuracy over that life.)
Now I know to take extra precautions to ensure a level installation too!
Thanks, Jameson.
Your company has some wicked cool toys, and you will be seeing my money more over the coming months
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