Anyone here have experience with Greyline flowmeters?

defcon.klaxon · Dec 28, 2015

Hi all,

I am looking to replace an ultrasonic flow meter at a rural wastewater site; we found a potentially suitable solution in the USABlueBook in the form of the Greyline SLT 5.0:

http://www.usabluebook.com/p-327416...monitor-with-surge-protection-100-240vac.aspx

We've never used these before though, and I wanted to see if anyone here might have some experience with them. We typically use Hydrorangers for open channel flow, but since this needs to be an all-in-one solution (no HMI, everything is manual so we need a built in totalizer to keep it simple instead of an external totalizer) this fits the bill and the price is right. But we wanted to try to do some homework on this model first and see if anyone had some experience and whether or not they'd suggest it.

Thanks for any help!

NetNathan · Dec 28, 2015

Here is info at Greyline..
http://greyline.com/index.php/2015-05-10-23-47-35/water-wastewater/slt-5-0-ultrasonic-level-flow-monitor-detail

defcon.klaxon · Dec 28, 2015

NetNathan said:
Here is info at Greyline..
http://greyline.com/index.php/2015-.../slt-5-0-ultrasonic-level-flow-monitor-detail

Thanks for the link. Sorry if I wasn't clear; I was able to find technical info about the meter, I was curious if anyone here had experience with them and could either vouch for them or say they're garbage.

Cow · Dec 28, 2015

I haven't used their flowmeters but we've used one of their ultrasonic level sensor packages for monitoring a manure pit for years. It seems to work 100% until it fails every few years, then we just replace the whole setup with another. I can't complain about the longevity with the environment it's in.

I've never tried to contact Greyline so I can't comment on the quality of their customer support either.

defcon.klaxon · Dec 28, 2015

Cow said:
I haven't used their flowmeters but we've used one of their ultrasonic level sensor packages for monitoring a manure pit for years. It seems to work 100% until it fails every few years, then we just replace the whole setup with another. I can't complain about the longevity with the environment it's in.

I've never tried to contact Greyline so I can't comment on the quality of their customer support either.

Thanks for the input. Any idea why the meters are failing so often? My flowmeter will be in a shack, measuring effluent flow from a wastewater treatment plant so it should be reasonably clean and somewhat removed from the outdoors, though the shack is by no means weather tight; reason I ask is because this is for a very small, rural community that has very little funds (as in, pretty much none) so if I choose this meter I want it to work for as long as possible.

Thanks for sharing your experience!

Cow · Dec 28, 2015

defcon.klaxon said:
Thanks for the input. Any idea why the meters are failing so often?

I think the current Greyline that I put in there, is going on 4+ years so far without issue. It's outside, mounted in a 4x fiberglass box(no heater) in an area with terrible power quality and no sort of incoming power line protection. So I'd say at the rate we have to replace them, it's fairing pretty well.

danw · Dec 28, 2015

If you've used Siemens HydroRanger, you should know that they just introduced the new HydroRanger 200 HMI that can be configured in English using the 4 arrow keys, a huge huge improvement over the handheld programmer/Pxxx parameter/code configuration that has been their mainstay for years.

The 'HMI' version uses no handheld programmer. All the previous functionality is there, but now it's easily accessible via the display and keypad.

The HydroRanger 200 will do open channel flow and has a totalizer.

The Siemens LUT 440 is in a slightly smaller enclosure, it does open channel flow and has a totalizer, too.

The Quick Start manual for open channel flow for the Hydro 200 HMI is attached

HydroRanger 200 (OCM) HMI (new style HMI, does not use the handheld programmer
http://w3app.siemens.com/mcms/infoc...nger 200 HMI/sitransl_hydro200hmi_fi01_en.pdf

LUT 440 OCM:
http://w3app.siemens.com/mcms/infoc...et SITRANS LUT400/sitransl_lut400_fi01_en.pdf

Saffa · Dec 29, 2015

Where will the actual ultrasonic sensors be mounted? They have a gel that gets placed on the pads that does not last out in a damp environment. You can try denso-taping them up but I've had mixed success.

The actual transmitters are ok, have a few that have been working for years. The biggest pain is initial set up (you need accurate info on pipe diameter and thickness) and keeping the measuring sensors suitably fixed to the pipe with gel in place.

danw · Dec 29, 2015

Saffa said:
Where will the actual ultrasonic sensors be mounted?

two different ultrasonic technologies:

This is an 'open channel flow' application where a transducer measures the water level flowing over/through a flow element like a weir or a pflume. The single transducer 'hangs' over open flow stream and shoots an ultrasonic ping through the air and acts as both transmitter and receiver.

You are thinking of the transit time or Doppler ultrasonic technology used on 'closed' pipes where a pair of transducers, mounted on the pipe, act as transmitter and receiver.

Saffa · Dec 29, 2015

danw said:
two different ultrasonic technologies:

This is an 'open channel flow' application where a transducer measures the water level flowing over/through a flow element like a weir or a pflume. The single transducer 'hangs' over open flow stream and shoots an ultrasonic ping through the air and acts as both transmitter and receiver.

You are thinking of the transit time or Doppler ultrasonic technology used on 'closed' pipes where a pair of transducers, mounted on the pipe, act as transmitter and receiver.

I really shouldn't PLCTalk right before bed. ..

Haven't used greyline's open channel flowmeters before in that case.

defcon.klaxon · Jan 5, 2016

danw said:
If you've used Siemens HydroRanger, you should know that they just introduced the new HydroRanger 200 HMI that can be configured in English using the 4 arrow keys, a huge huge improvement over the handheld programmer/Pxxx parameter/code configuration that has been their mainstay for years.

The 'HMI' version uses no handheld programmer. All the previous functionality is there, but now it's easily accessible via the display and keypad.

The HydroRanger 200 will do open channel flow and has a totalizer.

The Siemens LUT 440 is in a slightly smaller enclosure, it does open channel flow and has a totalizer, too.

The Quick Start manual for open channel flow for the Hydro 200 HMI is attached

HydroRanger 200 (OCM) HMI (new style HMI, does not use the handheld programmer
http://w3app.siemens.com/mcms/infocenter/dokumentencenter/sc/pi/InfocenterLanguagePacks/Catalog%20sheet%20HydroRanger%20200%20HMI/sitransl_hydro200hmi_fi01_en.pdf

LUT 440 OCM:
http://w3app.siemens.com/mcms/infoc...et SITRANS LUT400/sitransl_lut400_fi01_en.pdf

Thanks a bunch for the info, I have used Hydrorangers in the past but they were the removable programmer (via infrared). I did look into them briefly but didn't see anything about totalizing being part of their features, so I moved on...I'll take a second look.

defcon.klaxon · Jan 5, 2016

Saffa said:
I really shouldn't PLCTalk right before bed. ..

Haven't used greyline's open channel flowmeters before in that case.

Exactly what danw said; open channel flow based on ultrasonic level sensing. But thanks a bunch for chiming in, I really appreciate it.

Anyone here have experience with Greyline flowmeters?

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