Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Finally found a one wire capable water meter

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #31
    How much (length) cat5 did you run? Did you mount the counter at the meter or on the other end?

    -Rupp

    What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
    💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

    Comment


      #32
      In my case I mounted the counter next to the meter with no more than 12" of wire. You want to keep this wire short otherwise it is an antenna for the counter to pickup noise inputs. I took a "T" off of my main line and this was about 30 feet to the counter. Not a good design practice. If it had not worked then I would have either looped the main line closer to the water meter or run it all the way back closer to the PC and kept playing until I found something that did work. The meter and counter are in environmentally frieldly areas so I did not need to worry about moisture effects on the counter module. I would not bury one underground because they are not desired for extremely high humidity areas. Besides who wants to dig it up for maintenance. I suspect you could run a shielded cable from the counter to meter for noise reduction. Unless you go overboard the wire resistance should not be a factor for longer runs between the meter's contact and the counter input.

      I did post this when I completed it and how I modified the two connectors on the AAG counter so one was the connection to the meter and one was the connection to the 1-wire.

      Comment


        #33
        My set up will be different as I have to run cat 5 from the PC to the meter which is located at the street. The total distance will we approx 200 feet. The meter is in a meter box (concrete) and is under ground. So I will need to at least dip the counter board to protect it from water. Do you have the link for the connections handy?

        -Rupp

        What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
        💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

        Comment


          #34
          I got my counter from AAG which I know you have the link. I dont recall if the connections are documented there. I likely just traced the connector with an ohm meter since I did modify the connector. It is just a pair of wires from the meter. I think the two wires were floating so the polarity into the counter will not matter.

          The concrete enclosures with with I'm familiar are too small for the meter meter intall. With couplings and all I needed about 2 linear feet. While it was an easy few hour porject for me, It looks like it will be an all day afair for you.

          Comment


            #35
            I'm replacing mine. The water company had a look at my meter and gave the OK. They said it was a far superior meter than the one they use. But your right. Running the cable from the street to the house, through the foundation, up to the second floor and to the wiring area will be a full weekend job the way I see it. I first have to rent a trencher just to bury the cable.

            -Rupp

            What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
            💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

            Comment


              #36
              On a well so there is no "official meter". The well is 600 ft from the house and its water and power line are 3ft under the road. The water line is the heavy black pvc-like material that I terminated just before entry through the house foundation. Building Code said it had to be copper at the house entry, but I would have much preferred that the mechanical junction be where I could get to it under the house rather than burried under a concrete walkway. From there a copper pipe onto which I have a manual ball valve located shortly after it enters under the house. I just cut the copper after the ball valve, added some unions and the meter and I was in business. 1-wire was already run under the house so the tap was easy. A water sensor was previously located below this area so I was already metered for unexpected leaks.

              It is nice, in your case, that the utility would allow a user device to replace theirs.

              Comment


                #37
                I'm surprised! Then again, do they look at the meter itself for the monthly readings? If so, that makes sense.

                My water company meter is in my basement to keep from freezing and they run wires outside to a remote counter. That way, they can read the meter outside the house without physically looking at the meter. Anyone know how these might work? My guess is either a 10-year battery is inside the counter module or the water meter generates an electrical pulse to trigger the counter. Hmmm... time to get out the meter. Maybe I can tap into this signal!

                Comment


                  #38
                  So they didn't mind that I switched out the meter. Just got to get it done.

                  -Rupp

                  What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
                  💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

                  Comment


                    #39
                    I lived in Minneapolis a few years back, they had a similar configuration. I called the utility company and they told me it was a telephone connection. The meter would dial out in the middle of the night a report the usage about once a month. They would come into the house only once a year to check the operation and verify the reading.

                    Comment


                      #40
                      But this guy doesn't connect to the phone system. There is a mechanical counter in a box on the outside wall of the house that the water compant reads monthly. In the house, the meter has the familiar readout (also mechanical). I can't measure any static voltage as though there is a battery in the circuit but I can see several coils of wire in the water meter transducer. This makes me wonder if there is a "magneto" that generates a voltage to toggle the mechanical counter outside. Time to run some water and measure...!

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Old thread revival. Any of you guys using these water meters? I have a 1 gallon meter and want more resolution and wanted to know if there are other similar companies out there.
                        💁‍♂️ Support & Customer Service 🙋‍♂️ Sales Questions 🛒 Shop HomeSeer Products

                        Comment


                          #42
                          Rupp, I work for company that makes water meters. (Elster Amco Water).
                          There are many many options out there. All will depend on your desire and how deep is your pocket.
                          Unfortunately the company doesn't sell to individuals, so you would have to go thru distributors. We have meters that the pulse value goes down to one single liter. We have some with reed switches and some that actually provides pulse (~5V - depends on connection) output. The price is set by distributor, but it should be around $150 for 5/8" and 3/4".

                          You can see the list of distributors for your state here:
                          http://www.elsteramcowater.com/en/co...ty_market.html

                          Literature for the registers (top portion of the water meter that displays the consumption and is magnetically coupled with the measuring chamber) with reed or pulse output can be found here
                          http://www.elsteramcowater.com/en/su...registers.html

                          Info about the actual meter is here:
                          http://www.elsteramcowater.com/en/re...ial_meter.html

                          Make sure you specify if you going to use it indoor (plastic top) or outdoor (tampered glass top).
                          The generators (pulse output) are only for indoor.

                          Cheers
                          Marty

                          Comment


                            #43
                            I use the same meter, but I got 1/10 gallon resolution on mine.

                            I had ordered two, one for a friend, and one for me... As far as I know he never hooked his up and might be willing to part with it.
                            Joe (zimmer62)

                            BLSecurtiy, AC-RF2, RCS Serial Thermostats, RFXCOM SMarthome SwitchLinc, mcsXap, Global Cache GC100, SqueezeBox, TWA_ONKYOINTEGRA, BLLogMonitor, BLPlugins, BLRadar, BLSpeech, BLZLog.aspx, HSTouch (Windows, iPhone, iPod), USB Mimo touchscreens, VMWare Server, Vortexbox, Windows Home Server, MyMovies, Windows Media Center, X10, ZWave, and much much much more.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X