Use ADIO-100 to measure water flow

[brhodes]

I am wondering how the ADIO-100 would react to the pulse output of a water flow meter. The device has an internal "paddle wheel" that's spins as the water flows through it. You input 9vdc into it on one pair of wires and the rotating wheel uses a magnet to output on another pair. I am not sure if it is outputting voltage "on and off" or just a digital pulse. My question is, if it is outputting a digital pulse, can the ADIO-100 handle what I would assume would be a very high frequency of pulses. Is any one doing any water flow monitoring and if so, how. I want to set up my mcsSprinkler to use actual gallons used rather than a timed application of water

[mrhappy]

Never used the ADIO device myself but I am sure I have read on here that the inputs are polled once a second (someone should be able to confirm), depending on the frequency and duration of your pulses may depend how much luck you would have if this is the case.

If you were only expecting a pulse every couple of minutes then you are likely to be OK providing the duration of the pulse is greater than a second (to cater for the inputs being polled), if not you could add some supplemental circuitry to extend the duration of the pulse, something like a 555 or flip-flop RC circuit. Another option I have done with a flow meter is to connect the meter to an arduino (plenty of libraries available for it) and then send the data into HS using the serial port. If your data is going to be faster than a second and the inputs are polled then you are going to want to use something else. From what I remember of the project I did with a flow sensor if yours is indeed a typical flow sensor the outputs were not a long pulse so my instinct says that you are going to need something additional.

[vasrc]

I am wondering how the ADIO-100 would react to the pulse output of a water flow meter. The device has an internal "paddle wheel" that's spins as the water flows through it. You input 9vdc into it on one pair of wires and the rotating wheel uses a magnet to output on another pair. I am not sure if it is outputting voltage "on and off" or just a digital pulse. My question is, if it is outputting a digital pulse, can the ADIO-100 handle what I would assume would be a very high frequency of pulses. Is any one doing any water flow monitoring and if so, how. I want to set up my mcsSprinkler to use actual gallons used rather than a timed application of water

You can configure the AD100 to run in either Polled or Async mode, but it wouldn't be my first choice (I'm not convinced I don't miss some input transitions from time to time).
I use an RF based solution with the RFXmeter from RFXcom with the matching Plugin. The RFXmeter keeps totals as well, so you still get data if you lose comms. There's usually not many communication options where your water meter is located, so RF makes it easy and saves you from running wire.

Z

[brhodes]

Water monitor

Z. Thanks for the info, I had no idea about the rfxmeter device, but that is exactly what I am looking for. I have several water sources I want to track and control, overall total, sprinklers, hit water, pool water 'consumption' and this is just the ticket

[brhodes]

Water flow

Do you have a link to a place to purchase the rfxmeter?