Mounting: The Model 272 transmitter screws on and off of the flow meter. Because of the
random location of the starting point of the threads, one transmitter will probably not line up
with the “in” and “out” ports of the flow meter like another will. The electrical outlet of the
transmitter can be rotated clockwise or counter clockwise one turn by loosening the clamp-
ing screw at the base of the transmitter housing.
Two flats are provided for screwing the transmitter on to the flow meter. Care should be
taken when slipping the transmitter on and off. The wire of the stator is fine gauge and is
easily damaged.
Moisture Protection: The weather tight version of the transmitter has its electronic
circuitry enclosed in a liquid and vapor tight enclosure. All joints are sealed by welding or
by “O”-rings. If this sealed condition is to be maintained, the conduit connection to the
enclosure should be made liquid and vapor tight by using pipe dope or a potting fitting. If a
transmitter is located outside and this precaution is not taken, moisture may form inside the
housing. This will cause the circuitry to give an inaccurate output or possibly no output at
all. In the long run it will cause corrosion and failure. The amphenol connector 272 Models
offer moderate protection from moisture and dust, but are not totally sealed.
(Mounting, Protection)
Temperature Considerations: High ambient temperatures (120°F/50°C) should be avoided if
possible. It is a good idea to locate the transmitter away from hot spots such as steam pipes,
ovens and heaters. The electronics of the 272 Series Transmitters are rated for operation up
to 65°C or 150°F. Because some heat travels from the flow meter to the transmitter
electrical enclosure, the temperature the electronics see is a function of both the
ambient and the flow meter temperature. Figure 3 shows the relationship between the
aximum ambient transmitter temperature and the fluid temperature through the flow meter.
The stator of the Model 272 transmitters is insulated with an epoxy that is rated to 125°C. This
limits the maximum flow meter fluid temperature to 130°C when using the Models 272-5X5 or
272-5X7. The 272-5X8 bidirectional transmitter uses Hall effect devices that are rated to 90°C.
This is the maximum fluid temperature when using the Model 272-5X8.
TransmitterMaximum Flow Meter Fluid Temperature
(Maximum: 65°C)@ Ambient of 50°C
272-5X5130°C
272-5X7130°C
272-5X890°C
The output of the Model 272 will be affected by changes in the temperature of the flow meter.
This is because the magnet that generates the voltage in the stator is affected slightly by
temperature. Fig. 4 shows typical percentages of error.
(Dimensions)
Electronic Protection: Diodes have been placed in the input and output circuits to guard against
excessive or reversed voltages in the event connections are made incorrectly. The diodes are
rated at 1/2 amp and will take one amp for a few seconds. If the sourcing current exceeds this
amount, the diodes will eventually fail, and damage to the transmitter may result.
Ripple Adjustment Sensitivity
(CW = More Sensitive)
(See Grounding Options Below)
S2-1 Filter
S2-2 Ground
Fine Gain Trimmer 2.5:1
Output Overrange LED
Range Switch
2.15:1
6 Steps
Stator Adjustment Screw
Discontinued
Information for 272-5X5 transmitters:
(PCA Drawings)
Output Voltage Span Adjustments: These adjustments are used to match the specific flow
meter and flow range to provide the optimum output signal; and to make the indicator read in
engineering units if required.
Range Switch: This switch changes the output voltage by steps of 2.15 to 1. It is used to set the
output voltage to the approximate value desired.
Fine Gain Adjustment: This is a 20 turn potentiometer that is used to precisely adjust the output voltage of the Model 272. The adjustment range is 2.5 to 1.
Reverse Gain Trimmer: Sets the output voltage in reverse flow to equal the voltage at the same
forward flow rate.
Any full scale voltage can be used. One volt, two volts or 8.888 will work just as well as
10.000. If the Model 272 is operating a digital voltmeter directly, the span can be adjusted to
make the voltmeter read directly in engineering units. In such a case, some RC damping will be
required.
Output Over Range Indication: This LED will start to blink if the transmitter output amplifier
begins to saturate (clip). This happens when the flow rate or gain is too high and will cause the
output voltage to be less than it should be. Figure 9 shows what happens as output saturation
occurs.
The diagram below shows what happens as output saturation occurs.
(Over Range Indication)
The flow rate in a system may have as much as 50% to 100% ripple. This may be caused by the
pump, by lots of air in the line and a slightly sticky flow meter, or by other reasons. The maxi-
mum output voltage of the Model 272 must be kept low enough so that the output is not saturated.
This may mean that the average full scale output voltage will have to be much less than 10 V to
avoid clipping the peaks in the output signal (See Fig. 10).
Ripple Adjustment (272-5X5 and 272-5X8 Transmitters Only)
This adjustment will have to be made if the transmitter is unscrewed from the flow meter.
The 272-5X5 and the 272-5X8 are made to compensate for the non uniform rotational rate of
the 210 series piston meters. To take advantage of this feature, the stator of the Model 272
must be positioned correctly for each meter it is mated to.
If this is not done, the electrical output of a meter and its transmitter will have as much as
50% ripple superimposed on the DC component of the output signal. The frequency of this
ripple will be four times the RPM of the meter. Such a situation will require more damping
than otherwise and will result in a slower responding system.
Ripple Adjustment Sensitivity: Increases and decreases the sensitivity of the ripple detection
circuit.
Ripple Indication : LED
Stator Adjustment Screw: Rotates the transmitter pickup coil.
The flow meter must have a flow through it for this adjustment to be useful. It is advisable to
adjust the ripple at the lower end of the flow range; although if the flow rate is less than 2% of
the flow meter’s full scale capability you may have problems with this procedure. An oscillo-
scope attached to the output signal of the Model 272 can also be used.
Increase the Sensitivity Adjustment (cw) just until the Ripple LED next to it starts to turn on.
Then turn the Stator Adjustment Screw in a direction that decreases the brightness or turns off
the Ripple LED. Once again increase the Sensitivity potentiometer until the LED just comes on
and again turn the stator adjustment in a direction that minimizes the LED. Repeat this process
until any further change in the position of the stator screw causes the LED brightness to
increase rather than decrease.
The figure 11 shows the effect of the stator position on output ripple. There are four best and
four worst positions for the stator per revolution. This means that it will take a maximum of
45° on the Stator Adjustment Screw to find the best location.
There is always a trade off in a metering system between response rate, accuracy and noise.
The three are related such that their product equals a constant. If any one of them is made
smaller, the others can be made larger.
In most metering systems, response rate and accuracy are desirable characteristics. To maxi-
mize one or both of these parameters, noise should be reduced to a minimum. Once noise
has been minimized, there is a trade off between accuracy and response rate.
(Response Rate, Accuracy & Noise)
Response Rate: When discussing response rate there are three facets to consider. They are:
the response of the flow to a change in the system setpoint, the correction of the flow to an
error induced in it, and the response of the flow rate display to a change in flow rates. These
responses are all purposely slowed down by filtering or damping so the system only reacts to
meaningful flow changes and not to such things as pump pulsations or flow meter ripple.
More damping means slower response.
Accuracy: There are three topics to consider when looking at accuracy. The first being the
display; which can typically have anywhere from two digits (1 to 99) to 4-1/2 digits (19,999)
of information. This equals a resolution of 1% to a maximum of 0.005%, respectively. The
display steadiness is also directly related to it’s accuracy. For instance, a display that jitters
from 95 to 105 in a meaningless way is not accurate to one part in 100 (1%) but only to
about 10 parts in 100 (10%).
The basic accuracy of the flow meter is a prime consideration. Typically, the accuracy of a
positive displacement meter is not as good for a fraction of its cycle as it is for one or more
complete cycles. If a system is dampened so that the response rate is longer than the period
of one revolution of the meter, the accuracy of the display is increased. The accuracy of the
system can never be better than that of the flow meter.
Noise can be defined as any change in either the fluid flow or the electrical system that is not a meaningful
change in the flowlow or th electrical system that is not a meaningful change in the flow rate. For instance, the
ripple induced in the flow by a gear or piston pump is noise. The system will typically have to be dampened so
that its’ response time is longer than the tooth to tooth
period of the pump. Piston pumps with fewer than three
pistons create a particularly large amount of bothersome
ripple and result in a very slowly reponding system.
All positive displacement flow meters add noise to a
flow metering system. The noise is typically of two
origins. As the elements of the meter rotate, they require
varying amounts of pressure to move (See Fig. 13).
This induces pressure fluctuations between the pump (or control valve) and the flow meter. If there is any
air trapped in the line, the fluid flow will vary as the air compresses and expands. This will be sensed as a
changing flow by the flow meter and the output will contain unwanted ripple or noise. Plumbing in a flow
system should be sized and laid out to avoid air being trapped between the flow meter and the flow
controlling device (a pump or valve).
The second type of noise that must be considered is a
result of flow meter geometry and design. Because of
features such as an oval gear, or a piston/crankshaft
configuration, or due to manufacturing tolerances, the
rotation of the metering elements is not completely
uniform. For example, the 210 series meters utilize
four pistons connected to a crankshaft. The varying
rotational speed of the crankshaft is shown in Fig. 14.
To obtain the smoothest output signal, the transmitter (272-5X5 or 272-5X8) for these meters can be adjusted
to minimize this characteristic. Additionally, some amount of damping is usually necessary at the indicator.
The electronic converter of any meter will add its share of noise. For instance, DC transmitters produce some
ripple in their output due to the sinusoidal nature of the induced voltage in the armature coils.