Micronics 204 User Manual

PORTAFLOW 204 Plus!

Flowmeter

Operating Manual

Micronics Ltd, Knaves Beech Business Centre, Davies Way,

Loudwater, High Wycombe, Bucks. HP10 9QR

TEL: [phone] FAX: [phone]

e-mail

sales@micronicsltd. co.uk

Web site www.micronicsltd.co.uk

CONTENTS
Page No

System Component Pack

1

Introduction 1

Transducer Mounting

2
Programming – Main Menu 4
Main Menu – Quick Start 4
Main Menu – View/Edit site data 6
Main Menu – Select sensor set 7
Main Menu – Set up Instrument 7
Keypad Options – Pulse, 4-20mA, RS232, Logger, Options 8
Status/Error/Warning messages 10
Application and Performance 12
Flow Range 12
Specification 13
Warranty 14
CE Marking 14
Liquid Sound Speeds 15
Battery Charge Circuit Operation 19
Product Care and Maintenance 21

1. Portaflow Electronics 855-0016A

2. Sensor Assembly complete 855-0015A

3. Interconnecting Cables 740-0007

4. Ultrasonic Couplant 292-0020

5. Carrying Case 855-0013

6. Operating Manual 855-1000

7. Rechargeable Battery Pack 740-0005

System Component Pack

204 Plus!!

PORTAFLOW 204 Plus!!

INTRODUCTION

The PORTAFLOW 204 Plus!!! non-invasive Ultrasonic portable flow meter has been designed
to help Service, Maintenance and Commissioning Engineers make quick, accurate flow
readings of any liquids in pipes from 13mm internal diameter to 115mm outside Diameter.

These compact, rugged instruments will measure flow rate in litres/second, litres/minute,
gallons/minute, US gallons/minute, m
as litres, gallons, US gallons and m

Simple to set up, the PORTAFLOW is able to accurately measure the flow of clear or cloudy
liquids from 0.3 metres per second up to 8 metres per second, in any pipe material and over a
temperature range of -20°C to +125°C.

Programming is menu driven with the user supplying OD, wall thickness, pipe material and
pipe temperature information when measuring water. Liquid sound speed data is required
when measuring other fluids. It is possible to program the instrument and mount the
transducers in under 2 minutes, with stable flow data becoming available immediately. The
unit is powered by a rechargeable battery pack included in the instrument, which gives an
operating life of 8-10 hours from full charge. For continuous operation the meter can be
operated from the mains, via the battery charger.

3

/hour, metres/second or feet/sec. The total is displayed

3

.

1

TRANSDUCER MOUNTING

1. OPERATION COMMENT

1.1 Remove oxidization, bitumen
or rubber from pipe surface
where the transducer
assembly is to be mounted.

Mounting transducer assembly.

1.2 Turn the two knurled lock nuts
on the rail assembly (figure
3a), CLOCKWISE to withdraw
the transducers into the guide
rail and then apply ultrasonic
couplant as shown in figure 2,
page 3.

1.3 Position transducer assembly

Very thick asbestos, concrete, old
porous cast iron tubes and steel
pipes with scaled or badly corroded
internal surfaces can weaken the
signal and prevent the unit from
operating correctly.

Straight pipe lengths either side of
the flow sensors should be 20
diameters UPSTREAM and 10
diameters DOWNSTREAM.
See figures 1a and 1b, page 3.

The guide rail assembly must be in
onto prepared section of pipe
as recommended at 1.1. The
fixed transducer (Blue) should
be DOWNSTREAM from the
floating transducer (Red).
Strap to pipe securely using
the ball chain attached to the
rail.

1.4 Turn the knurled lock nut for
the fixed transducer ANTI­CLOCKWISE to contact pipe
surface.

1.5 Connect transducer assembly
to the handset with the cables

alignment with the pipe axis and
positioned as shown in figure 3b
when attached to a horizontal pipe.
If the sensor cables are connected
in reverse the instrument will
display a negative flow rate, but this
will not affect the accuracy of the
reading.

Do not over tighten. Do not lock
the floating transducer until the
‘separation distance’ has been
determined after programming the
unit.

The Portaflow is now ready to
program.

provided.

2

Fig 1a. Fig 1b.

0d

CORRECT INCORRECT

DN

UP

DN

UP

>10d

DN

FLOW

>20d

>20d

UP

FLOW

<10d

FLOW

<20d

<2

UP

DN

FLOW

Fig 2. Inverted Plan View of Transducer Assembly

Ultrasonic

couplant

Ultrasonic
couplant

2mm

20mm

Fig 3a. Guide Rail Assembly

Connectors

Knurled
Knobs

Fig 3b

Mount Transducer
Assembly as shown

45°

Transducer
Assembly

Separation

Distance

Sensor blocks

Pipe

3

PROGRAMING-MAIN MENU

Switch 0n…

Micronics Ltd.

PORTAFLOW

204+3 V1.04

Press Enter to start

Main Menu

Press SCROLL up or down to move cursor
to the required option and press ENTER to
select.

MAIN MENU

Quick start
View/Edit Site Data
Sensor set
Data Logger
Set up RS232
Set up Instrument
Read flow

Main Menu - Quick Start

Selecting quick start allows the user to
start entering application information. If the
instrument has been used previously, it
stores the last application data entered. If
the unit is to be used on the same
application the user can scroll immediately
to Read flow on the menu, and press
enter without spending time entering new
data.

If the unit is to be used on a new
application select QUICK START and
proceed with the following routine. Use the
scroll keys to select, and then press

ENTER.

QUICK START

Dimension units?
mm
Inches

The instrument now asks for the Pipe
outside diameter? After entering the
outside diameter in millimetres press

ENTER.

QUICK START

Dimension units mm
Pipe O.D.? 58.0

Pipe wall thickness now appears on the
display. Enter the pipe wall thickness in
millimetres, then press ENTER.

QUICK START

Dimension units MILLIMETRES
Pipe O.D.? 58.0
Wall thick? 4.0

Pipe lining thickness now appears on
the display. If the pipe you are measuring
has a lining, enter the Pipe lining
thickness. If nothing is entered the
instrument automatically assumes there is
no lining. Press ENTER to move on.

QUICK START

Dimension units MILLIMETRES
Pipe outside diameter? 58.0
Wall thick? 4.0
Lining? 0.0

The instrument now displays Select pipe
wall material. Using the scroll keys select
from the options available and press

ENTER.

QUICK START

Select pipe wall material:
Mild Steel
S’ less Steel 316
S’ less Steel 303
Plastic
Cast Iron
Ductile Iron
Copper
Brass
Concrete
Glass
Other (m/s)

Note: The following will only be displayed
if a lining thickness had been entered
previously. Use the scroll keys to select
the required material, and then press
ENTER. If Other is selected, enter the
sound speed of the lining in metres/sec.

QUICK START

Select pipe lining material:
Steel
Rubber
Glass
Epoxy
Concrete
Other (mps)

4

Select fluid type now appears on the
display. Use the scroll keys to select the
fluid type and press ENTER.

If the liquid you are measuring is not listed
select Other and enter a liquid sound
speed in metres/second. The sound speed
information can be found in the back of the
manual under Liquid Sound Speeds.

QUICK START

Select fluid type:
Water
Glycol/water 50/50
Lubricating oil
Diesel oil
Freon
Other (m/sec)

The instrument will now display the screen
below and provide the user with details of
the mode of operation and the maximum
flow rate that can be achieved from the
information entered. At this stage use the
keypad to check maximum volumetric
flows. If the display reads double bounce
or treble bounce the unit has calculated a
larger separation distance, but the
transducers should still be set up in reflex
mode.

Attach sensor set
in REFLEX mode

Approx. max. flow:

X.XX m/s

ENTER to continue

SCROLL changes mode

Select ENTER and the display will now
ask you to enter a temperature.

Enter the application temperature and
press ENTER. The display will now
display a sensor separation distance.

Follow the steps below to attach the guide
rail and transducers to the pipe.

1. Take the guide rail and apply

2. Turn thumbscrews on the top of

ENTER to continue

grease to the sensors as shown
on page 3 fig 2.

the guide rail clockwise to retract
the sensors back up into the guide

Set sensor

Separation to

XXX

rail. This will keep the grease
away from the pipe until the guide
rail is attached.

3. Now strap the guide rail to the
pipe.

4. Screw down the fixed transducer
and slide the moveable transducer
to the required separation
distance (front edge of block), and
screw down on to the pipe.

5. Connect the RED and BLUE
sensor cables, between the guide
rail and the electronics.

6. Press ENTER to read flow.

The flow reading now appears on the
display.

Batt CHRG

Sig 48%

(ERROR MESSAGES APPEAR HERE)

m/s

When reading volumetric flow the
instrument will display a positive and
negative total. Selecting OPTIONS from
the keypad can reset these totals (See
page 8).

The instrument will continually display the
battery and signal levels. Signal levels
should be above 30%, to obtain an
accurate reading.

If there is an error with the site data
entered or the application, the instrument
will display an Error or warning message
(See page 10), which will appear above
the flow reading. If there is more than one
message it will continually scroll between
them.

To stop reading flow, press ENTER
ONCE. The display will read the following.

This will stop all

outputs

Press ENTER to EXIT

SCROLL to return

to READ FLOW

Pressing ENTER a second time will stop
outputs and return the instrument to the
MAIN MENU.

Press the scroll key to return the
instrument to READ FLOW.

5

Main Menu - View/Edit Site Data

The VIEW/EDIT SITE DATA mode can be
accessed from the main menu. It allows
the user to enter application details for up
to 20 different sites. This facility is useful if
a number of sites are being monitored on
a regular basis. Application data can be
programmed into each site before getting
there! This also allows you to view the last
data entered and edit if required.

When scrolling up/down the menu press

ENTER to select at each prompt.

VIEW/EDIT SITE DATA

List sites
Site number 0
Name QUICK START
Units MM
Pipe O.D. 58.0
Wall thick 4.0
Lining 0.0
Wall MILD STEEL
Lining --------­Fluid WATER
Read flow Exit

Note:

• Site Zero is always the QUICK START
data and cannot be changed.

• Changing the data in any site is
automatically saved when leaving this
menu. Data will have to be re-entered
to over ride the old data.

View/Edit Site Data - List Sites

Selecting LIST SITES allows the user to
view the names of up to 20 sites, numbers
1-5 appear first.
Pressing ENTER will display sites from 6-

10. Pressing again will display sites 11-15,

and again to display 15-20.

1 site not named
2 site not named
3 site not named
4 site not named
5 site not named

Press ENTER to continue

View/Edit Site Data - Site Number
Site number allows the user to enter the

number of the site data that you wish to be
displayed. If the site has not been used
then no data would be stored. You can
now enter new application data.

View/Edit Site Data - Site Name
Site name allows the user to edit or enter

a site name. Use the scroll keys to move
the cursor to the letter/figure required and

press ENTER to select. Press zero, to
return the instrument to VIEW/EDIT SITE
DATA. The new site name will appear on
the display.

View/Edit Site Data - Units
Dimension units allow the user to switch

between millimetres and inches. The
software converts all the application data
in a particular site.

View/Edit Site Data - Pipe wall/lining
thickness and Pipe wall/lining material

can now be changed as required. Lining
material is ignored if a lining thickness has
not been entered. A selection of pipe
wall/lining materials will be displayed when
these options are selected.

View/Edit Site Data - Fluid type
Fluid type allows the user to scroll

through a selection of fluid types. Select
OTHER in the menu if a liquid is not
mentioned. When Other (m/s) is selected
the user must enter the liquid sound speed
in m/s. This can be supplied by Micronics
or found in the back of the manual under
Liquid Sound Speeds.

View/Edit Site Data - Read Flow

Selecting Read flow informs the user of
the mode of operation and the
approximate maximum flow rate. Press the
appropriate key can change the units
required.

Pressing ENTER asks the user to enter a
temperature in °C.

Fluid temp? 20.0
(°C)

SCROLL & ENTER

Select for space, 0 to end

abcdefghijklmnopqr

stuvwxyz01234567890

>……...............<

Attach sensor set
in REFLEX mode

Approx. max. flow:

X.XX m/s

ENTER to continue

SCROLL changes mode

6