PCE Instruments PCE-WL 1 Users guide

User Manual

User manuals in various languages (Deutsch,

français, italiano, español, português, nederlands,

türk, polski, русский, 中文) can be downloaded here:

www.pce-instruments.com

Last change: 27 June 2018

v1.0

English

PCE-WL 1 Anemometer

© PCE Instruments

Contents

1 Safety notes ........................................................................................... 1

2 Specifications ........................................................................................ 2

2.1 Technical Specifications ................................................................................................... 2

2.2 Delivery content ............................................................................................................... 2

3 System description ............................................................................... 3

3.1 Logger .............................................................................................................................. 3

3.2 Sensor ............................................................................................................................. 4

4 Getting started ....................................................................................... 5

4.1 Power supply ................................................................................................................... 5

4.2 Connecting the sensor ..................................................................................................... 5

4.3 Mounting .......................................................................................................................... 6

4.4 SD card ............................................................................................................................ 7

5 Operation ............................................................................................... 8

5.1 Configuration .................................................................................................................... 8

5.2 Read out the data ............................................................................................................12

6 Troubleshooting .................................................................................. 14

7 Warranty ............................................................................................... 15

8 Disposal ............................................................................................... 15

© PCE Instruments

1 Safety notes

Please read this manual carefully and completely before you use the device for the first time.
The device may only be used by qualified personnel and repaired by PCE Instruments
personnel. Damage or injuries caused by non-observance of the manual are excluded from our
liability and not covered by our warranty.

• The device must only be used as described in this instruction manual. If used
otherwise, this can cause dangerous situations for the user and damage to the meter.

• The instrument may only be used if the environmental conditions (temperature,
relative humidity, …) are within the ranges stated in the technical specifications. Do
not expose the device to extreme temperatures, direct sunlight, extreme humidity or
moisture.

• Do not expose the device to shocks or strong vibrations.

• The case should only be opened by qualified PCE Instruments personnel.

• Never use the instrument when your hands are wet.

• You must not make any technical changes to the device.

• The appliance should only be cleaned with a damp cloth. Use only pH-neutral

cleaner, no abrasives or solvents.

• The device must only be used with accessories from PCE Instruments or equivalent.

• Before each use, inspect the case for visible damage. If any damage is visible, do not

use the device.

• Do not use the instrument in explosive atmospheres.

• The measurement range as stated in the specifications must not be exceeded under

any circumstances.

• Non-observance of the safety notes can cause damage to the device and injuries to
the user.

We do not assume liability for printing errors or any other mistakes in this manual.

We expressly point to our general guarantee terms which can be found in our general terms of
business.

If you have any questions please contact PCE Instruments. The contact details can be found at
the end of this manual.

© PCE Instruments

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2 Specifications

Logger

Inputs

2 x digital inputs
1 x analogue input
1 x NTC input for external temperature
sensors

Interface

RS-232

Sampling interval

1 min or 10 min

Memory

microSD card (FAT32), max. 2 GB

Data format

CSV file, ASCII format

Recorded parameters

Average values, min/max values and
standard deviation (with date and time
stamp)

Power supply

2 x 1.5 V C-type batteries

Battery life

Up to 1 year (with 1 min sampling interval);
up to 3 years (with 10 min sampling interval)

Housing

Robust plastic housing

Protection class

IP65

Dimensions

160 x 80 x 55 mm

Weight

450 g

Wind sensor

Output

0 … 100 Hz at 40 m/s

Measuring range

0.8 … 40 m/s

Accuracy

±0.5 m/s or ±5 % of measured value

Max. load

Max. 60 m/s (short-term)

Contact classification

10 VA, max. 42 V DC, max. 0.4 A

Mounting

With support bracket

Heating

Max. 24 V AC/DC, max. 1 A

Environmental temperature

-25 … +60 °C (ice-free)

Cable

3 m; LiYY 4 x 0.5 mm²

Protection class

IP54

Dimensions

Ø134 x 160 mm

Weight

Approx. 300 g

2.1 Technical Specifications

2.2 Delivery content

1 x wind speed meter PCE-WL 1 with wind sensor
1 x microSD card (512 MB)
1 x mounting bracket
2 x 1.5 V type C batteries
1 x instruction manual

© PCE Instruments

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3 System description

1 2 2 3 4

5 6 7

3.1 Logger

1. Cover plate

2. Cable connection

3. RS-232 interface

4. Sensor connection (2 x anemometer, 1 x wind direction sensor, 1 x NTC temperature
sensor)

5. Batteries (2 x 1.5 V type C)

6. microSD slot

7. Connector for Pro-D anemometers

© PCE Instruments

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3.2 Sensor

1

2

1. Vane anemometer

2. Mounting bracket

© PCE Instruments

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4 Getting started

4.1 Power supply

The power supply is powered by 2 x 1.5 V C-type batteries. In order to replace them, follow
these steps:

1. Remove the 4 screws which hold the cover plate in place.

2. Remove the cover plate.

3. Take out the old batteries and replace them with new ones.

4. Close the cover plate and fasten the screws.

4.2 Connecting the sensor

To connect the sensor, remove the 4 screws which hold the cover plate in place and then
remove the cover plate.

On the circuit board, you can find the connectors which are labelled as follows:

From left to right:

V+ Battery positive power (red)
G Battery negative power (black)
G Common ground (for NTC)
T NTC temperature sensor
G Common ground (spare)
G Common ground (wind vane)
D Wind vane signal
D+ Wind vane power supply
G Common ground (anemometer 2)
A2 Anemometer 2 signal
G Common ground (anemometer 1)
A1 Anemometer 1 signal

© PCE Instruments

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The sensor has 4 cables which are coloured and numbered:

1. White: anemometer signal

2. Brown: common ground

3. Green: heating (+)

4. Yellow: heating (-)

Connect the white cable (1) to the connector for anemometer 1 (A1) and connect the brown
cable (2) to the common ground of anemometer 1 (G).

To use the heating of the sensor, you need an external mains adaptor (24 V / 1 A / 24 W).
Connect the green (3) and yellow (4) cables to the power supply.

4.3 Mounting

Logger

The logging unit has 4 mounting holes. To reach them, you have to remove the cover plate.

ATTENTION: When mounting the logger to a wall, make sure that the cable connection is

pointing downwards. This prevents moisture from getting inside the logger.

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Sensor

To mount the sensor, use the supplied mounting bracket. The sensor has 2 screws at the
bottom while the mounting bracket has 2 matching holes.
To attach the sensor to the mounting bracket, put the screws of the sensor through the hole of
the mounting bracket and then rotate the sensor in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction
(depending on how you attach the sensor to the bracket). To lock the sensor into position,
tighten the screws afterwards.

You can attach the sensor to the mounting bracket in two different ways:

4.4 SD card

To remove the microSD card, carefully push it into the SD card slot until the locking mechanism
releases the card (clicking noise). The card comes out of the slot and can be removed.

To insert the card, gently push it into the slot until it snaps into place (clicking noise).

© PCE Instruments

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5 Operation

Date (automatically taken from the Windows
system time)

Time (automatically taken from the
Windows system time)

Sampling interval (1 or 10 minutes)

Anemometer (select PCE-KWG)

Wind direction settings (only for sensor
which can measure wind direction)

The operation status is indicated by an LED inside the logger.

LED off (short flashes every 5 seconds)

The logger is in regular storage mode. The LED flashes every 5 seconds. In addition, it also
flashes according to the set sampling interval (every minute or every 10 minutes). This means
that data is recorded.

LED flashes rapidly

This means that the microSD card does not work or has not been inserted properly. It can also
mean that the logger is connected to a PC via the RS-232 interface and is waiting for
configuration.
Make sure that the microSD card is inserted properly and compatible with the logger.
Also check the power consumption of the card and the amount of data. Low battery voltage can
also cause this problem because the logger does not record data when the batteries are low.

LED on

The logger is connected to a PC via the RS-232 interface and the configuration is running. To
set up the logger via the RS-232 interface, you need to remove the microSD card.

5.1 Configuration

5.1.1 Configuration via SD card

Remove the SD card from the logger and use a card reader to connect it to your PC.
On the SD card, there is a “lewl_setup.exe” file. Run the file. The following window appears:

Once you have adjusted all settings to your needs, click on “Write setup file” to confirm the
settings. Insert the microSD card into the card slot of the logger. The settings are adopted
automatically and the logger is in recording mode.

© PCE Instruments

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5.1.2 Configuration via terminal program

The PCE-WL1 data logger has an integrated menu which can be accessed via the RS-232
interface. To configure the logger, you need a terminal program to be installed on your PC.
All parameters (except date and time) are saved to the device permanently and so not have to
be set every time. Make sure to set up time and date every time when using this configuration
method.

Note: If your operating system does not come with a terminal program (Windows 7 or higher),
you can download a freeware program from the internet. We recommend using “HTerm”.

Access the internal menu

Run the terminal program and adjust the interface settings as follows:

The COM port number that you are using
Data rate = 4800 baud
Data bits = 8
Parity = None
Stop bits = 1
Flow control = None

Make sure that the SD card is not inserted and that the logger is supplied with power. Connect
the logger to your PC via the RS-232 interface.

Press the “M” key on your keyboard. The following menu appears in the terminal program:

MENU

---­1 - Set Log Interval (60 seconds)
2 - Anemometer Setup (A1=LE-Pro, A2=LE-Pro)
3 - Set Date (now 10-11-14)
4 - Set Time (now 16:47:19)
6 - Wind direction calibration
Select option and press Enter
(Insert card and press Enter to start logging)

Sampling interval setup

Press “1” and the Enter key afterwards to access the sampling interval sub-menu.

1 - 10 secs (This setting is for test purposes only)
2 - 1 min
3 - 10 min
4 - Back
(currently 60 seconds) ?

Choose the desired sampling interval by pressing a key. (By default, the sampling interval is set
to 1 minute)

© PCE Instruments

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Anemometer settings

Press “2” and the Enter key afterwards to access the anemometer settings sub-menu.

ANEMOMETER A1 = LE-Pro
Select type:

-----------­1 - Anemometer 1 LE-Vortex
2 - Anemometer 1 LE-Pro
3 - Anemometer 1 PCE-KWG1
4 - Anemometer 1 Raw Hz
5 - Anemometer 1 Custom
6 - Exit
?

Press “3” to select PCE-KWG1.

Date setup

Press “3” and the Enter key afterwards to access the date setup sub-menu.

Date (dd/mm/yy)

Type in the date and press Enter to confirm.

Time setup

Press “4” and the Enter key afterwards to access the time setup sub-menu.

Enter time in 24h, hh:mm:ss

Type in the time and press Enter to confirm.

Note: You have to set date and time every time you remove or replace the batteries.

© PCE Instruments

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Wind direction calibration
ATTENTION: This setting is only relevant when you use a sensor which is able to

measure the wind direction. If you only use the supplied sensor you can
skip this setting.

Press “6” and the Enter key afterwards to access the wind direction calibration sub-menu.

Wind direction offset = nnn degrees
Point Wind Vane to North and press Enter when ready

Make sure that the sensor is mounted in its final installation position, then manually point it to
North.

“nnn” is the current offset in degrees.

Press Enter to start the calibration. The new offset value is shown in the terminal program:

The new offset value is: nnn
Store value (Y/N)

Press “y” to store the new value or press “n” to restore and use the old value.

Activate logging mode

After finishing the configuration, insert the SD card into the card slot of the logger and press the
Enter key. Leave the RS-232 cable plugged in and check the readings (see chapter 5.2.2). If the
readings are ok, carefully unplug the RS-232 cable. The logger is now in logging mode.

ATTENTION: Do not leave the RS-232 cable plugged in for a longer period of time

because it causes higher power consumption.

© PCE Instruments

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5.2 Read out the data

The data is stored on the SD card in Excel-compatible format. The logger creates a file for each
month which contains all readings of this time span.

Note: We recommend that you retrieve the data every month and keep backups of the data.

There are two ways of reading out the data.

5.2.1 Read out the data via SD card

Make sure that the logger is not storing any data at the moment (LED off) and then quickly
remove the microSD card.
Use a card reader to connect the SD card to your PC. On the SD card, you can find the monthly
files which contain the readings:

You can open the files with Excel. They contain the following parameters of each measurement:

Date: Date of this data, DD-MM-YY format
Time: Time at which this data was recorded, 24h HH:MM:SS format
Direction: Wind direction (heading) in degrees (0º to 360º)
Temp C: Temperature in degrees Celsius (if NTC temperature sensor connected)
Wind1avg: Average wind speed in this interval for A1 input, meters/second (m/s)
Wind1max: Maximum wind speed recorded in this interval for A1 in m/s
Wind1std: Standard deviation of wind speed in this interval for A1 in m/s
Wind2avg: Average wind speed in this interval for A2 input, meters/second (m/s)
Wind2max: Maximum wind speed recorded in this interval for A2 in m/s
Wind2std: Standard deviation of wind speed in this interval for A2 in m/s
Batt V: Battery voltage

Note: If you set the sampling interval to 10 seconds, the logger creates files for each day.
However, to open these files in Excel, you need to use the Excel text import wizard.

The “log.txt” file contains all parameters of the configuration.

© PCE Instruments

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5.2.2 Read out the data via RS-232 interface

You can read out the data by using the RS-232 interface and a terminal program, too.
Depending on the sampling interval, data is transmitted to your PC. In the terminal program, the
data packets look as follows:

10-08-14,16:48:25,180,21.7,7.01,9.56,0.84,6.68,9.03,0.79,2.26

Interpretation:

10-08-14 Date in dd-mm-yy format
16:48:25 Time in 24h format
180 Wind direction in degrees, 180º = south. Value increasing clockwise in 16

steps

21.7 Temperature in degrees Celsius

7.01 Average wind speed (m/s) for A1 during measurement period

9.56 Maximum wind speed (m/s) for A1 during measurement period

0.84 Standard deviation for A1 during measurement period

6.68 Average wind speed (m/s) for A2 during measurement period

9.03 Maximum wind speed (m/s) for A2 during measurement period

0.79 Standard deviation for A2 during measurement period

2.26 Battery voltage. Note that 2.26 volts is very low and batteries should be
replaced.

If the LED flashes rapidly, a problem has occurred. If logger and PC are still connected, you can
check if the logger is still working by using the terminal program. If data is still transferred, the
logger works fine, otherwise an error message appears.

ATTENTION: Always check if data is transferred and the readings are fine before using

the logger on site.

Check the data by connecting the SD card to a PC or by using the RS-232

interface and a terminal program.

ATTENTION: Do not leave the RS-232 cable plugged in for a longer period of time

because this causes higher power consumption.

© PCE Instruments

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6 Troubleshooting

Problem: Data is not written to the memory card.
Solution: This is likely to be due to a corrupted memory card, excessive memory card

Problem: The time and date has reset to zero.
Solution: The logger uses the batteries to keep its internal clock working. If at any

Problem: The green LED is flashing continuously.
Solution: Make sure the memory card is inserted properly and the card is working

Problem: Wind direction is stuck at zero.
Solution: Check if your sensor is able to measure the wind direction. If so, ensure that

Problem: Wind speed is zero or incorrect.
Solution: Ensure that the anemometer wiring is correct and that there are no short

Problem: The batteries go flat quite quickly.
Solution: Ensure that the batteries are good-quality alkaline type. These will ensure

power consumption or flat batteries. Some memory cards use much more
power than others. To guarantee a long battery life, the logger limits the
current being supplied to the memory card. We recommend using the
memory cards supplied. The logger is compatible with microSD cards up to
2 GB.

time the batteries are removed, the logger will reset its time and date to 00.
Follow the instructions in chapter 5.1 to set the time and date.

correctly. The logger is compatible with standard microSD cards up to 2 GB.

the wind vane wiring is correct and that there are no short circuits or open
circuits at the terminals. Check if the cable is damaged.

circuits or open circuits at the terminals. Check if the cable is damaged. Also
check if the anemometer type is set correctly, as this affects the speed
calculations.

longer life, especially at low temperatures. Ensure that the microSD memory
card is inserted properly and does not have large amounts of data stored on
it. Do not use the 10-second logging interval for normal long-term logging,
as this uses more power. Make sure there are no short circuits in the sensor
connections and that the sensors are working correctly.

© PCE Instruments

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7 Warranty

You can read our warranty terms in our General Business Terms which you can find here:

https://www.pce-instruments.com/english/terms.

8 Disposal

For the disposal of batteries in the EU, the 2006/66/EC directive of the European Parliament
applies. Due to the contained pollutants, batteries must not be disposed of as household waste.
They must be given to collection points designed for that purpose.

In order to comply with the EU directive 2012/19/EU we take our devices back. We either re-use
them or give them to a recycling company which disposes of the devices in line with law.

For countries outside the EU, batteries and devices should be disposed of in accordance with
your local waste regulations.

If you have any questions, please contact PCE Instruments.

© PCE Instruments

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PCE Instruments contact information

Germany France Spain

PCE Deutschland GmbH PCE Instruments France EURL PCE Ibérica S.L.
Im Langel 4 23, rue de Strasbourg Calle Mayor, 53
D-59872 Meschede 67250 SOULTZ-SOUS-FORETS 02500 Tobarra (Albacete)
Deutschland France España
Tel.: [phone] Téléphone: [phone] Tel. : [phone]
Fax: [phone] Numéro de fax: [phone] Fax: [phone]
[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]
www.pce-instruments.com/deutsch www.pce-instruments.com/french www.pce-instruments.com/espanol

United States of America United Kingdom Italy

PCE Americas Inc. PCE Instruments UK Ltd PCE Italia s.r.l.
711 Commerce Way suite 8 Unit 11 Southpoint Business Park Via Pesciatina 878 / B-Interno 6
Jupiter / Palm Beach Ensign Way, Southampton 55010 LOC. GRAGNANO
33458 FL Hampshire CAPANNORI (LUCCA)
USA United Kingdom, SO31 4RF Italia
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone] Telefono: [phone]
Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone]
[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]
www.pce-instruments.com/us www.pce-instruments.com/english www.pce-instruments.com/italiano

The Netherlands Chile Hong Kong

PCE Brookhuis B.V. PCE Instruments Chile S.A. PCE Instruments HK Ltd.
Institutenweg 15 RUT: 76.154.057-2 Unit J, 21/F., COS Centre
7521 PH Enschede Santos Dumont 738, local 4 56 Tsun Yip Street
Nederland Comuna de Recoleta, Santiago, Chile Kwun Tong
Telefoon: [phone] Tel. : [phone] Kowloon, Hong Kong
Fax: [phone] Fax: [phone] Tel: [phone]
[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]
www.pce-instruments.com/dutch www.pce-instruments.com/chile www.pce-instruments.cn

China

Pingce (Shenzhen) Technology Ltd. PCE Teknik Cihazları Ltd.Şti.
West 5H1,5th Floor,1st Building Halkalı Merkez Mah.
Shenhua Industrial Park, Pehlivan Sok. No.6/C
Meihua Road,Futian District 34303 Küçükçekmece - İstanbul
Shenzhen City Türkiye
China Tel: [phone]
Tel: [phone] Faks: 0212 705 53 93
[e-mail] [e-mail]
www.pce-instruments.cn www.pce-instruments.com/turkish

Turkey

© PCE Instruments

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