Xylem FL16 User Manual

Global Water

800-876-1172 • globalw.com

FL16 Flow Logger

Covers USB (FL16U) and Serial (FL16S) Versions

Global Water

Instrumentation, Inc.

11390 Amalgam Way

Gold River, CA 95670

T: 800-876-1172

Int’l: [phone], F: [phone]

[e-mail]

11/30/09
01-497

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Global Water

800-876-1172 • globalw.com

Congratulations on your purchase of a Global FL16 Flow Logger. This
instrument has been quality tested and approved for providing accurate
and reliable measurements. We are confident that you will find the logger
to be a valuable asset to your applications. Should you require
assistance, our technical staff will be happy to help.

Table of Contents

I. Checklist ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 3
II. Inspection ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 3
III. Warranty ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 3
IV. FL16 Specifications ▫

▫ ▫ ▫ 4

V. Introduction ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 6
VI. Software Compatibility ▫ ▫ ▫ 7
VII. System Requirements ▫ ▫ ▫ 7
VIII. Software Installation ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 8
IX. Direct Connection ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 11
X. Modem Connection ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 12
XI. Main Screen ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 15
XII. On-Line Help Files ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 19
XIII. Get History ▫ ▫ ▫

▫ ▫ 20

XIV. Setup Menus ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 21
XV. General Setup ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 22
XVI. Analog Setup ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 25
XVII. Flow Calculation Setup ▫ ▫ ▫ 27
XVIII. Programming ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 32
XIX. Calculations ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 33
XX. Modem Cable Diagram ▫ ▫ ▫ 34
XXI. Maintenance ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 35

Troubleshooting ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 35

XXII.

XXIII. Customer Support ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 36
XXIV. CE Certification ▫ ▫ ▫ ▫ 37

Copyright © Global Water Inst rumentation, Inc. 2007

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I. Checklist:

a. FL16S (Serial) or FL16U (USB) Data Logger
b. FL16 Sewer Flow Level Sensor
c. FL16 Flow Logger Manual
d. FL16S comes with a RS-232 Serial Cable
e. FL16U comes with a USB Cable, Type A to B
f. Global Logger Interface Software on CDROM

II. Inspection:

a. Your Data Logger was carefully inspected and certified by our Quality

Assurance Team before shipping. If any damage has occurred during
shipping; please notify Global Water Instrumentation, Inc. and file a
claim with the carrier involved.

III. Warranty:

a. Global Water Instrumentation, Inc. warrants that its products are

b. The warranty begins on the date of your invoice.

Global Water

800-876-1172 • globalw.com

free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use
and service for a period of one year from date of shipment from
factory. Global Water’s obligations under this warranty are
limited to, at Global Water’s option: (I) replace or (II) repair; any
products determined to be defective. In no case shall Global
Water’s liability exceed the products original purchase price.
This warranty does not apply to any equipment that has been
repaired or altered, except by Global Water Instrumentation, Inc.,
or which has been subject to misuse, negligence or accident. It
is expressly agreed that this warranty will be in lieu of all
warranties of fitness and in lieu of the warranty of
merchantability.

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IV. FL16 Specifications:

Logger:

Power Supply: Two 9VDC Lithium batteries standard

8 VDC Min. to 24.0 VDC Absolute Maximum
Standby Current: 65uA Typical
Logging Current: 5mA Typical + sensor current

Operating Temperature Industrial, -40ºC to +85ºC (Battery may not apply)

Analog Sensor Inputs: 4-20mA
Resolution: 12-Bit, 4096 Steps
Level, temperature and battery voltage monitor
Sensor Warm-up Time: Programmable, 0-15 Seconds

Sample Modes: Fixed Interval: Programmable from 1 Sec. to >1 Year
High Speed: 10 Samples per second
Logarithmic Sample Rate (Approximation)
Exception (Log only on deviation from previous reading)

Storage Capacity: 81,759 Recordings of level, temp, battery voltage plus

date/time stamp

Communication Ports: FL16S: RS-232 4-pin circular connector

FL16U: USB Type B
Selectable Baud Rates:

9600, 19200, 28800, 38400, 57600, 115200

Housing: 1 7/8 diameter x 11 1/2 long, Stainless Steel and PVC

Weight: 450g (16oz), Logger only with batteries

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Level Sensor:

Sensor Element: Silicone Diaphragm, Wet/Wet Transducer
Range: Level: 0-3 feet
Temperature: 32°-122°F (0°-50°C)
Linearity and Hysteresis: ±0.1% FS
Accuracy: Level: ±0.1% FS at constant temperature

±0.2% over 32° to 70°F range
Temperature: Smaller of 0.5°F or ±1% of reading
Overpressure: 2 x full scale
Burst Pressure: 10 x full scale
Resolution: Infinite (Analog)
Outputs: 4-20mA ±1mA at full scale
Optional Temperature: 0-10mA ±1mA FS
Supply Voltage: 10-36VDC
Current Draw: Sum of sensor outputs.
Warm Up Time: 10mS Min, 3 sec. recommended
Operating Temperature: 0° (Not Frozen) to +185°F
Compensated Range: 32° to 70°F submerged, automatic barometric

compensation

Sensor Housing:

Material: 316 SS
Size: 9” long x 1.0” diameter
Weight: 250g (9oz)

Cable:

Conductors: 4 each 22 AWG
Jacket Material: 87A shore hardness Polyurethane
Optional jacket: Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) Teflon
Cable O.D.: 7.8mm (0.307”)
Vent tube: HD Polyethylene
Shield: Aluminum Mylar
Temperature range: -30 to 85°C (-22 to 185°F)
Weight: ~65g/m (0.7 oz/ft)

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V. Introduction

The FL16 Flow Monitor uses Global Water’s standard WL6 Level Logger with a
redesigned sensor housing and new software to provide a package capable of
monitoring water flow in almost any situation including partially full pipes, open
channel flumes or weirs, and even streams and rivers. The level transducer is
designed to minimize the affects of water velocity, as well as reduce fowling. The
FL16 flow software has the ability to calculate and display water flow and velocity in
partially full pipes using the Manning’s equation, has over 40 pre-stored flume and
weir equations, and can access user-defined lookup tables that correlate water level
to flow. A special feature allows you to gain maximum accuracy by adjusting
parameters to calibrate flow against empirical measurements, before or after the
data has been recorded. All of the flow parameters are stored in the logger and are
downloaded each time you connect up to the logger. These features allow any
gravity fed channel to be monitored using one easy to use product.

The Manning’s equation, first proposed in 1889 by Robert Manning, provides a way
of calculating flow and velocity in gravity fed channels of known geometry. When
applied to circular pipes, it provides accurate flow and velocity information based
only on the water level in the pipe, the pipe diameter, the slope and the construction
material. Because velocity is a product of this equation, it provides an easy way of
checking the calibration of the FL16 against actual velocity measurements, using a
velocity probe such as Global Water’s FP101 or FP201. Generally, the roughness
number corresponding to the pipe’s construction material is used to make this
adjustment and can compensate for the build-up on the inside of aging pipes. An
offset can also be applied to the measured water level to adjust for improper
installation in flumes and weirs, or allow for the thickness of the sensor itself when
deployed horizontally on the bottom of a pipe or open channel.

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VI. Software Compatibility

Global Water offers various software packages which are compatible with most of
our family of data loggers, allowing them to be used in a variety of applications.

The software provided with this data logger is titled “Global Flow Monitor”. Any of
Global Water’s FL16 and WL16 Loggers are compatible with this software with one

limitation. The first channel is used to calculate flow and must be a standard
unit of level: “Feet, Inches, Meters or cm”. Flow is calculated based on the water

level and it is important to have this well defined.

Starting the software with units other than Feet, Inches, Meters or cm programmed
into channel one will generate various warning messages and certain features will
not function. The unit and calibration information can be changed in the setup menu
as described later in this manual. If a data logger is not compatible with this software
package an error message will appear informing you with the problem. To date, the
only standard Global Water product which is not compatible with the Global Flow
Monitor software is the GL500 data logger. Products with two analog input channels
plus battery voltage monitor (regardless of pulse channels) are compatible.

VII. System Requirements:

Desktop or Laptop computer with:

1) Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP Vista or Windows 7 Operating Systems

2) CDROM Drive

3) RS-232 COM Port (for FL16S) or USB Port (for FL16U)

Note that the software provided with the FL16 data loggers is for running on
desktop and laptop computers only. PDA software is not currently available.

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VIII. Software Installation:

Global Logger Installation: This software is for use on Windows based desktop
and laptop computers only. Insert the software installation CD and run the Setup

program in the “Flow Monitor Software” folder. This will install the Global Flow
Monitor application in the Program Files folder and automatically put the Global Flow
Monitor icon on the desktop.

Serial communication (FL16S Only

): If you are using the RS-232 serial port to

access the data logger, no further action is needed. You can start using the logger
by opening the Global Logger application program. Skip the next section.

USB Driver Installation (FL16U Only

): With the installation CD in the CDROM

drive and DC power applied to the logger, plug the USB cable into the data logger to

open the ADD New Hardware Wizard. The menus that follow will look different for

different operation systems but the procedure is the same. Do not allow the
Hardware Wizard to automatically search for the driver. Instead, specify the
location (CDROM). If a generic driver gets, or has been previously installed, it must

be uninstalled before proceeding by using the Add or Remove Programs section of
the Control Panel. Instead, click the Search External Media box or Specify a
Location box and install the driver from the CDROM. Running the Setup program
that installs the Global Logger software also installs a folder with the driver in it. This
location can also be specified if the CDROM is not available; although, it is
recommended that the driver be installed at the same time the Global Logger is
installed.

FL16U Only

The following menus apply to the
Windows XP operating system.

1) Do not let Windows search
for software. Click “No, not
at this time” when asked if
Windows Update can search
for software.

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Click Next.

2) Do not let Windows automatically
install the software. Click “Install
from a specific location”.

Click Next.

3) Specify the location of the driver.
Make sure the Global Logger CDROM
is in the CD drive and click “Search
removable media” only.

Click Next.

FL16U Only

4) The Hardware Wizard searches
for the driver.

If Windows advises that the software
is not certified, click:

“Continue Anyway”.

This only means that Microsoft has not
licensed the software. Second party
software is allowed and no harm will
come to your computer.

5) The first half of the installation is
complete. The Hardware Wizard
may need to make two passes.

Click Finish.

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6) Two drivers are sometimes required so the Hardware Wizard repeats the exact
same process again. As before; a: do not let the Windows Update do a search, b:
tell Windows to search from a specific location instead of automatically installing
software, c: tell Windows to search from removable media (CDROM).

7) The installation is complete.

Click Finish.

8) To confirm the installation, look in the
Device Manager and find the USB Serial
Port. The COM setting following that will
show the virtual COM port that has been
automatically assigned to the driver. As
you will see in the following sections, this
COM port will be automatically detected
by the Global Logger software so it is not
necessary to note which port is being
used by the driver.

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IX. Direct Connection:

Important: This data logger supports an Auto Baud Rate Mode which

automatically detects the communication speed. However; this communication

software also supports loggers which may be programmed in a Fixed Baud Rate
Mode. This is useful in telemetry applications, particularly when using Global Water

data loggers with our Global Access radio modem software. The upcoming

discussion assumes that the logger is programmed in auto detect mode. If you

cannot connect to the logger and suspect that the logger may be using a fixed rate
mode; try each connection speed separately, especially 38400 which is required

when using the Global Access software. There are 3 ways to connect to the FL16
data Loggers, direct connection through the RS-232 serial port (FL16S only) or USB
port (FL16U only), as well as dial out through an installed modem (requires FL16S
only with external serial modem).

To make a direct connection to the logger, click the “Direct” option and from the
“Port” menu, select the port you wish to use.

For USB access (FL16U) select the USB serial port at the COM port the driver was
assigned, which is automatically shown in the list as “Global Logger USB Device”.

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Serial connection (FL16S) is generally done using the serial cable provided with the
logger through the 9-pin COM1 connector at the back of the computer although
COM2 can also be used.

Next, select the desired baud rate from the “Baud Rate” menu. Generally, the
fastest rate of 115,200 is used although; long cables or other factors may require a
slower setting. Click “Connect” to make the connection. If a connection is not made,
an error message will appear. Check the battery, communication cable, driver
installation and COM port settings.

X. Modem Connection (FL16S Only):

Access to the FL16S can be made through dial-out to a remote modem by clicking
the “Modem” option. The connection from modem to logger requires an RS-232
serial modem, USB modems are not supported as an interface to the logger;
therefore, the FL16U logger cannot be accessed by modem. Also, some switch
settings must be made to the remote modem and an initialization file may be
required to properly configure the host modem.

Two baud rates are supported 9600 and 19200. Should you experience difficulty
establishing a reliable connection at 19200, try the slower connection speed. Note
that due to the slower baud rates and the additional handshaking performed during
modem communication, The Global Logger software will operate significantly slower
than during a direct connection.

The Global Logger software will remember the last 4 numbers dialed and has a
provision for using a stored text file (.txt extension) for initialization of the host
modem using standard AT commands. Some experience may be required to
configure your modem but a sample command file and some useful tips follow.

Select the baud rate

Type in or find the phone number from the list

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