We were able to hook up the 1st option (the 2 channel black sensor) to the Natural Gas Meter and Count Pulses. Hookup was straightforward, and everything worked right away.
However, we actually want to use the newer production counter (white box), but we tried multiple different wiring scenarios, and were not able to receive any pulses. We tried using Pins 1, 2, and 3 in all various configurations, and we had no luck. We have successully used the White production Counter on various Water Meters etc without issue (either using Pins 1 and 3 OR 2 and 3, depending on the hardware we are connecting to).
So ultimately our question is: why were we able to see a pulse using the older 2-channel counter, but not the newer white production counter? Or thinking is that the newer production counter is the sensor we want to use, since it has a sealed box, better connection cables, no jumpers, and more batteries/capacity, and generally easier to work with.
I’ll inform our production team to create the product with flexible options. This way, users can easily choose how they want to use the white box products and even switch setups whenever needed, right out in the field
For that white box sensor it would also be great to have an option to report pulses in EITHER the following:
Only based on time interval (pulses every x min)
Only based on pulse interval (report every x pulses)
Or Both
Right now, it only allows one to use BOTH time and pulse interval, which sometimes can cause a rapid fire of readings if the time interval and pulse interval align within a few seconds.
In a perfect world, there would be an option to report every X pulses, OR every Y minutes, if there hasn’t been enough pulses reported in that time. For example, I want to be able to report every 10 counts. But I also want a report after 10 minutes of the LAST reading. This is a useful feature for water meters/gas meters, when there is no flow at night, but we still want to know that a sensor is reporting. Hope that makes sense. If not, I can explain more clearly!
Hi @Bhaskar we ordered the 1 Channel Pulse Counter (Black version), and are currently deploying it. For some reason, the pulses are not being counted, and yet the 2 channel device we have, wired the same way, is seeing the pulses. The sensor is on, and we confirmed pulses with a push button.
We actually tried all permuations of COM/CH1/RESET on the one-channel counter, and none were reading the pulses.
Again, the 2-channel counter we had (black version) worked perfectly using Channel 1/COM, and it had a 2.97 V reading for Channel 1/COM when we tested it today.
So we know the 1-Channel Pulse Counter is working with the push buttons. But it is not working with the gas meter, even though the voltage is the same (2.97) as the 2-channel, and the 2-channel is reading the pulses without issue.
so as you can see both are identical boards and only diff is firmware.
If its not working with meter it means the counter value is resetting. it can reset
power cycle
COM and reset are shorting
Just to eliminate the 2nd option, connect reset to ground and test with meter
When testing the voltage between CH1 and COM, BOTH the 1-channel and 2-channel sensors are showing 3.25 V (disregard the previous 2.97 V, not sure why it was showing this on our meter earlier). So this is good, it is what it should be.
We did what you said on the 1-channel meter, and connected the reset to the ground (as per you image), and then tested the voltage between CH1 and COM, and got a voltage of 0 (zero). Is this what you were hoping for?
We are back on site now, and have again confirmed that our 2-channel sensor is working well when connecting the pulse output from the natural gas meter to CH1/COM.
However, we wired in the 1-Channel sensors the same exact way, and are not reading any pulses. We know the 1-channel sensor should be working properly, because it reports the pulses from a button we are testing with.
So, we are left with the same issue, and have tried the following on the 1-channel sensor:
all 6 permutations of wiring (CH1/COM, COM/CH1, RST/COM, COM/RST, CH1/RST, RST/CH1) and it is not working.
We are out of ideas - what could be the issue here?!
The wiring should be CH2 and COM.
One chnnale and two chnale have identical hardware and 99% identical firmware. the CH1 acts as a reset. I can’t think of anything that will cause such an error.
Regardless, we tried every possible combination with the wires on the 1-Channel counter (2 wires @ 3 possible connections [CH1, COM, CH2 on the board] = 6 possible wirings). Nothing has worked.
We tried both of the 1-channel sensors and they both behaved the same (no pulses from the gas meter). However, like I mentioned before, the 2-channel works.
We also tried with the pulse sensors wired into a 12V Power Supply.
At this point, not sure if we should:
Send the sensors back and order the 2-channel, which we know works
Perhaps consider flashing with a different firmware, given the hardware is similar?
Have a quick meeting this week to discuss our troubleshooting, and see if anything else comes up?
