Several alternate flow meter options are now available for Sentra water temperature control units in lieu of the standard rotary flow sensor system.
![SMC flow switch with pulsed output](images/image-flow-meter-001.jpg)
SMC flow switch with pulsed output
![Keyence flow meter with pulsed output. No pipe modifications required](images/image-flow-meter-002.jpg)
Keyence flow meter with pulsed output. No pipe modifications required
![Magnetic-inductive flow meter SM2601](images/image-flow-meter-IFM.jpg)
IFM magnetic-inductive flow meter
Examples are shown above. Advantage does not necessarily recommend these products.
- These alternate flow meters can provide a more accurate flow rate reading due to the flow meter technology.
- The flow rate from the external meter is communicated to the SK-G or SK-T control instrument and can be communicated from the instrument to any primary machine control that uses Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP or SPI protocol.
- Several external flow meters have been sourced and tested to work with SK-G & SK-T controls including IFM Efector Magnetic inductive flow meter, SMC flow meter and Keyence clamp on flow meter. The key to each of these is that they are equipped with a pulsed output which is then communicated to the control instruments to determine the flow rate.
- The flow meters are also powered from the Advantage control instruments.
- For best results, the flow meter will need to be mounted externally and have about 6 diameters of straight pipe upstream and downstream for an accurate reading.
- The external flow meters can be purchased with the Sentra unit or can be sourced directly from the manufacturer.
- Additional hardware and software is required for the integration of the external flow meter so there is an additional cost to enable this feature.
Examples of the G-Series flow meter compared to the IFM flow meter.
![G Series flow display showing flow of 2 GPM](images/image-flow-display-G-2-gpm.jpg)
G Series flow display showing flow of 2 GPM
![G Series flow display showing flow of 5 GPM](images/image-flow-display-IFM-2-gpm.jpg)
IFM flow meter showing 1.95 gpm.
![G Series flow display showing flow of 2 GPM](images/image-flow-display-G-5-gpm.jpg)
G Series flow display showing flow of 5 GPM
![G Series flow display showing flow of 5 GPM](images/image-flow-display-IFM-5-gpm.jpg)
G Series flow display showing flow of 5.05 GPM
For more information about external flow meters call the Advantage Sales Department at 317-887-0729.