Gas Meter monitor. Elster BK-G6U10

Hi folks, good to see something like this unit get off the ground. We install OFF grid wind and Anaerobic digestion mini AD plants. they produce methane. We are installing a beta model in Ireland soon .We need to monitor the gas output in m3 remotely. Some models of commercial gas meters have a pulse counter installed. E.g Elster BK-G6U10. Does any body have experience of a compatible gas meter that connects to the Base unit. I am aware there is a IR pulse counter available. Many thanks for all your help, keep up the good work .
see for meter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Elster-BK-G6-U10-1-Natural-Gas-Meter-Domestic-Industrial-Houses-Schools-etc-/121491993837?var=&hash=item1c497cb4ed:m:mFtW4FYTqwDt-qrHfxlSqrg

The emonPi does of course have a pulse input, but generally, we don’t connect directly to an emonBase, but either to an emonTx or emonTH. You can use a GPIO input on a Raspberry Pi, but that is not a standard configuration that is supported off-the-shelf, either in hardware or software.

To get a pulse from other types of (mechanical) gas meter, we usually have to resort to a reed switch, hopefully found on the fastest drum of the register. There’s quite a lot about this, including the problem of contact bounce, in the ‘Archived’ forums.

If your meter has a piece of metal on the “6” of the last digit that reflects the IR light, then you can use something like I did with an IR sensor, a schmitt trigger and a Wemos board.
See Measuring gas consumption · daturach/Documentation Wiki · GitHub for more info.
It works pretty well when you have correctly set the Schmitt Trigger levels.

Walter

Hi thanks for the reply. I have ordered the gear and will give it a go and post the type of meter i used. I have been using some American/Ukranian Pi monitors with current shunts and J type thermouples. Its a stand alone unit with a small UPS . Take care.

Hi John
I have an Elster gas meter which has an internal magnet inside the first digit wheel. If the front face has “Imp= 0,01m^3” it would suggest your meter does also have the magnet fitted.

The company do make a reed switch module which will give you a closing contact which will give you one impulse for every 0.01 cubic meter. The module is an IN-Z61 however several people have done a DIY detector using either a miniature reed switch or a solid state (Hall) magnet sensor.

meter interface INZ61_it.pdf (323.5 KB)

Hope this helps.

Graham

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