Which Flowmeter?

[affiliate13]

I wondered what flow-meters you folks use?

There seems to be a lot of crappy looking ones out there, what would you guys buy if you wanted something fairly accurate but not crazy money to buy?

[Conumdrum]

None. They ones that are within our reach ($$) are pretty all crap and reduce flow rate to measure flow rate. High end ones cost a pretty penny, over $90 and need a interface board too.

[affiliate13]

Is that those King Instruments ones? I saw some on Ebay but i have no idea what ones i need.

So if i want to record flow properly ill need something more substantial then, ill do more reading in that case.

Thanks again.

[skinnee]

In reality, you're probably not looking to be dead accurate but you just want to know about where you're at flow wise right?

If so, check out the Koolance FM-17 or the AquaComputer one (I can't seem to find it on AC's site though).

[affiliate13]

I wouldn't be doing any professional testing but i would like to learn how to test professionally if you get my drift.
That said I wont have massive amounts of money to throw at it.
So I'll check the AC/KL ones out again, I think they probably will do fine to play with.
If I ever get beyond their limitations down the road I might be in a position to look at something better by then.

Thanks Skinnee.

[Waterlogged]

In reality, you're probably not looking to be dead accurate but you just want to know about where you're at flow wise right?

If so, check out the Koolance FM-17 or the AquaComputer one (I can't seem to find it on AC's site though).

http://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_...nafjt91qa4kng8

[Factotum]

preview =))
AC Flow sensor "high flow" G1/4 / Koolance FM-17 / GRM AFS1-B ½" vs t-Balancer and Aquaero USB 4.0

[skinnee]

I've actually been tossing around the idea of doing a "Controller" review for a couple of weeks now, looks like that might be a good idea to get scheduled.

[OldChap]

I, for one, would like to see some comparisons on this type of thing

[affiliate13]

preview =))
AC Flow sensor "high flow" G1/4 / Koolance FM-17 / GRM AFS1-B ½" vs t-Balancer and Aquaero USB 4.0

Just out of interest, what variance is there between those?

I would guess you would need to compare those to a lab grade one to see if they are accurate but none the less it would be interesting to see how close they are to each other.

[skinnee]

^ Yup, thats why I want to do a comparison/review.

[Alexandr0s]

Well, I'd say what are you waiting for? :P

I can't wait to see it already!

[kaytaro]

I have 2 Koolance FM-17, which i loved untill i found out the pin in the middle of the unit rusted with distilled water, then again they say only use their coolant.





pics where taken after i cleaned out all the residue.

[Conumdrum]

Another Koolance iron issue. Man don't they know any better? The steel plugs on some parts last year? Man.....

OP: If your doing tests for reviews, your best bet is a flow meter like Skinnee or Martin uses. Lab grade tube style. If for normal PC use to monitor flow rates, then it's not worth the hassle or time.

[meanmoe]

OP: If your doing tests for reviews, your best bet is a flow meter like Skinnee or Martin uses. Lab grade tube style. If for normal PC use to monitor flow rates, then it's not worth the hassle or time.

Also to the OP...

The flow meter that they use is a king instruments. They make good stuff. Sidewinder has one (http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/kiin75seac.html), but you can get them for a lot cheaper from a place that sells instrumentation. Look around. Good pressure transducers and flow meters are available.

In a past life I ordered a lot of instrumentation for high and low speed wind tunnel and water tunnel experiments, if I remember the name of some of the catalogs I'll post them. Make sure to pay close attention to the range - it defines your resolution in most cases. You could also build a very precise manometer and flowmeter/velocimeter - an accurate calibration becomes the trick there though (especially for the flowmeter/velocimeter).

[affiliate13]

Another Koolance iron issue. Man don't they know any better? The steel plugs on some parts last year? Man.....

OP: If your doing tests for reviews, your best bet is a flow meter like Skinnee or Martin uses. Lab grade tube style. If for normal PC use to monitor flow rates, then it's not worth the hassle or time.

I wont be doing any proper reviews, i dont have the equipment or the experience to vet my own results. However my GF is in the middle of her Phd just now so I want to find some way to spend the evenings thats at least half way productive. So i though i would build a bench and learn to test kit to better understand what works etc.

Also to the OP...

The flow meter that they use is a king instruments. They make good stuff. Sidewinder has one (http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/kiin75seac.html), but you can get them for a lot cheaper from a place that sells instrumentation. Look around. Good pressure transducers and flow meters are available.

In a past life I ordered a lot of instrumentation for high and low speed wind tunnel and water tunnel experiments, if I remember the name of some of the catalogs I'll post them. Make sure to pay close attention to the range - it defines your resolution in most cases. You could also build a very precise manometer and flowmeter/velocimeter - an accurate calibration becomes the trick there though (especially for the flowmeter/velocimeter).

Yes, those king models look properly made, ill need to get the bench built 1st i think and then get the instruments afterwards. By then i would imagine i will know what i can spend.


There are so many things to record and there is probably little point in recording each variable if the results are going to be different each time.

..beats TV though...

[Factotum]

Ok, so i began testing the flowmeters to find out this:
When i fill the first 10 liter canister and pour it into another canister i noticed that the flow value in the beginning is different from one in the end. For example: if canister is full the flow rate is 100 l/h, after half of it is poured into the second canister the flow rate decreased to 90l/h for convenience.
So this is what i do:
1) I'll measure the flow rate when the first canister is full
2) Pour 5 liters out of it and put the hose back into the first canister and measure the flow rate for the water left inside it
3) to minimize the accuracy of the experiment I'll repeat it 5 times.

any opinion is welcome

[scamps]

I have 2 Koolance FM-17, which i loved untill i found out the pin in the middle of the unit rusted with distilled water, then again they say only use their coolant.
...

Ok, so i began testing the flowmeters to find out this:
When i fill the first 10 liter canister and pour it into another canister i noticed that the flow value in the beginning is different from one in the end. For example: if canister is full the flow rate is 100 l/h, after half of it is poured into the second canister the flow rate decreased to 90l/h for convenience.
So this is what i do:
1) I'll measure the flow rate when the first canister is full
2) Pour 5 liters out of it and put the hose back into the first canister and measure the flow rate for the water left inside it
3) to minimize the accuracy of the experiment I'll repeat it 5 times.

any opinion is welcome

my opinion: a lot of work to do

I have already tried different types of different brands. The good ones:
Digmesa FHKUC70: http://www.aquatuning.de/product_inf...-FHKUC-70.html (sorry, no other link available)
Aquacomputer Highflow: http://www.a-c-shop.de/Aquacomputer-...high-flow-G1-4

Interesting: the internals of those two are the same. Only the casing is different. They have pretty small influence on flow, accurateness seems to be good >approx. 80 L/h (tested with two sensors in one loop) and almost noiseless at flow rates below 300 L/h.

HESmelaugh did a very good review:
http://www.dexgo.com/index.php?site=...rdware&seite=3

[Factotum]

first try:

[scamps]

first try:
...

not to call you a water boy , but well done

[Alexandr0s]

Hmm, it seems both the AC flow meter and the Koolance FM-17 are pretty accurate (accurate enough for us watercoolers anyway). The GRM seems a bit off. However, this seems to be more of a calibration problem, since it's always 0.2-0.3 below the actual value.

[scamps]

@Factotum
The "GRM" is a "GMR", isn´t it? How did you mount it (direction/fittings)?
Even the direction (vertical/horizontal) could be important for this type

[Factotum]

retested:

[Factotum]

HESmelaugh did a very good review:

LOL, i opened AC flow meter and found Digmesa logo inside =))

[kaytaro]

I have 2 Koolance FM-17, which i loved untill i found out the pin in the middle of the unit rusted with distilled water, then again they say only use their coolant.

I must say tho... I bought 2 more of them, and use still to this day, I have not had any problems with rust yet, my main problem before was my koolance res fitting was bad i guess..... ie it rusted...

I picked up 2 SF800's wanna see the difference in pressure drop between the units.