Wow! It’s one new thing after another…

Most of our calibrators use replaceable and convenient Alkaline batteries either AA or 9V types. They’re readily available in all markets. But, for reasons of economy or ecology, some people prefer rechargeable batteries. We’ve sold these as an option for everything we make.

NiMH Battery Kit

Now, we have a new purpose designed and made battery pack for the BetaGauge 330 Pressure Calibrator. Because of its built-in electric pump, the 330 uses (8) AA cells. Previously, to use rechargeable batteries, you had to take out all 8 cells, put them in one or more chargers and then reinstall them. That’s a bit user unfriendly. Being the smart and friendly people we are, we decided to create a sealed battery pack with external charger to make this quick and easy.

Our new battery pack also offers a bit better performance with a total of 2.7 Ah available energy against 2.0 Ah from the Alkaline cells. Since the Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries have a lower internal resistance than Alkalines, they are able to squeeze more out of each charge, too.

A fully depleted pack can be recharged in about 2 hours and can be expected to provide up to 400 complete pump cycles from 0 to 150 PSI.

The charger is a universal type (100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz input) that comes with a set of snap in adapters for use with any type of mains connection outlet.

Valve Location

I’ve been posting a lot about the BetaGauge 330 lately because we’ve had a lot of new developments for it. With the revolutionary built-in battery operated test pump, it has become our flagship product. So, we spend a lot of time trying to make it even better.

The good news/bad news is that the strength of the 330 (built-in pump) is also its Achilles heel. Contamination of the pump valves will make it leak and/or not work. We considered that in the initial design and made those valves easy for the customer to access (picture at left) and clean (video at YouTube).

That, by itself, might be good enough for some.

However, we want to go even further and stop a potential problem before it even starts. In this case, the potential problem is liquid being sucked into the pump mechanism from the device under test. When this happens, you’re looking at more than just cleaning the valves. It’s time for a full rebuild, which is time consuming and more difficult.

LDT-500 Liquid/Dirt Trap

So, we’ve designed and are building a liquid/dirt trap accessory for the BetaGauge 330, The LDT-500. Beginning this month, all 330s will ship with this device as standard. It mounts on the calibrator’s pressure port between the calibrator and any potential contaminant. With its clear body, it’s easy for the technician to see when a problem might be occuring and prevent it. The LDT-500 will also be available separately for users who already own a BetaGauge 330 and want to protect it.

The design of the LDT-500 is pretty clever, too. It’s virtually tooless as it screws into the calibrator port and seals with an o-ring. No pipe sealant tape required. The open process port is Martel’s unique NPT/BSP thread for universal use. Cleaning of the LDT is tool free, too. The end caps unscrew by hand, making it easy to clean out. If needed, replacement o-ring seals are available as a maintenance kit.

We’re working on even more improvements for the BetaGauge 330, so keep in touch.

BetaGauge330

In June, we started shipping the BetaGauge 330 with available absolute pressure internal sensors. The 330 is now available with a 30 PSIA (2 barA) or a 150 PSIA (10 barA) internal sensor.

The new ranges offer the same ±0.025% of full scale accuracy (6 month specification) as the previously offered gauge ranges (30, 150 & 300 PSI).

Some of the other useful features of the 330 are

• built-in loop calibrator (input and output
• large multi-variable display
• 24 VDC instrument power supply
• automatic pressure switch test
• available gas custody meter calibration kit
• 17 engineering unit displays
• external pressure module compatible

For a surprisingly low cost in a surprisingly small and lightweight package, the BetaGauge 330 has a lot to offer.

We have updated the very popular and powerful BetaGauge 311 and BetaGauge 321 Advanced Pressure Calibrators. The new models are the single range BetaGauge 311A and dual range BetaGauge 321A. What we didn’t change are the great performance and ease of use we already had.

Here are the new features:

• Super rugged “Power-Tool-Tough” housing. We’re using the same plastic used in high end cordless drills and the like to make the BetaGauge 311A/321A virtually indestructible.
• Custom engineering units. If you don’t like any of the 19 built-in engineering units, you can configure up to 2 additional units. If you give us the factor information and unit name at the time of order, we’ll even put it in for you at no extra cost.
• Enhanced measurement stability. We updated the circuit design on the pressure sensors with our latest technology to provide better all around performance over a wide range of temperatures and with less long term drift.
• User selectable resolution. Sometimes, there’s too much resolution for the intended application. Those extra digits can make the job harder not better. So, you can reduce the displayed resolution by a single digit in any application.
• More compatible ranges. With 29 possible ranges, we let the user choose what’s right for them. Now, we’ve made the ranges more compatible with long time industry practice by providing compound measurement on most ranges below 500 PSI (35 Bar).

See our web site for more details. The new calibrators are available NOW!

At the upcoming ISA EXPO 2009 in Houston, Texas, we’re introducing a new software package for data logging on the BetaGauge PI or BetaGauge PIR digital test gauges. The dates for the EXPO are October 6 through 8. Our booth number is 2316. Come see us.

BetaGauge PI Reference Class with MECP500 Pump

Our customers already know how rugged, reliable and useful these gauges are. Now, they’re even more useful. Detailed information about the software and its capabilities can be found here.

Here are some highlights:

 • Ability to log both pressure and ambient temperature (UNIQUE).
 • Up to 8500 data points logged.
 • Data stored in industry standard spread sheet formats (CSV or Excel).
 • Multiple log runs stored in gauge
 • Demand (ad hoc) or Download (computer) configured log runs

Applications supported include:

 • Hydrostatic pressure testing
 • Leak detection
 • Transient pressure spike detection
 • Well head monitoring

You can ask your local Martel Distributor for a quote.

Sometimes we just have to pat ourselves on the back. Well, not really, our customers often do it for us. Here’s a recent example that was completely unsolicited. 

We have managed to procure your equipment through our broker in South Africa and I am satisfied with the performance especially the Multi function calibrator DMC-1400 and the pressure calibrator model BetaGauge 311.

 

Thanks for the quality products. – Ephraim

It’s great when someone says thank you, and it’s great to know that our products are helping get things done all over the world. You can find out more on this web site or by seeking out your local Martel Electronics Distributor.

Do you need to know more or wish you knew more about flowmeters?

Our friends at OMEGA Engineering have an excellent on-line tutorial in their Transactions material. I think you can also request this in hard copy from them.

The tutorial starts out with some interesting history about the development of flowmeters. I’ll bet you didn’t know that the earliest flowmeters are from around 5,000 BCE!

The material is technical enough to be of interest, but doesn’t really require much beyond algebra and a little knowledge of physics to be understandable.

The topics cover differential pressure type flowmeters, mechanical (positive displacement) flowmeters, various electronic flowmeters including magnetic flowmeters, vortex meters and ultrasonic flowmeters. There’s also a section on mass flow measurement using coriolis and thermal flowmeters.

It’s worth a look. You can find it here.

Many people don’t realize that we make a custody transfer flowmeter calibration kit for the BetaGauge 330-30. This adds a high range pressure module and LTP100A RTD probe to the standard calibrator.

The integral pump and internal sensor are used for the differential calibration portion of the flowmeter. A high pressure external sensor is used for the static portion, and, of course, the RTD provides the data for the temperature compensation calibration of the flowmeter.

Sometimes we don’t do a good enough job letting people know what they are getting for their money.

As a rule, I would say that we give people a working product with everything that’s needed to put it to work right away. We even include BATTERIES.

T-140 Kit Ship Sheet

To see what we really ship with a product, I look at what we call the Ship Sheet. This is the guide for the shipping department to make sure that nothing is forgotten or left out of the box that’s supposed to be there.

You can see an example to the right. This is the ship sheet for a low range T-140 pressure calibrator kit. Here’s what’s in the box:

1. The calibrator (T-140)
2. The instruction manual
3. NIST calibration certificate
4. Hard plastic carrying case with foam insert
5. MECP100 pneumatic hand pump
6. Labels for the pump
7. Various fittings
8. Tubing cut to a 3′/1m length
9. Teflon tape
10. Shipping bag for the calibrator
11. Product registration postcard
12. Thank you card
13. Label for the carrying case

So, everything you normally need is there.

Q. Can the BetaGauge 330 be field recalibrated?

A. Yes. The BetaGauge 330 is calibrated through the serial port like many Martel calibrators. Other than a computer with a terminal emulation program (we normally recommend HyperTerminal), a LEM232 serial communications cable is needed along with a URA-1 RTD adapter. Both of these can be purchased through your Martel distributor.

You will also need some adequate standards for pressure, current (mA), voltage and resistance.

The procedure is available from the factory or your local Martel distributor.