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 posted a new video on YouTube that details the cleaning process for the BetaGauge 330 pump valves.

The 330 has been a really trouble free product except that many users don’t bother to try cleaning the pump valves if they become contaminated. They end up sending it in for service that they could do themselves in about 10 minutes.

While the cleaning process is described in the user manual, a video is a better way to get the message across.

Valve contamination occurs during the normal use of the pump in many industrial environments. We designed them to be trouble free and really easy to clean.

The video shows the whole process in about 5 minutes.

Did you know that the accuracy and validity of natural gas custody transfer metering is covered under the US Sarbanes Oxley law?

I didn’t either until I read this informative post by Jim Cahill over at the Emerson Process Experts blog.

Here’s my short take on what’s required to do a professional job at custody transfer metering for many industries.

• Proper design and installation of metering equipment, which includes selecting the right equipment in the first place. This is a very competitive market and there’s plenty of great hardware available. So, this really boils down to quality installation design and implementation.
• Routine and regular verification of the performance of the system. This is where Martel comes in the a range of useful calibration products such as the BetaGauge 321A. Our calibrators have the performance, reliability and features needed to do a great job of calibrating gas custody transfer systems.
• Technicians who are professionally trained professionals. This may be the hardest piece of the puzzle to fit in. Finding, keeping and motivating quality personnel is a major challenge for corporations world-wide.

It’s ironic that one of the events that instigated the Sarbanes Oxley Act was the implosion of Enron Corporation, a company that started out in the natural gas energy business.

BetaGauge 321 Dual Range Pressure Calibrator

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!

A couple of weeks ago, Jim Cahill of Emerson Process commented in his blog about the importance of getting back to basics in instrumentation and controls. His point was that no matter how sophisticated, expensive or new your system is, it can still be an automation or control disaster.

He talked a lot about an installation that suffered from poor loop tuning and the like, but this also applies to instrument calibration.

It seems obvious, but poor or inaccurate calibration will cost you a lot more in money, materials, headaches and safety than what the fix costs.

Here are a few things that are what I think about when I say back to basics in calibration.

• Use modern equipment. Newer calibrators make the job easier and easier to do with great accuracy. The accuracy of calibration equipment today is much better today than 20 years ago.
• Keep your calibrators calibrated. Some people are surprised to learn that even calibrators need to be calibrated. Whether you use the original manufacturer for periodic recalibration or a third party lab or maybe even an in-house lab, calibrations need to be kept up-to-date. That means a qualified NIST or other national lab traceable calibration with data.
• Use automated calibrations and automated documentation. Not only do these features make the job easier and provide good calibration history, they also prevent errors in the work.
• Do the routine work. If you’re always putting out fires, you’ll always be putting out fires. Routine, regular calibration does pay off. I know, this is really a management problem. You just have to keep asking for the resources long enough to be a real pain in the you-know-what to actually get the resources. This is where using modern equipment helps, too, because it can stretch out the staff you have to get more work done.

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.

Martel Electronics’ BetaGauge 330 pressure calibrator is featured in the February/March issue of Reportero Industrial. It’s a pan-Latin America publication covering the industrial markets with sections for Instrumentation and Analysis.

Reportero Industrial

The articles are all in Spanish, but that’s good for its intended audience. There’s also a section in Portugese specifically for the Brazilian market.