Elapsed time meter on oil burner or ?other


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Old 11-12-12, 08:41 PM
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Elapsed time meter on oil burner or ?other

ZoesDad asked in another thread:

Seriously though, would an hour counter work for the burner?
You could put an ET meter on the burner if you want... I've got one on mine in fact. It's not on the power to the burner, but rather on the OIL VALVE because I want to use it to determine oil usage.

I don't want to count the pre and post purge times when blower is running alone.
 

Last edited by NJT; 11-14-12 at 03:20 PM.
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Old 11-13-12, 12:27 PM
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Thanks Trooper! That’s what I really wanted to do, determine oil usage. Looks like I’m out of luck since I don’t have an oil valve. My burner control is really old the R4184D. I guess I don’t have pre-purge and post-purge?

But does that mean I could just connect the meter in parallel to the motor control? In other words, could I just connect it in parallel by placing it at that box in the diagram labeled “Oil Valve”? I was thinking that should give me something meaningful, but I'm not sure.

 
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Old 11-13-12, 03:03 PM
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does that mean I could just connect the meter in parallel to the motor control?
Yes, you could.

Just hook the meter to the orange and the white. It will be reasonably accurate.

Any inaccuracy in determining oil usage will come from:

1. errors in the gauge used to set the pump pressure (probably the largest factor)

2. manufacturing tolerances of the oil nozzle (small)

3. difference in nozzle flow as the pump is rolling up to and down from speed (cumulative error over time)

Remember that the nozzle flow is rated at 100 PSI, so if your boiler specs any other pump pressure you need to extrapolate the nozzle flow to the actual pump pressure. There are charts out there on the net that have already done the calcs for us. (check the Delavan website)

I wish there was a way to adjust the 'gearing' on my ET meter to compensate for this and have the meter read directly in gallons... but I guess that's why them make calculators!

You only need to segregate the wiring if you've got a newer primary control that has ' valve on / motor off ' delays, and your oil pump has the oil valve on it.
 
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Old 11-13-12, 04:35 PM
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(I am losing it! LOL I didn’t see I was hijacking that thread until it was too late! I have better manners…well sometimes.LOL)

Gotcha Trooper. Thanks a lot for your time and the good info! I’ll be checking the Delevan website for those charts.
 
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Old 11-14-12, 03:17 PM
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Elapsed Time Meter

Trooper brought up this subject. Here is the meter that I settled on: ENM T50B4 which is 24V (but 115V is also avaiable). The meter fits nicely in a 4x4 electrical box with a standard cover that has a 2" hole. I have two - one for my air conditioning and one for my gas boiler.

If you order direct from the manufacturer, ENM, they are $45, but Amazon sells them for $22.21: Amazon.com: ENM T50B4 Hour Meter,Electrical,2.8In,3-Hole Round: Home Improvement You might find somewhere else that is even cheaper.
 
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Old 11-14-12, 03:18 PM
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Looks like moving the post lost one of the links... sorry bout dat.

Lemmee see if I can find it.
 
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Old 11-14-12, 03:55 PM
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For my 24-V ENM meter and a gas-fired boiler, just hook up the meter in parallel with gas valve terminals (assuming you have a 24-V gas valve). (Slight problem: I have gas cooking, gas water heating, gas clothes drying, fireplace log-lighter, and gas grilling. But, based on my summer-time vs. winter usage, those other uses are almost negligible over a year compared to space heating.)

For central air, hook up the meter in parallel with the 24-V contol wiring to the compressor (not the fan, if separately controlled).

The one thing I wish were different about my ENM meter - I'd like to have a manual push-button to reset the meter to zero. Then, at the end of the heating (or cooling) season, just write down the reading and hit reset - ready for next year.

An elapsed time meter is also handy for clocking the gas meter on a cold day or night to verify fuel usage/heat loss or to verify the heat input rating of the the boiler. My meters record to a tenth of an hour, which is satisfactory precision over a few hours. Make sure that no other gas appliances will operate during any test period.
 
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Old 11-14-12, 03:55 PM
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That is a nicer looking meter then I had in mind. Add a 110V light (or led circuit) and I could make a pair of sweet circulation pump monitoring boxes.
 
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Old 11-14-12, 06:43 PM
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Add a 110V light (or led circuit)
I'm partial to neon...

Lamp assemblies - Miniature bulbs & lamps - RadioShack.com
 
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Old 11-15-12, 05:30 AM
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It's on the two do list, but down near the bottom below the must do items.
 
 

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