The Kegland Fill-O-Meter Calibration Tip

Fill-O-Meter – Water Measuring Flow Meter Device via MoreBeer

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From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

No more spillovers! Set your desired volume and walk away
Automatically collect water while you tend to other tasks
Great for collecting brewing water or mixing your cleaning and sanitizing chemicals
Illuminated display in splash resistant housing
Integrated solenoid valve cuts off flow when your set volume is dispensed
Unlike other hose timers that simply measure time, the Fill-O-Meter measures volume and will automatically turn off when the programmed volume of water is dispensed. Enter your desired volume of water, press Start, and tend to other brew day prep work. Install in-line with your water filter to automatically collect filtered strike water, or measure out how much water you need to mix with cleaning chemicals for a precise dilution ratio.

We recommend setting up the Fill-O-Meter with either Duotight fittings or Type A Camlocks. Thread tape will be required for the Camlock. Use sparingly as too much plumber’s tape can damage the plastic thread. And it is very important to never overtighten!

Displays real time flow rate and volume (Liters/Min or Gallons/Min)
Accurately measures and controls volumes at flow rates from 1-30L/Min (0.26-7.9Gal/Min)
Never overfill or spillover again
Splash resistant housing
Great for filling tanks, brewing kettles, distilling gear, mixing liquid and many other applications
Integrated flow meter and solenoid valve
Illuminated display for usage in the evening
Integrated sound alarm
Easy 1/2″ BSP Inlet and Outlet
Automatic failsafe – flow is stopped if the unit loses power
Important Notes:
DO NOT flow liquid the wrong direction, it will break the unit.
DO NOT overtighten fittings onto the 1/2″ ports.
DO NOT exceed temperatures greater than 104°F (40°C) through the unit.

Specifications:
Power Supply Input: 100-240VAC (50/60Hz)
Power Supply Output: 24V DC, 1.5A
Flow Range: 1-30L per minute
Temperature Range: 32-104°F (0-40°C)
LCD: 3 inch back lit display
Housing Material: ABS
Input/Output threads: G1/2″
Pressure Rating: 0-12bar (0-180psi)
Accuracy: +/- 5%
Please Note: Accuracy can be improved with stable flow. Repeated start/stop or variation in water supply can have negative effect on accuracy.

KegLand Part Number: KL14694


 

Learn More… Hands on Review

Fill-O-Meter – Water Measuring Flow Meter Device BE671

 


Reader Tip… Correct The Fill-O-Meter to Read In Gallons…

Thanks to HBF Reader Bobby for this tip!  [8 Ways to Connect with HBF]

Bobby Says…

Hey, I’ve found value from some of your reviews and tips and tricks, so figured I’d contribute back a little bit! I bought the KegLand Fill-O-Meter on the morebeer Black Friday sale, and ran into the same problems some of the reviews mention on not being able to use it in gallons mode. It turns out it’s just a math error in the firmware that’s easily corrected. The process for calibrating it isn’t really well documented either, so I’m including the process (an excerpt from my review on morebeer.com) I went through because I figure that may help others as well!

If you look at the calibration factor (K-factor), the default value is 9.4 “LPM” (the value for the K-factor is pulses per liter, not liters per minute, but the screen labels it as LPM/GPM, and the instruction manual gives some silly math formula that seems like gibberish). When you change to gallon units, the K-factor changes to 2.48. There are 3.78 liters in a gallon of water, and 9.4/3.78 is ~2.48. Since liters are in the denominator, they should have multiplied that value by 3.78, not divided (a gallon is bigger than a liter, so it will need more pulses, not less). 9.4*3.78 is 35.53, and if you change the calibration factor to that in gallons mode, you get much much closer. Unfortunately, this bug means you can’t easily switch between liters and gallons without fixing the calibration factor each time, but presumably anyone who wants to use this in gallons mode wouldn’t be switching it to liters very often.

After figuring this out, it was dispensing somewhat close to the right amount of water, but not exactly correct. I was able to dial in my calibration with a few iterations. I have the rubbermaid 1-quart and 1-gallon pitchers that get raved about on here, so I used those. I set the Fill-O-Meter to dispense 0.25 gallons (32 oz) of water and saw where it landed on my 1-quart pitcher, and adjusted my K-factor based on that. Just figure out the ratio of expected amount versus actual amount, and adjust your K-factor by that. For example, if it had dispensed 10 oz of water, your K-factor needs to adjust by (32/10) or 3.2. So multiply the K-factor by 3.2 and try again. Repeat until you’re happy with the accuracy, then try dispensing a gallon into your 1-gallon container. After two or three iterations of this, I was able to dial it in at 0.25 gallons, and it dispensed close enough to 1 gallon for me when I attempted that after.

If you want to be super exact, you could probably dispense 5 gallons into a bucket and do calculations by weight. One gallon weighs 8.34 pounds, so if you place an empty 5-gallon bucket on a scale (the same one you probably have and use for weighing your grain) and tare it, then dispense 5 gallons into the bucket, you’d expect 41.7 pounds. Take your actual value and adjust the K-factor accordingly. Remember that any inaccuracy will compound; so if you’re off by a small amount calibrating with 1 quart, when you scale that up to, say, 7.5 gallons, your inaccuracy will be 30 times as much. Dialing in your accuracy on a larger amount of water, therefore, should give you more accuracy overall.

For the price, this thing is pretty great. It takes a little bit of messing around to get it calibrated and dispensing correctly, but I feel that anyone should be able to dial it in with a few minutes of trial and error with the process I followed.

Hands on Review!

Hands on Review: Kegland Fill-O-Meter

Fill-O-Meter - Water Measuring Flow Meter Device BE671

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