Memories of water

The company's new Magflo meters, used extensively in the water industry, are equipped with `sensor-proms' - EPROMS which hold production data for each sensor and, more importantly, all the information from Danfoss's NAMAS-accredited calibration rig. This allows calibration to be automated completely; moreover, a copy of the information blown onto the EPROM is held back at Danfoss's Stonehouse headquarters and can be referred to in case of problems.

The Magflo also incorporates another innovation which helps overcome a problem which had been puzzling Danfoss engineers. The Magflo meter is intended as a `fit-it-and-forget-it' device. `It sits in a hole and measures the amount of water going through it,' he says, `and there aren't that many opportunities to dig it up.'

However, it was becoming increasingly apparent that something was wrong, because the meters were failing far more often than they should. On inpecting the failed units, Danfoss discovered that groundwater was being pulled into the meter by capillary action along the leads that relayed the current from the coils back to the control centre. This wasn't helped by the fact that meters were often positioned by tying the cables around the teeth of a JCB bucket and lowering them into the hole while they dangled in mid-air. `We redesigned the terminals so that they were sealed all the way inside the meter,' says Warming. `No matter how they're treated, they won't take in water.'