Decently priced panel mount hour meter?

Thread Starter

GRNDPNDR

Joined Mar 1, 2012
545
I'm working on a power distribution box for aquarium equipment and have a UV sterilizer that I want to track the bulb life of using an hour meter.
I can't seem to find one with a reset function though, it doesn't necessarily need to be digital but that would be preferred.

does anyone know of any panel mount hour meters with a reset function? it has to have 5 digits as the lamp life is 14,000 hours.
 
I guess you'll have to ask about the range. See:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hour-Meter-...090029?hash=item19e5c538ed:g:z-UAAOSwQItT5jy6

I bought a monitor similar to what you're after, but the lamp had 900 hr life and a $900 USD price. It was more important to me to be able to have a photo-transistor enable the counting. Since my job was testing stuff where the spectrum mattered, I could see the lamp change with my calibration steps. It was an arc lamp that lost blue light as it aged.

These http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/1707700.pdf don;t even look too bad. Too many options. This is where region helps or at least the power source available.

I'd go with a photo-transistor to enable counting. It was too long ago to remember the model I selected.
 

Thread Starter

GRNDPNDR

Joined Mar 1, 2012
545
I was really tired when I posted, forgot to post voltage :)

I need 120V, I don't think I can use a photo-transistor since it would require drilling a hole into a $700 unit so that it could see when the light is on, but the light is recommended to be running 24/7 for "best performance" The bulbs are rated at EOL as well, so it outputs it's rated UV at EOL. It's an AquaUV Classic 40W.

I'd rather have the hour meter triggered by electricity since I'll have it wired to the plug.

I was looking at the Model 63 and it might serve my purposes, the links I found though didn't specify if it had a reset since there are different models of that counter.

I kind of like the ebay model though too because it has a "Clear" pin, which I assume resets the unit when that pin is grounded, or gets power..... this would allow me to have a little hidden button for resetting it so as to avoid any accidental resets.
 

Thread Starter

GRNDPNDR

Joined Mar 1, 2012
545
I think I need a little help selecting the right one.
I'm starting to really like the model 63 the more I look at it, but I'm a bit confused by all of it's features.

At the most basic level I need an hour meter and that fits the bill. it has a reset function both manual or remote (Even though aren't they both technically manual?), the "remote" feature being a pin on the back of the unit.

I don't understand the "switch" function as it doesn't seem to be described so well, but if I'm not mistaken that would allow me to make use of a buzzer that I have so that when the timer reached 14,000 hours it would activate the buzzer to let me know it's time to change the bulb.

what's unclear is the operating voltage of the "switch" units because the chart doesn't have dots in those columns.
 
Here, http://www.trumeter.com/control-measurement/timers/electronic/6320-series/ may be better data.

Note, Reddington is now Trumeter. It also looks like some options are "factory programmable".

In the table (datasheet) that doesn't have power options, I think I would assume internal battery.

Switch is an input. Switch is defined by:

Inputs:
Switch (no voltage)
DC Voltage: Absolute voltage range: -0.5 VDC, minimum to 30.0VDC,
maximum
VIH: 3.0 VDC, maximum
VIL: 1.0 VDC, minimum
High Voltage AC/DC:
Absolute Maximum voltage: 300VAC/VDC
VIH: 10VDC/20 VAC, max.
VIL: 3VDC/3 VAC, minimum

I had to ask whether or not the Switch (no voltage), which technically isn't true. It really means no externally applied potential. So, I asked if a diode drop was permissible and it was.

Usually, accumulated hours is like the car odometer - you don't get to muck with it. Reset on the front-panel is too tempting.

The indications you can get are the notification ICONS and even the dual display.

The lamp I needed this for had to be "started", so "lamp on" is much different than on. It also had a shutter, so the sensor had to be before the shutter. The "system" was around $40,000 USD, with the lamps at $900 USD and were replaced about once a year. It was quite a production to change the lamp.

You still have to "tap" in after the switch.

You are right, it was "inconvenient" to have to crawl under a table to read the hour meter. In your case, your operating 24/7, so your appointment calendar pretty much can tell you when you have to have a new lamp and the anticipated next install. We kept an extra lamp on-hand and we only had one issue where the lamp was defective and we found out about it one year later. Because of our relationship with the manufacturer, it was replaced.

I've used Reddington mechanical turns counters before and I do have an hour meter with a dead battery. Not sure of the brand.

If you can't make sense out of it, you can always call the manufacturer.
 

Thread Starter

GRNDPNDR

Joined Mar 1, 2012
545
I definitely need 120V, while the manufacturer states that 24/7 operation is best I may not actually need it on 24 hours, so I only want the meter to count when power is applied to it.

I'm not at all concerned with having a buzzer of any kind, it would've just been a nice little bonus, however resetting is important because I want to be able to reset it when I replace the bulb.

Given that criteria, I think the 6320-2500-0000 would be the part I would want?

I just got home so I can't remember now if it was this meter that has the option to have 2 reset switches. One on the front panel and then another remote switch. in order to reset it you'd have to hold both switches for 10 secs.
This would be ideal for me as it would prevent any accidental resetting.
 

Thread Starter

GRNDPNDR

Joined Mar 1, 2012
545
On the Allied website it says:

Input Signal: 10-300 VDC/20-300 VAC

and then

Supply Voltage: 10 to 300 VDC VDC

So does it require, say 12V, to power it, but it won't count hours unless it has a 20-300VAC signal on separate pins?
Looking at the 3D image of it that might seem to be the case.... that would be a bit of a pain in the ass but given that I'll actually have a 12V power supply for some LEDs inside of the box that will house this meter it might not be much of a problem.

Ideally however I would prefer that has only 2 contacts and just times whenever it's on @ 120V..... but for simplicity sake I just want to clarify that what I said above is true.
 

Reloadron

Joined Jan 15, 2015
7,501
I would place a little more stock in the data sheet than Allied Catalog. Prior to retiring I used Allied quite a bit and their catalogs often have typo errors. Finally I would contact trumeter who manufactures the unit and talk to an application engineer. Some of the data sheet makes sense to me but some isn't quite clear.

Ron
 
Input Signal: 10-300 VDC/20-300 VAC

and then

Supply Voltage: 10 to 300 VDC VDC
Do as Ron says. Put more faith into the manufacturer's datasheet. I've had corrected countless data from all of the major distributors. The picture is the WORST offender. Sometimes it's not even close. For connectors, you can have a picture of a housing for a pin. The # of pins is almost always wrong.

So in this case, don't look at the # of buttons on the panel as being correct.

If you know a bit about designing, putting a full wave bridge at the input generally allows AC and DC. When you use AC, you loose 2 diode drops or about 1.2V. The datasheet has to be conservative.
 
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