Impeller / Data Industrial — Paddle-Wheel Flow Meters

An impeller meter puts a small six- or four-bladed wheel into the stream through a single point in the pipe; the flow spins the wheel, and its speed tracks the velocity, which the electronics turn into flow rate and total. Because only one insertion point is tapped, a single sensor covers a wide pipe range — up to 40 in and beyond — without the cost of a full-bore meter or a spool piece. That makes it the economical workhorse for clean to lightly-laden water: building air-handling and chilled/hot water, cooling-tower and condenser loops, irrigation, process and city water, and water sub-metering. It is a velocity meter with a moving rotor, so it wants a reasonably clean, full pipe — grit and heavy solids are the wear enemy.

By pipe size, material, and mounting. For larger lines (3 in and up) the insertion meters tap a single point through a saddle: the Series 200 (220BR brass, 220SS stainless, 220PVCS all-plastic) installs direct-insert, or on a live main as the Hot-Tap 225/226 under pressure, and the premium SDI covers potable water out to 60 in. For small to mid metal lines a preassembled tee drops the meter in as one piece — the metal Series 228 (bronze, stainless, or cast-iron) and the compact cast-bronze Series 250, 1/2 to 2-1/2 in. For plastic lines, the Sch 80 PVC Series 228 tee (1-1/2 to 4 in) handles potable and corrosive duty, the 735 PVC tee (1/2 to 1 in) suits irrigation, and the inline Series 4000 (1/2 to 1 in, PVC or PVDF) is the flow-through body for corrosives and ultra-pure water. Tell us the pipe size, material, and fluid and we point you at the right style.

Yes, on the insertion meters. The Hot-Tap Series 225 and 226 — part of the Series 200 insertion family — go in through a tapping valve under pressure and come back out the same way for service without draining the line; the 225 uses a gate valve, the 226 a ball valve (spec the ball-valve 226 for live hot-tap work), in brass or 316 stainless. The SDI is also available in a hot-tap version. A standard insertion meter still needs only a single small tap rather than cutting in a spool piece, and a portable hot-tap removal/insertion tool is offered for the operation.

The SDI is the lead-free, certified-potable-water insertion meter: 316 stainless or brass wetted path with a PPS or PEEK tip, NSF/ANSI/CAN 61 and 372 certified, for pipe from 1-1/2 to 60 in through a 1 in tap, at ±1% of rate. It does what the 220 cannot: a single unit can be ordered direct-insert or hot-tap, uni- or bi-directional (4-20 mA plus a direction signal), with an on-board LCD, or as a battery-powered version with a remote display for sites without power. Raw frequency carries to 2000 ft without amplification. It is the choice for potable-water metering and any insertion point that needs a display, bidirectional flow, or lead-free certification.

Match it to the fluid. Bronze/brass is the default for water, condenser, and cooling-tower duty; 316 stainless (220SS, 228SS, 226SS, SDI) handles more aggressive or higher-purity water and chemicals; all-plastic PVC (220PVCS, the Sch 80 PVC 228 tee, the 735 tee) suits corrosive and potable lines; and the inline Series 4000 in PVDF is the one for strong chemicals and ultra-pure water — it is documented in 40-month continuous hot-UPW service. Within each meter the o-ring (EPDM, Viton, Buna-N, AFLAS), shaft (tungsten carbide standard, zirconia or 316SS), and impeller/bearing materials are configurable, so we spec the full wetted stack to your chemistry.

Yes — this line includes a full thermal-energy path for sub-metering and tenant billing. The Series 380DS is the all-in-one: flow sensor, two temperature probes, and the energy electronics in a single brass tee (3/4 to 2 in), with scaled pulse and RS-485 (Modbus RTU and BACnet MS/TP). To add energy to an existing flow point, the 340 BTU transmitter pairs a 300-series flow signal with a matched RTD pair and outputs BACnet and Modbus, and the FC-5000 BTU Monitor does the same on the display side. These are building thermal-energy sub-meters for tenant and process cost allocation.

The insertion and metal-tee meters hold about ±1% (the 228 family is ±1% of full scale, the 250 ±1% of rate; the 735 economy tee is ±3% of full scale), with the SDI at ±1% of rate and ±0.5% repeatability. Like any velocity meter they read a single point in the profile, so they want straight run to read true — a good rule is 10 pipe diameters upstream and 5 downstream, more after a pump or two close elbows. Keep the pipe full, keep the fluid reasonably clean (a strainer ahead of the meter pays off on debris-prone water), and set the insertion depth correctly. Every meter is calibrated and we program it to your pipe size and schedule so it reads right from start-up; the 300-series, 4000 analog, and SDI are field-calibratable as well.

Impeller / Data Industrial is a regional Badger Meter line — Prater Technical is the authorized distributor for Northern and Central New Jersey and New York. It is configured to your conditions and quoted to the application, not sold on the webstore; we spec the insertion style, material, and electronics, ship through our Brooklyn facility, and offer meter programming and commissioning as an optional, quoted service. For a remote or off-grid point, an impeller meter’s pulse or 4-20 mA output backhauls through a Telog cellular RTU powered from a SunWize solar supply — as the factory-authorized SunWize distributor and your Badger source, Prater Technical scopes the meter, power, and telemetry together. Contact us for a quote, current availability or lead time.