Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | Thank you very much for your observations, experiences and suggestions.
I was going to order a set of 3" to 3"BPST quick couplers today from McMaster-Carr today. After reading your reply above, I believe I will wait and do some further research.
My mixing setup is in an older machine shed. This has several advantages such as a concrete floor, protection from the Sun to limit algae growth, water supply, electrical supply, bench for tools etc.
I have 4 large tanks for a water source plumbed together which lead to a tee on a 30 gallon inductor cone. From there the flow leads to a second 80 gallon inductor cone and then to an electric transfer pump. Out of the transfer pump, the flow is pushed through a Raven 2" flow meter. That flowmeter is connected to a homemade display I made using an ESP 32 microcontroller. The running batch total is shown on a digital display. All products are introduced through one or the other of the cone tanks. The products themselves are measured by other means such as meters on bulk chemical totes, jugs, graduated measuring pitchers etc. The purpose of the flow meter is to determine when to stop topping off a batch with water.
I like to use the Chinese flow meter in between the fill hose and the tender truck. That means the batch size is shown on two separate systems which act as a check on each other. If the two flow meters don't quite closely agree we know we need to investigate.
For our recent corn post application, the combination worked well. The first Chinese flow meter would leak very slightly or not at all if it was supported properly. This was a very tolerable situation and we mixed many batches with it. The two measuring systems were in close agreement.
I like the arrangement and ordered a second Chinese flowmeter. The idea was for a spare or to use in other situations. It appears identical to the first and behaves the same although it has a different faceplate. All dimensions are identical. I anticipated leaking problems with the second meter since I had experienced some with the first meter. The leakage on the second one is not acceptable.
I agree on your comments about possibly not having a mismatch in thread styles but more of a problem of trying to mate male "plastic" fittings into the metal female fittings on the flow meter. I will explore your suggestion of using a thread gauge.
In visually comparing the fittings, the diameter agrees and the pitch or threads/inch appears the same. However the tips of the threads on the plastic male parts seem to be taller and come to more of a point than the rather flat threads in the flow meter. This might explain why I was "more successful" in my second attempt with the first flow meter. When I start the fittings by hand, they seem to mate but get "tight" after one or two turns. Of course with the 3" size there is much more surface area to create drag than would be the case with a smaller size.
My revised plan is to wait on ordering the BPST couplers and try a few more things with the pieces I already have. I believe I will disassemble the one that leaks and continue to use the one that leaks very slightly in the mean time. After removing the fittings from the leaky one, I will observe the threads on the plastic fitting to see if they have been distorted. My Great Nephew helped me assemble them and he is young and strong and used considerable force. Possibly trying the fitting again with silicon might be the charm.
Any other suggestions are appreciated.
Edited by tedbear 6/13/2025 06:03
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Chinese 3" flow meter leakage problems
