Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | It appears as if you have a system installed and are now concerned about calibration. As a possible aid to to others who might be considering such as a system, I will review the equipment needed and various options.
My remarks apply to an Ag Leader system. An Ag Leader CAN display is needed in the tractor. This could be one of several of the Ag Leader displays such as the Integra, the older Insight or the newest InCommand along with some others. The display would need to be connected to a GPS receiver. There are various possibilities for it as well.
A module is needed in the tractor to inform the system when application should take place. There are two methods for doing this which are functionally equivalent. One is to use Ag Leader's Auxiliary Input Module. This is a stand alone module that connects to the Ag Leader CAN system and has connectors on it which can connect to an Ag Leader 10 boom switch box or in this case a single Ag Leader toggle switch. Another choice would be the Ag Leader CAN switch box which has the switches and the Auxiliary Input Module circuitry in a single enclosure.
These switch options are the same ones used in planting or other application situations. For example, if the tractor is used with a planter or sprayer it may already have this installed. If the switch arrangement has extra switches for a sprayer or planter, this is not a problem.
The Ag Leader Spinner module is also needed for this. This is a separate module that is often mounted on the spreader itself. It connects to the equipment in the tractor via a cable that contains high current power and CAN. The spinner module has an input that connects to a shaft sensor which is analogous to a flow meter on a sprayer. The shaft sensor informs the system of the speed of the conveyor. The module also has outputs to control a hydraulic valve to control the speed of the conveyor. As I recall the hydraulic valve can either be a servo type or a PWM type. There are certain advantages to the PWM type.
The module also has inputs for a fan or spinner sensor. A sensor can be mounted on the fan to inform the system of the fan speed. The module also has outputs that can be used to control the speed of the fan. I believe the hydraulic valve if used for spinner speed must be a PWM type.
There are three possibilities for the spinner speed. 1) do not use it at all. 2) connect a sensor to monitor the fan speed and change it manually with a hand valve or 3) connect a sensor to monitor and control the fan speed automatically with a hydraulic valve. With the third option, the operator would set in the fan speed desired for the situation.
Calibration involves several factors with such a rig. This is much more complex than a sprayer. Factors such as the conveyor width, speed, gate setting, product density and others all enter in to the calibration to obtain good results.
To aid in this process Ag Leader has a Wizard built into the setup which is very helpful. The Wizard attempts to make this process as simple as possible by doing some of the math involved and "remembering" facts about the various products you may use.
The Wizard consists of two parts. 1) a static (not moving) calibration that is typically done in the door yard and optionally 2) a dynamic (actually applying) calibration that allows the operator to fine tune the static calibration.
This procedure follows the steps mentioned in the above reply. Later after applying, the dynamic calibration can be performed. This compares the weight that has been applied based on the scale weight to the weight indicated on the Ag Leader display. They should be reasonably similar if not, the dynamic calibration will attempt to bring them in agreement. If the weights are dramatically different, the static calibration should be performed again.
The system requires that each product be named. This correct product must be chosen if a different product is being used since the density of each product is stored as part of the product name.
Calibrating a rig such as this is not an exact science due to various factors involved. The same product from a different source or on different days may behave differently which can create confusion.
The original post mentions the possible need for calculating the Cubic feet/revolution etc. These factors are definitely involved but fortunately the Wizard attempts to help you along the way.
As a Tech, I had the experience of trying to teach reluctant operators about dry rig calibration with systems that did not have a Wizard involved. Believe me the Wizard is very helpful.
Edited by tedbear 12/10/2017 07:40
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Tips on setting up a dry cart with ag leader ?
