Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | You mention the concern about EZ-Boom not working with granular. Someone else mentioned that a 440 might not work but a 660 could.
This is correct but there are some workarounds that we have done when a 440 was used for granular. These workarounds should work with an EZ-Boom as well.
First of all is the granular situation a single section or multiple section? If it is a multiple section than a console designed for granular is usually needed.
Here's the reason. Think about a simple two section sprayer. When half the boom is shutoff, the system reduces the flow to half of the original value by activating the control valve to reduce the flow. That way the section that is still ON gets the proper flow.
With many granular metering devices (metering rolls such as a Gandy), the meter that is still turning would still need to run at the normal rate. The other side is just shutoff. A Raven 660 (or Gandy's 600) will handle these situations properly since the console was built with that in mind.
If your rig has only one section, then it is possible to use a regular spray controller in some cases. Basically you would connect a shaft sensor in place of the liquid flowmeter and a hydraulic control valve in place of a spray butterfly. The meter cal for this rig can be determined by using some creative Math and doing some "catch tests".
Basically I approach the Meter Cal situation as follows: Put in some arbitrary Meter Cal say 100. Then try to run the rig. If the bed turns and you can speed it up, slow it down and stop it you are in good shape. If you cannot control the speed of the bed or metering device you must correct this problem first.
Try different Meter Cals until you find one that appears to operate the metering device at a reasonable speed.
Once you have established that the system can work,and that the speed seems reasonable, you can proceed to the calibration process of determining a better Meter Cal.
Put in some of the real product in the rig and prime the bed or meters so that they are in full. Reset the Total Volume to zero and run some product through the rig. Catch this product and weigh it.
Check the Total Volume as displayed on the console against the scale weight. If the Total on the console is too small as compared to the scale, reduce the Meter Cal. The opposite is also true.
Once you think you have a revised Meter Cal, repeat the process. This time the weights should be more in line. Repeat the calibration process until you are satisfied with the results.
Note that humidity, flow characteristics, gate settings and natural variablity of granular products make granular applications more difficult than liquid situations.
Edited by tedbear 3/29/2009 08:30
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Trimble/AG Leader EZ System Questions
