Do you have a Sensus i-PERL meter and SmartPoint radio unit monitoring your water consumption?
The Data Sheet and the Users Manual for the i-PERL do not contain the information found on the bottom of the meter, which are two notes, as follows:
But what is more curious, is what is on the lithium battery for the SmartPoint radio, that is not on the bottom of the i-PERL. . .
What happened to “Or Expose Contents To Water”?
But this 20 year battery is not just any lithium battery. It is a Lithium Thionyl Chloride (Li-SOCl₂) battery, more toxic and explosive than conventional lithium batteries. Notta word about it on the datasheet or in the users manual.
Putting a chemical that reacts violently with water inside a meter meant to measure water is an inherent contradiction.
And then there are the potential electrical hazards to go with that.
But at least it is in the users manual. From the Users Manual:
While we are glad to see the grounding Caution in the Users Manual, the failure to include the FCC Rule 15 note regarding interference and the lithium Warning in that Manual and to have none of them on the datasheet does not sit well with us.
If your water meter interrupts the ground it is not just a potential safety hazard. If the interruption causes interference, the meter may simply not operate as desired. While there are supposed to be operational checks in the programming for interference, that is another inherent contradiction as the meter must be operating properly to do that.
And also for consideration is the meter itself that induces current in the water to measure flow. The residential flow current is quite low if the meter is operating as desired. The induced current and the battery, inductive coupling and radio emissions are all loads placed on the ground. It is not a case of simple ground interruption, but one of interruption under load.
So the water meter may be a grounding interruption to metal plumbing, is a potential explosive hazard and may not work right. I have opted out.
Leave a Reply