PASCO CI-6730A Flow Rate Sensor - Manual

Instruction Sheet
for the PASCO
Model CI-6730A
Flow Rate Sensor
012-08624A
Introduction
The PASCO CI-6730A Flow Rate Sensor measures flow
rate in feet/sec (or meters/sec) and is designed for use with a
PASCO 500 or 750 computer interface. The CI-6730A
Flow Rate Sensor comes labeled with a metric/english
measurement scale and is expandable to seven feet.
The Flow Rate Sensor transforms the kinetic energy of
moving water into electric pulses that can be converted into
measurements and viewed in DataStudio software. The
Model CI-6730A Flow Rate Sensor differs from the
previous CI-6730 Flow Rate Sensor in that it uses a Hall
effect sensing element instead of a magnetic reed switch. A
Hall effect sensing element minimizes artifact pulses that
sometimes occur with a magnetic reed switch, allowing for
improved accuracy.
The Flow Rate Sensor uses a removable turboprop propeller
that rotates when only a small amount of water moves past
it. The turboprop is mounted on a low-friction brass shaft, is
protected inside a 2-inch diameter housing, and is designed
to shed debris. There is no direct mechanical linkage
between the turboprop and the sensing element that might
interfere with the free movement of the prop.
The propeller has two magnets. When the propeller
rotates, the Hall effect sensing element built into the
housing of the Flow Rate Sensor generates an electrical
impulse. The propeller makes 4.31 revolutions for each
linear foot of water that passes, so 8.62 pulses are
produced for each linear foot of water passing through
the housing. Thus, the rate at which the impulses are
generated is directly proportional to the flow rate.
The Flow Rate Sensor feeds the electrical pulses into
DataStudio through a digital port in the 500 or 750
computer interface. In DataStudio, the time between the
electric pulses is measured and converted to velocity
measurements (feet/second). Other units, such as
nautical miles per hour (knots), meters per second, or
miles per hour, may be defined by the user in
DataStudio’s Experiment Calculator.
Equipment included:
• Flow Rate Sensor
Additional Equipment Required:
• A PASCO ScienceWorkshop® computer interface
[500 (for outdoors) or 750 (for classroom)]
• Computer
propeller
digital plug for computer
interface
Close-up view of the propeller
propeller
Flow Rate Sensor