3scort TD-BLE User manual

Escort TD-BLE User Manual
by tech support
Table of contents
Table of contents 1
TD-BLE design 3
Design of the 1st generation TD-BLE 3
Design of the 2nd generation TD-BLE 4
Connecting a sensor to a smartphone 5
Geolocation 5
Connecting sensor 6
Sensor’s main parameters and readings 8
Sensor calibration 9
CNT. What happens when you calibrate the sensor 9
How to and why calibrate sensors? 13
Calibration without fuel 16
When and how to select the 1024 or 4096 range? 18
How to check if the sensor is properly calibrated? 19
Tank preparation 20
Why must the sensor be installed in the geometric center of the tank? 23
Sensor adjustment 24
Tank calibration 27
What to do if the tank cannot be emptied completely? 38
Calibrating tanks with complex shapes 41
What to do if the tank cannot be filled completely? 44
How many portions to add? 45
Filtration 46
1

Black Box 48
Additional Features 52
Setting Full and Empty calibration values manually 53
Saving the tank calibration table in the sensor’s memory 54
Common issues and how to resolve them 56
The level reading doesn’t change 56
Level 7000 58
Level 6500 59
How to remove/replace the battery 60
The battery replacement process for the 1st generation TD-BLE 60
The battery replacement process for the 2nd generation TD-BLE 62
The sensor is not connecting or cannot be detected by the app 65
Sealing the sensor 68
Sealing an old-type TD-BLE 68
Sealing a current-type TD-BLE 69
Mounting dimensions 73
How strong to tight up self tapping screws 74
2

TD-BLE design
Design of the 1st generation TD-BLE
3

Design of the 2nd generation TD-BLE
4

Connecting a sensor to a smartphone
To configure any TD-BLE sensor, to calibrate it and to do the tank calibration, you need to use
Escort Configurator app available on iOS and Android devices (hereinafter - the “app”).
Geolocation
Run the configurator. Be sure to give it access to your smartphone’s geolocation. Activate the
Bluetooth and the geolocation of your smartphone (Fig. 1). The app must have access to the
geolocation due to the requirements of the AppStore and GooglePlay (Fig. 2).
Fig. 1 GPS (geolocation) and Bluetooth
activated
Fig. 2 Location permissions
5

Connecting sensor
Tap on the Sensor settings button. Next, select TD-BLE.
Fig. 2 Sensor settings
Fig. 3 Connection and sensor type
Search for a particular sensor by introducing the last 6 digits of its serial number. The serial
number can be found on the sensor’s head.
Or simply find the sensor you need on the list and tap on the Connect button. When using an
Android device, you can also tap on the sensor itself to open the dropdown menu displaying the
data received in the advertising mode.
6

Fig. 4 Sensor search
Fig. 5 Data received in Advertising mode
7

Sensor’s main parameters and readings
On the main screen of the sensor you can see the following parameters:
1) The serial number of the sensor
2) Version of the firmware (hereinafter - FW) installed on the sensor
3) The temperature measured by the sensor
4) The level reading - fuel level reading as a value from 1 to 1023 or from 1 to 4095 range; this is
not a reading in liters but more on that later
5) RSSI - Received Signal Strength Indicator that shows how well your smartphone receives the
data from the sensor; this parameter is NOT transmitted by the sensor but is calculated by the
device that receives the data from it;
6) Vbat or sensor’s battery charge (3.5V or more means that the battery is fully charged; 3.2V or
lower voltage means that the battery is discharged and has to be replaced);
7) The MAC address of the sensor is used to pair the sensor with the compatible trackers;
Fig. 6 Sensor’s main screen (Android)
Fig. 7 Sensor’s main screen (iOS)
8

Battery charge drops to 3.2V or lower that last for 10-15 minutes are acceptable (especially if
it happens after the sensor is rebooted by taking its battery out and then putting it back). This
happens because all processes that are run by the sensor (level, temperature and battery charge
measurement as well as transmission of the BLE data packages) synchronize and, thus, the power
consumption of the device increases while the battery voltage decreases.
Sensor calibration
CNT. What happens when you calibrate the sensor
After you cut or extend the tubes of the sensor, you need to recalibrate it, i.e. to set its new Full
and Empty calibration values. You can do that in the Settings menu (Fig. 8, 1).
Fig. 8 Settings. Additional Features. Tank calibration
9

The sensor’s “raw” readings - current level or CNT - change depending on how much fuel there
is in the sensor’s tubes.
The CNT is then compared with the Empty and Full values.
If the tubes are empty and “CNT (Fig. 9, 1) ≈ Empty calibration value (Fig. 9, 2)”, the level is
displayed as 1.
Fig. 9 CNT and Empty
Fig. 10 Level reading when CNT ≈ Empty
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If the tubes are full and “CNT ≈ Full calibration value”, the level is displayed as 1023 or 4095.
Fig. 11 CNT and Full
Fig. 12 Level reading when CNT ≈ Full
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Therefore, the CNT must be increasing as the fuel fills the sensor’s tubes. It has to be moving
from the value close to the Empty calibration value towards the Full calibration value.
Fig. 13 CNT, level and physical fuel level
12

When you calibrate the sensor, the current CNT value is saved as either the Full calibration
value (if you press the Full button) or as the Empty calibration value (if you press the Empty button).
Fig. 14 CNT and Full before pressing Full
Fig. 15 CNT and Full after pressing Full
How to and why calibrate sensors?
Initially, the sensor is calibrated at its original length. Once you change it by cutting or
extending the tubes, you need to recalibrate it i.e. to record the new CNT values that the sensor
calculates when its tubes are either full or empty.
13

That is why you need to:
- Insert the centrator from the sensor’s kit into the tubes (Fig. 16)
Fig. 16 Centrator/centralizer
14

- Fill the tubes with fuel by either covering the drainage hole with insulation tape and turning the
device upside down (Fig. 17) or by putting the sensor into a recipient so that the fuel reaches the
edge of its head (Fig. 18). The first way is better.
Fig. 17 Covering drainage hole, turning the
sensor upside down and filling the tubes from a
jerry can
Fig. 18 Filling the tubes by putting the sensor
into fuel
- Switch off the Calibration without fuel tumbler (Fig. 19) and press the Full button (Fig. 20,1) when
the level is Stable or the digit before the last two of the CNT value stops changing (Fig. 20,2)
Fig. 19 Deactivate the Calibrate without fuel
option
Fig. 20 Press Full when the level is stable
15

- Next, empty the tubes, wait for 2-3 minutes for the last drops of fuel to get out of the tubes and
press Empty
Fig. 21 Press Empty button when the tubes are empty
Calibration without fuel
Alternatively, you can calibrate the sensor without fuel.
In this case, make sure the sensor’s tubes are empty and there is no fuel in its tubes. Leave the
Calibrate without fuel tumbler active (green) and press Calibrate. The values above the Empty and
Full buttons will change automatically. Figures 22 and 23 show change in the calibration values.
16

Fig. 22 Calibration values BEFORE calibration
without fuel
Fig. 23 Calibration values AFTER calibration
without fuel
If you calibrate the sensor without fuel, the measurement range could change a little bit.
Originally there are two measurement ranges:
- From 1 to 1023
- From 1 to 4095
The sensor never transmits the value of 0. When it is empty, the level is shown as 1.
Sometimes when you calibrate a sensor without fuel, the range can change from 1...4095 one
to the 36...3986 one, for example.
It is nothing to worry about if you do the tank calibration properly.
17

When and how to select the 1024 or 4096 range?
The 1...1023 measurement range is generally recommended for the sensors shorter than 500
mm. The 1...4095 measurement range is recommended in all other cases.
To change the range, open the Settings menu and select one of the two ranges in the
Maximum level dropdown menu (Fig. 24). Then be sure to tap on the Set parameters (or Write
parameters to device) button (Fig. 25).
Fig. 24 Maximum level - select range
Fig. 25 Set parameters to apply the change and
remove the red tick
18

How to check if the sensor is properly calibrated?
The Empty calibration value must be at least x1.4 lesser than the Full calibration value.
Fig. 26 Properly calibrated sensor
22 209 (Full) : 15 687 (Empty) ≈ 1.4
19

Tank preparation
To prepare the tank, you need to:
●Empty the tank and clean any dirt from it if necessary
●Remove any fuel vapors and fumes (especially if it is a gasoline/petrol tank); to do
so, you can boil some water in a separate recipient and administer the vapor from
that recipient into the tank so it could “push” the fuel vapors and fumes out; be
sure to keep the fire used to boil the water far enough from the fuel tank (Fig. 27)
Fig. 27 Removing fuel vapors
20