
Troubleshooting
Page 12 June 2016TRB-UM-01789-EN-02
TROUBLESHOOTING
Issue Possible Cause Remedy
Meter indicates higher flow than
actual Cavitation Increase back pressure
Meter indicates high flow Dirt blocking flow area rotor Clean meter; add filter
Meter indicates low flow Dirt dragging rotor Clean meter; add filter
Meter indicates low flow Worn bearing Replace bearing; recalibrate when
required
Meter indicates low flow Viscosity higher than
calibrated
Change temperature; change fluid;
recalibrate meter
Erratic system indication; meter
alone works well Ground loop is shielding
Ground shield one place only
Watch for internal electronic
instrument grounds
No flow indication; full flow of
fluid opened into dry meter;
impact of fluid on rotor causes
bearing separation
Fluid shock. New bearing
failed
Move meter to position where it is
full of fluid at start-up
Erratic indication at low flow;
good indication at high flow
Low instrument sensitivity;
10 mV rms turbine signal
is being lowered by
loading of electronics or
instrumentation cannot
sense low level signals
Amplify signal
No flow indication Faulty pickup Replace pickup; recalibrate as
necessary
System works perfectly, except
indicates lower flow over entire
range
Bypass flow, leak Eliminate bypass valves, leak
Faulty solenoid valves
Meter indicating high flow;
upstream piping at meter smaller
than meter
Fluid jet impingement on
rotor
Critical in gas
Change piping
Opposite effects as above Viscosity lower than
calibrated
Change temperature; change fluid;
recalibrate meter
Mass flow indication wrong
Turbine meter is volumetric;
density correction is electronic;
must change with temperature
Wrong fluid density
Critical in gas Check fluid, electronics
Erratic or wrong indication of flow Loose pickup Tighten pickup
Indicates high flow two hours
after installing new bearing.
Bearing wear-in; small meters
critical
Recalibrate; 20…30 min. run-in is
required to stabilize friction
Cannot reach maximum flow rate;
meter selection was with Delta-P
at 0.75 sp. gr., now using on 1.0
sp. gr. Delta-P is proportional to
specific gravity
High pressure drop Install larger meter
Does not repeat at low flows;
repeats at high flows System resolution readability
Increase resolution, for example:
1 out of 100 = 1%
1 out of 1000 = 0.1%