Generator monitoring is a popular application for the “generic 4-20 interface”. Here are details on how to view the current generator status and set alerts to be notified when a generator turns on or off.
To view the generator’s current state:
- Open the meter.me app and find in the component list the generator you want to monitor
- The current value will be displayed under the generator name. If you want to look further, select the component to enter the detailed view.
- Anything under 1 amp (in the custom view) or 5mA (in the mA view) means the generator is off. Small bumps in amperage (such as 0.3 amps) will occur as the transducer detects electrical noise, and these can be ignored.
- When the generator is on, you should see the current value jump to or near the top of the display range. Different generators will have different max values.
To set up alerts:
- Open the meter.me app and select the “actions” tab in the lower right of the screen.
- Ensure you are on the “Alert” tab, and not the “report” tab.
- Select the “+” icon in the top left corner of the Actions screen.
- Choose component type “gen420” - this is the component type we are currently using to monitor generators, but it can be used to monitor basically anything detected by a 4-20 sensor.
- To be notified when the generator turns on you will want to choose “generic max level”.
- You will be presented with a list of all the components in your system that are type “gen 420”. Select the generator you want to receive alerts for.
- Set your “Nudge” if you want to receive another alert at the selected time frame if the condition does not recover (i.e. the generator stays on)
- Select “Alert on recovery” if you would like to receive a second alert when the generator turns back off.
- Set your threshold to the lowest allowed value (i.e. 10.0 amps)
- Set your preferred delivery method (sms, push, email) - you must set a delivery method in order to be able to save the alert
- Set your preferred priority
- Hit “save” in the upper right corner to save this alert.
- Repeat steps 3-6 for each generator you’d like to be notified about.