by
Tammy Wallace | Mar 14, 2017
Using AgSense to remotely monitor your operation can deliver a huge benefit. In addition to providing you with an easy way to keep an eye on things, custom alerts can help prevent costly mishaps that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. However, new updates and features are continuously being added to the AgSense platform, and it’s not always easy to stay ‘in the know’ about what these new features can do for you. Let’s look at some questions about pressure transducers to make sure that your AgSense devices are being used to their full potential. We’ll start with the basics, and we will work with the website, because a lot of advanced settings are not accessible on the app.
What’s there to know about installing a pressure transducer? There are two main parts to installation: hardware and software.
- The pressure transducer has 4 wires – consult the installation guide for assistance.
- Make sure the device is correctly configured to read the pressure transducer. Once logged in, click on the device to open up the Unit Page, and click on the Config tab. Scroll down to the section labeled Pressure Sensor and select the appropriate sensor (usually ‘200 PSI PT’) from the dropdown menu.
Instead of waiting for the normal ½ hour reading, can I set up the unit to automatically send a reading as soon as a specific PSI value is reached? Absolutely! On the Config tab, right below the section for Pressure Sensor, you’ll see sections for PSI Low and PSI High. The unit will send a reading the instant these values are reached. Here’s how it works:
- PSI Low – The pressure transducer currently reads a PSI value that is higher than the value set for the PSI Low section. As soon as the transducer reads a PSI value that is less than the value set for the PSI Low section, the reading will get sent.
- PSI High – The pressure transducer currently reads a PSI value that is lower than the value set for the PSI High section. As soon as the transducer reads a PSI value that is higher than the value set for the PSI High section, the reading will get sent.
Basically, PSI Low and PSI High are thresholds. Readings get sent when those thresholds are crossed. Here’s how we recommend setting them up:
- PSI Low – set this as the abnormally low PSI (typically between 2-5 PSI).
- PSI High – set this to a value that is lower than the normal operating pressure of the machine, but set it at something high enough to know that the system is getting water (e.g., if it normally runs at 25 PSI, set it at 15-20 PSI).
What about an alert? Can I receive a text message or email as soon as the system reaches normal pressure? Sure! From the home screen, click on the ‘Account’ menu near the top of the screen and select ‘Notification Config’ from the dropdown. The Notification Config screen has a list of each AgSense device that’s on your account, and each device has a list of boxes that, when clicked on, will have a check mark added to verify which alerts you would like to get sent for each unit.
There is a box for ‘Pressure.’ Click on it so the check mark is added. To the right of this, there two boxes – one for Min PSI and one for Max PSI.
- Use the same value for Min PSI as you did for the PSI Low setting on the Config tab of the Unit Page.
- Use the Same value for Max PSI as you did for the PSI High setting on the Config tab of the Unit Page.
Setting up the Unit Page Config tab and Notification Config page this will make it so that your text message/email alert will get sent as soon as the Low and High PSI values are reached.
While this blog mainly focused on setting up alerts and gave tips for the installation/configuration of pressure transducers, in Part 2, we’ll take a closer look at some items found on the Unit Page. There are some important things to know about monitoring and sending commands when a pressure transducer is installed.