Baseline Systems BL-5308 - Manual

BL-5308 Flow biCoder™
Installation Guide
1-866-294-5847
Rev 11.1.2012
www.baselinesystems.com
The Baseline BL-5308 biCoder is a two-wire decoder that is designed to work with most flow sensors and flow
meters that produce a pulsed output. The BL-5308 Flow biCoder transmits the pulse data between the flow
device and a BaseStation controller.
A flow sensor or flow meter measures the movement of the water as it moves past a sensor, typically in
pulses per gallon. Baseline BaseStation controllers convert the pulse reading into a gallons per minute value.
The K-value and Offset accounts for the pipe size when calculating water usage.
Installation Instructions
1. Power off the two-wire during the installation of any two-wire device.
2. Install the BL-5308 Flow biCoder as close to the flow device as possible. Follow the flow meter
manufacturer’s specifications for required straight pipe before and after the flow meter for accurate
readings.
3. Connect the red and black wires from the BL-5308 Flow biCoder to the red and black wires from the
two-wire field. Be sure to maintain polarity by connecting red to red and black to black. Use DBR/Y
or equivalent moisture-resistant connectors for all of these connections. Leave 24 to 36 inches of
slack on the two-wire to allow for easy installation and maintenance.
4. Depending on the flow device, connect the white, yellow, and blue wires from the BL-5308 Flow
biCoder to the wires from the flow device. Use DBR/Y or equivalent moisture-resistant connectors for
all of these connections.
 For devices with two wires, see diagram A.
 For devices with three wires, see diagram B.
5. Verify communications from the BaseStation to the Flow biCoder and complete configuration and
setup according to the instructions in the controller’s user manual.
Notes
 You must use a water meter register that provides at least 10 pulses per gallon. A Reed Switch Register
does not generate enough pulses per gallon for meaningful flow measurements for many installations.
 You must have a water meter and register (pipe size and flow rate) that will generate at least 100
pulses per minute to have reasonable flow readings, and 200 pulses per minute is better.
 Netafim three-wire optically coupled register based water meters will operate across a large range of
flow rates and are a good choice where extended range is important. More information at
http://www.netafim.com or contact your local distributor.