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Kind of a fringe question here, but could not find anything concrete so figured I would throw it to this great community.

I have 2 DS80 flow meters (Hall Effect Sensor type flow meters - nothing special about them except they are bigger for 3" pipes), and they work fine, wired, code, etc and get decent readings and all that so no issues there.

During my bench prototyping, I noticed that sometimes, in spite of no "flow", I would detect "pulses" from the sensor. Because they are sitting on a workbench, with no pipes connected, I assume this is either:

  • Random transient voltage, maybe bleed from its neighbors in the wiring or what not
  • Maybe the magnet on one fin is parked at the sensor and vibration is causing it to bounce

The second one is what it is, but the first one feels like something I could iron out. The question is, should I have a cap/resistor/something on the data line from the sensor to smooth out readings? Because it is PWM I do not know what to put there that wouldn't interfere with the signal itself (if anything). Absolutely NOT critical, as I said it works fine under load and I do not need hyper-accurate readings. More of a "could I do this better" question.

charrold303
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  • this is not a question about an arduino – jsotola Jan 19 '21 at 16:39
  • I can't find any clear results when trying to search for those meters. Could you provide a link, and a more specific part nr. and/or manufacturer name? – Gerben Jan 19 '21 at 16:55
  • Is there any electrical equipment nearby? Flowing electricity can create magnetic fields that could interfere with the hall effect sensor. – Gerben Jan 19 '21 at 16:57
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    @Gerben - Other than the other sensor nothing else nearby, although good to check that too. As for the part number, it came from Ali Express and I have never been able to find it anywhere but there. The "data sheet" as it is is pretty terrible and contradictory and it is possible it is just slightly flaky. -- jsotola - you are correct! I am using arduinio for the MCU and since there is not a "sensors" Stack Exchange, I posted here. I will happily edit the question to say that it is taking readings from an Arduino if it will make you feel better about it being here? – charrold303 Jan 20 '21 at 13:04

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