Company Profile

Hedland Flow Meters and Badger Water Meters: Rugged In-Line Variable Area Mechanical Trackers

Quick Answer: Hedland Flow Meters is a brand under Badger Meter. It is known for rugged inline variable area mechanical trackers used on oil, water, and hydraulic test lines. Silver Instruments supplies direct reading replacements and electronic flow meters with 4-20 mA HART output for water, oil, and chemical lines.

What Hedland inline variable area meters do in the field

Hedland mechanical flow meters are built for local flow indication without external power. They use a spring loaded sharp edge orifice and a magnetic coupling to drive the indicator. The dial reads in GPM or LPM. Because there is no electronic board, they survive vibration on hydraulic power units, lube oil skids, and cooling water circuits.

Common line sizes are 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch, 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, 1 inch, and 1.5 inch NPT or SAE. Aluminum, brass, and stainless steel bodies are common. Standard accuracy is about ±2 percent full scale. Repeatability is around ±1 percent. Most engineers skip the full scale accuracy detail until the flow range is narrow. In practice, a meter with ±2 percent full scale accuracy can be weak at the low end. Pressure ratings depend on body material. Stainless steel versions can handle up to 350 bar. Temperature is often rated to 116 °C. These are mechanical trackers, not computing devices.

We have seen these meters on hydraulic test stands in Vietnam, diesel fuel skids in Indonesia, and cooling water loops in Chile. In most cases the user just wants a quick visual check. When they need a signal to a PLC or a SCADA system, the conversation changes.

Badger water meters and where they fit

Badger Meter has a broader water metering portfolio. It includes turbine meters, nutating disc meters, and ultrasonic water meters. Municipal water departments, district metering areas, and industrial effluent monitoring are common applications. The Hedland line is the industrial variable area segment under the Badger Meter group.

Buyers often ask us for a Badger water meter when they actually need a mechanical totalizer for a 2 inch or 3 inch line with low conductivity water below 20 µS/cm. In those cases an inline electromagnetic flow meter or an ultrasonic clamp on meter may be a better fit because the pressure loss is lower and there is no rotating part.

When to choose a mechanical tracker vs an electronic meter

A mechanical variable area meter works best for clean liquids with a stable flow range. It does not need wiring, junction boxes, or setup. For oil with viscosity from 30 to 200 cP, a Hedland style meter is useful because the operator can read the flow directly on the skid.

But if the fluid is dirty, if the temperature is above 120 °C, or if the pipe size is DN80 and larger, mechanical meters become limited. Also, if the plant needs 4-20 mA HART, pulse, or Modbus output, a mechanical meter alone will not do the job.

Silver Instruments replacements and alternatives

Silver Instruments supplies process flow meters from China to users and distributors in Southeast Asia, Oceania, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. For clean oil and diesel with no live signal, we offer oval gear flow meters with local totalizer and optional pulse output. A paint manufacturer in Indonesia replaced a Hedland style meter with an oval gear meter because the fluid was viscous and he needed a pulse count for batching.

Last year a customer in Vietnam asked us for a Hedland replacement on a hydraulic test stand. The line size was DN25. The flow range was 10 to 110 L/min. The fluid was ISO VG 46 oil at 45 °C and 180 bar. The original meter had only a local dial. He also wanted a pulse signal to a PLC. We supplied an oval gear meter with local display and pulse output. No bypass line was needed.