I am looking for a plastic low cost (under $10) tap (normal temperature) water  
flow meter sensor for vending machine application, preferably a paddle wheel  
type with hall effect sensor output. 
Water volume flow rate specification around 2 Liter/Min. 
I have one sample which no one knows where to get them. It has no marking on it  
other then awhat seem to be a logo consisting of the letters "CPE". 
I would like to locate the manufacture of such flow meter, preferably same as  
my sample, but could be anyone that corresponds to above requirement  
specification. 

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Request for Question Clarification by drdavid-ga on 23 Apr 2002 08:55 PDT

There are a lot of flow meters out there that may meet most of your specs, but  
to make sure, I need a few more details: 
 
1. What quantity would you be buying? 
2. What sort of fluid fittings do you prefer? 
3. What signal output do you want (voltage, 4-20 mA, pulse train, ...)? 

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Clarification of Question by leorw-ga on 27 Apr 2002 23:27 PDT

Clarification. 
1. We will buy 100pcs on first 1-2 batches, and then 1Kpcs batches. 
2. The Most important criteria is the sensor cost (under $10), we can
accomodate for everything else (i.e. fitting, output signal etc.).
However, IF we can choose we would prefer: 8 mm flexible plastick pipe
fitting with pulse train output.
But again, for the right price we can accommodate for any output type
or pipe fitting. 

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Request for Question Clarification by drdavid-ga on 29 Apr 2002 17:51 PDT

I just noticed your clarification. Unfortunately, time is going to
expire before I can work on your problem. You can edit your question
parameters to extend the time, if you like, and I will try to get to
it tomorrow. 

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Clarification of Question by leorw-ga on 30 Apr 2002 01:50 PDT

Thx a lot drdavid, 
I have extended the time limit.

Even cheap paddle wheel flow meters start at about $200. in single quantities. 
You will not be able to approach $10 per unit. A good source of information is 
Omega Engineering. Go to the link below and check out what is available and the 
single unit prices.

http://www.omega.com/toc_asp/subsectionSC.asp?subsection=F05&book=Green

This is Omega's Paddle Meter Section. Omega is a reseller. They do not 
manufacture these units but they will sell to anyone in small quantities, 
unlike a great majority of the traditional Instrument Manufacturers who can be 
hard to deal with, even for an engineering company.

good

I am a little surprised that you want to monitor flow rather than
using a dispensing or dosing type system.  What I **think** you are
looking for is a low cost totalizer system.  I found the following
info using this search string (low cost flow totalizer system):

http://www.psu.edu/dept/foodmfg/flowbase2.html#mech for flow
sensors/systems.

I have had some difficulty finding your flowmeter in a timely fashion.
Unfortunately, all vendors I have contacted that have provided
information so far would not be able to get much below $100 even in
1000-piece lots. I think, this is because all the vendors I have
gotten actual quotes from are selling to a different market and are
making more of an R&D device rather than a high-volume production
device. I believe that there should be sensors that are at least close
to the $10 price range in quantity, but I've been unable to locate one
so far. Some sources wouldn't give immediate information and have been
very slow to get back to me. If they ever do, I'll pass the
information on, but it seems that this is not a Question which can be
readily answered by the normal methods used by Google Answers
Researchers.

I used the ISA Directory for a list of manufacturers of Paddlewheel
Flow Senors. You can find that list at
http://www.isadirectory.org/online/prod2.cfm?ID=467000

Most manufacturers do not have prices as their parts are sold through
distributors. Thus you will have to contact the manufacturer or
distributor yourself. This would be best to do no matter what to make
sure what you are getting fits your needs.

Of most interest in this list are the following 3 manufacturers. They
have items close to what you describe.

Kobold - www.koboldusa.com

Malema - www.malema.com

SeaMetrics Inc - www.seametrics.com

I finally received back a specific quote significantly under $100.
This quote is for Kobold's Part Number:  DPL-1120-E-K-S. The price is
"approximately $45." The person you could contact for followup is a
distributor in California:

Patrick McNicholas
Sales Engineer
MAC Tech
Phone: 415-577-9659
e-Fax: 208-247-8499
http//www.mactechcorp.com

Based on this quote for a product made in Germany, I strongly suspect
that a significantly lower price should indeed be possible from an
Asian supplier. Keep looking and Good luck!