Valve Operations in the Intelis Gas Family of Meters

The Intelis gas family of meters have similar valve operations and built-in safety sensors, and can operate in both Mobile Mode and Network Mode (for more information, see Understand Mobile Mode and Network Mode). The Intelis gas family of meters include the:

• Intelis Gas Meter

• Gen5 Intelis Gas Meter

• OpenWay Riva Intelis Gas Meter

Manual Valve Commands and Override

These meters have a Valve Operations menu where you can access the following valve commands to manually manage the meter shutoff valve:

• Arm for Connection. Connects service to the meter (though an FSR must be on site to press the meter's arm button and complete the connection process).

• Disconnect. Closes the meter valve, halting the flow of gas to the customer's premises.

• Get Status. Displays the current state of the meter valve and other basic information recorded in the meter.

All options in this menu require the use of secure commands (for more information, see Request Commands).

Note:  There is a limit of two connect/disconnect commands allowed per meter before you must request fresh commands (for more information, see Synchronize (Sync)).

Arm for Connection and Disconnect operations are dependent on the meter's battery life and outside temperature conditions. If the meter's battery status is Bad (charge at 10 percent or less) or if the the outside temperature isn't within safe operational range, then Field Tools still attempts to complete the command. If the valve won't operate—that is, the meter rejects this attempt due to poor battery or temperature conditions—then you can make a second attempt at the same command using the override ability.

For emergency use only, override allows you to attempt an Arm for Connection or Disconnect command again, even if minimum battery life and outside temperature conditions are not met.

Warning!  Using the override command, valve operation is attempted but success is not guaranteed. Battery life could be too low or the outside temperatures out of range for the meter's valve to open or close (or fully open or close). This means the valve could be left partially open if the override command fails. After you perform an override command, be it successful or unsuccessful, the meter must be replaced.

For more information, see your meter's official product documentation.

Safety Sensors, Alarms, and Automatic Valve Shutoff

Intelis gas meters have built-in safety sensors and automatic valve shutoff capabilities. All Intelis gas meters contain the high-flow and high-temperature sensor, while the high- and low-pressure sensor is an option available for only the Intelis Gas Meter and OpenWay Riva Intelis Gas Meter. Meter labels on Intelis Gas Meters and OpenWay Riva Intelis Gas Meters indicate if they have the pressure sensor. High gas flow and high outside temperature can indicate the possibility of a fire or an open fuel line. Excessively high (or low) pressure indicates unregulated pressure inside the meter and, if there is a gas regulator installed before the meter, indicates unregulated pressure coming out of the regulator. Very high pressure conditions mark a risk of fire or rupture. The following table shows which Intelis gas meters contain which built-in safety sensors:

For each sensor a meter has, corresponding threshold value settings and an auto-shutoff setting are configurable on the FDM Tools server. Threshold values define when a sensor generates an event, indicating the meter has experienced a high flow, high temperature, or high/low pressure event. The auto-shutoff setting allows you to indicate whether or not the meter automatically closes its valve, shutting off the flow of gas to the premises, when it experiences one of these events. When enabled, the meter also generates an auto-disconnect initiated alarm during an event.

Note:  For the high and low pressure sensor, only high pressure conditions can be configured to auto-shutoff. The low pressure condition can generate an alarm (like a high pressure condition), but cannot be configured to auto-shutoff.

For example, the high flow threshold may be set to 120 CFH in the FDM Tools server, and if a meter's high flow sensor measures flow above 480 CFH, then the meter generates a high flow event. If the high flow auto-shutoff setting is enabled, then in addition to a high flow event, the meter also automatically performs a shutoff command and generates an auto-disconnect initiated alarm.

When the valve is closed, the meter performs a volume check every 30 seconds. If a volume check detects more than 0.18 CF (5 L), then an alarm is generated in the event log indicating the valve is not completely closed or is leaking.

Warning!  The meter's shutoff valve is not intended as a permanent shutoff mechanism. For permanent gas shutoff, contact your utility for their designated procedures.