A new sensor from VEGA for capacitive point level measurement sounded promising, but it wasn’t yet officially on the market. Nevertheless, the fruit juice company offered to be a tester of the sensor even before the official product launch. The new VEGAPOINT 21 is a level switch with adjustable switching point for detection of water-based liquids. The sensor and the tank form the two electrodes of a capacitor. Any change in capacitance due to a level change is converted into a switching signal.

Installation can be carried out by the customer. Measuring instruments from VEGA have always been easy to set up and operate. This was also the case with the new sensor. The connection was quite simple and there were no problems during setup and commissioning. That’s why the company hardly ever experiences downtime in its daily operations.

Advantages of the new VEGAPOINT series

  • The level switches can be easily adapted to any application
  • VEGAPOINT 21 is largely independent of medium properties and therefore adjustment-free
  • Due to its small size, the sensor can be installed not only on tanks and containers but on small, narrow pipelines as well. The compact size was an important factor in the decision
  • In addition, the fact that this is a very cost-effective solution was decisive, especially in view of future applications

VEGAPOINT has also proven to be extremely easy to use in practice. The sensor works even under difficult measuring conditions such as turbulence, air bubbles, strong external vibrations or changing media. Features that were decisive for the application at the fruit juice company. Even when deposits accumulate on the end of the probe, the level switch still switches as soon as the residual water reaches the probe. It then returns to its normal state as soon as the level drops.

Sensors of the VEGAPOINT series can be used for overfill and dry run protection as well as oil/water and foam detection. The optional universal connector with hygienic adapter ensures reduced installation costs and a smaller spare parts inventory. The series meets the requirements of hygienic processes in the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. Another advantage: The small level switch version has a compact stainless steel housing and is available in two electronics versions: simple transistor output and transistor output with additional digital IO-Link communication. The sensor can be operated wirelessly via Bluetooth with a tablet or smartphone and an app. This allows the switching behavior, the application and many other parameters to be set or adjusted as needed.

Conclusion

A special highlight – in the truest sense of the word – is the colorful, all-round switching status display of VEGAPOINT that allows quick and easy recognition of the switching status. With it the user can keep an eye on the status of the tank at all times. Workers at the fruit juice company also appreciate this feature, as it allows them to concentrate on their other tasks in juice production and not have to worry about something going wrong inside the tank.

Via Vega Americas