Do you have one of the new "speed read" meters, or the old manual type?
When there is a sudden jump in the bill it's always a good idea to check
that the meter reading actually matches what the bill says.

Twice before they upgraded to the speed read meters I had to call in
corrected readings when the meter reader misread one of the upper digits
causing a 1,000 kwh jump in the bill. I probably didn't notice other
errors in lower digits and fortunately the next correct reading will put
things back on track anyway.

$100 jump would seem to be an awful lot of KWH, somewhere between 400
and 800 kwh depending on how bad your electric rates are. Even at 400
kwh that works out to on the order of 13 kwh / day more consumption
*every* day during the month.

Pete C.


Gunner wrote:

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 22:29:04 -0800, Grant Erwin
wrote:

Gunner wrote:
Any idea of how to calculate the amount of capacitance needed to
reduce idle current in a single phase 220 welder?

Calculating isn't easy. Much easier to add some capacitance and check
current, add some more, keep testing until you find a minimum idle
current.

Add it where, and how much do I start with? My power bill from
Pacific Greed and Extortion (PG&E) was a $100 higher this month from
what I suspect is the welders being used a fair amount..most of which
was simply idling.

I believe that for optimal performance you would want SQRT(2*PI/LC) = 60 Hz.

You know everything in that equation except the C. That assumes you know
the effective inductance "looking into" the primary of the transformer.

I think that an LC network looks resistive at the resonant frequency, and
that the resonant frequency is SQRT(2*PI/LC). That's why if you add just
the right amount of capacitance for the inductance of your welder, then
the resonant frequency is the same as that of the power grid and you get
zero imaginary current; i.e. all of your current will be real current.

Real current and imaginary current are electrical engineering terms. Imaginary
current can burn up a wire just like real current, it just doesn't show up on
your power meter.

I used to know all this stuff ..


I never knew any of that stuff...shrug.

Grant

Gunnner

"To be civilized is to restrain the ability to commit mayhem.
To be incapable of committing mayhem is not the mark of the civilized,
merely the domesticated." - Trefor Thomas