Subject: Slowing Electric Meters
From: Sam Goldwasser
Date: 02/03/04 17:46 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

All residential power
meters measure true power. So changing the power factor inside the
house - changing the phase relationship of V and I - isn't going to
have any noticeable effect on power measured.

That is interesting because some people swear that with the old style electric
disc meters there was a device that could make them go backwards, I have spoken
to someone who claimed to have done this for some reason.

Other people say that when 3 phase industrial electric motors are used a
special meter had to be installed because the motors would screw up the phase
and effect the accuracy of a normal meter, i read on an academic website today
how electricity is measured differently in different countries leading to up to
a 30% difference in reading between the different countries.

John.

(JhnWil875) writes:

Subject: Slowing Electric Meters
From: Sam Goldwasser
Date: 02/03/04 17:46 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

All residential power
meters measure true power. So changing the power factor inside the
house - changing the phase relationship of V and I - isn't going to
have any noticeable effect on power measured.

That is interesting because some people swear that with the old style electric
disc meters there was a device that could make them go backwards, I have spoken
to someone who claimed to have done this for some reason.

Other people say that when 3 phase industrial electric motors are used a
special meter had to be installed because the motors would screw up the phase
and effect the accuracy of a normal meter, i read on an academic website today

As the other poster said, there are all kinds of urban legends. You need
to find some confirmed cases. You need more than a meter change to use
a 3 phase motor. kWhr meters are very carefully designed to accurately
measure true power and not be fooled.

how electricity is measured differently in different countries leading to up to
a 30% difference in reading between the different countries.

So what else is new?

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.

Sam Goldwasser wrote:
(JhnWil875) writes:


Subject: Slowing Electric Meters
From: Sam Goldwasser
Date: 02/03/04 17:46 GMT Standard Time
Message-id:

All residential power
meters measure true power. So changing the power factor inside the
house - changing the phase relationship of V and I - isn't going to
have any noticeable effect on power measured.

That is interesting because some people swear that with the old style electric
disc meters there was a device that could make them go backwards, I have spoken
to someone who claimed to have done this for some reason.

Other people say that when 3 phase industrial electric motors are used a
special meter had to be installed because the motors would screw up the phase
and effect the accuracy of a normal meter, i read on an academic website today


As the other poster said, there are all kinds of urban legends. You need
to find some confirmed cases. You need more than a meter change to use
a 3 phase motor. kWhr meters are very carefully designed to accurately
measure true power and not be fooled.


how electricity is measured differently in different countries leading to up to
a 30% difference in reading between the different countries.


So what else is new?

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.


Well, maybe there is some truth in it. I have a electronic meter. There
was a ice storm here and the meter was covered with ice for a few weeks.
After the thaw, the power company called to ask if i was still in
business because i showed zero power use. Not sure if the ice around it
did it, but something zapped my electronic meter. I suppose now people
will be trying to freeze there meters.......

Bob



-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

Bob Urz wrote:



Well, maybe there is some truth in it. I have a electronic meter. There
was a ice storm here and the meter was covered with ice for a few weeks.
After the thaw, the power company called to ask if i was still in
business because i showed zero power use. Not sure if the ice around it
did it, but something zapped my electronic meter. I suppose now people
will be trying to freeze there meters.......

Bob

Don't the new remote reading meters communicate at 928 MHz or so? If
so, a shield of ice might effectively kill the signal in some instances.
Of course as soon as the ice melts its back to communicating the
actual reading again.

-Bill M

Patch tava com a mulhegada quando eu cheguei gritando:

An old Urban legend. I have an Electrician friend that started his own
legend by telling customers that putting a bag of salt on top of the meter
would slow them down. 30 years later he still finds salt on top of meters!
LOL

Here in Brazil it's quite common to do this, but people do it with water bottles
(!!).

--
Chaos Master® - Porto Alegre, Brazil!
Remove the "IHATESPAM" from my e-mail address to get a valid address.
Remova o "IHATESPAM" do meu e-mail para ter um e-mail válido.
IRC #XLinuxNews or #POA of irc.brasnet.org , nick Wizard_of_Yendor .

"Jerry G." wrote in message ...
If you want to slow your meter, use less power.

Or get solar panels. The old style meters will slow if you are
providing some of the power yourself, and go backwards if you are
producing more power than you are using. An expensive initial
investment though...

Alex

Bob Urz writes:

Well, maybe there is some truth in it. I have a electronic
meter. There was a ice storm here and the meter was covered with ice
for a few weeks.
After the thaw, the power company called to ask if i was still in
business because i showed zero power use. Not sure if the ice around
it did it, but something zapped my electronic meter. I suppose now
people will be trying to freeze there meters.......

Maybe a virus.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Site Info: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: The email address in this message header may no longer work. To
contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.

- - ex - - wrote:
Bob Urz wrote:




Well, maybe there is some truth in it. I have a electronic meter.
There was a ice storm here and the meter was covered with ice for a
few weeks.
After the thaw, the power company called to ask if i was still in
business because i showed zero power use. Not sure if the ice around
it did it, but something zapped my electronic meter. I suppose now
people will be trying to freeze there meters.......

Bob


Don't the new remote reading meters communicate at 928 MHz or so? If
so, a shield of ice might effectively kill the signal in some instances.
Of course as soon as the ice melts its back to communicating the actual
reading again.

-Bill M

This was not a remote reading meter. Its the same size as the old
mechanical meters in a glass tub. It just has LCD read outs instead
of the old mechanical meter movements. It was alternately displaying
a number then going blank. Don't know if thats a error code or
normal.

Bob



-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

JhnWil875 wrote:


Other people say that when 3 phase industrial electric motors are used a
special meter had to be installed because the motors would screw up the
phase and effect the accuracy of a normal meter,


Industrial electric service is billed differently than residential service.
There is usually a charge for "demand", which is the maximum load the
customer draws during any 15-minute period. A special meter may be used to
measure the demand. There may also be a charge for reactive power used by
inductive loads such as motors.


--
--
Steve

Bob Urz writes:


This was not a remote reading meter. Its the same size as the old
mechanical meters in a glass tub. It just has LCD read outs instead
of the old mechanical meter movements. It was alternately displaying
a number then going blank. Don't know if thats a error code or
normal.


My similar meter cycles between 5-6 factors. I was sure the PEPCO
website told me what was what but I don't find it now.

I think the reader has a LED-coupled data recorder but I'm not sure.

One thing I never understood was what keeps the internal clock correct.
Maybe the data collector does that.

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433