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brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548
Posted: 09:37pm 11 Jul 2011
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Hi guys, wonder if anybody has had the same problem(maybe not a problem)..
The other day ,I happened to take a look at this qld Govt. power usage meter I received along with those new light bulbs Etc for $50 .
Anyhow it showed I was using 880 watts.. Now ,I'm alone at present and checked to see what was on . Hardly anything , maybe a laptop in standby, a clock, the standby sky satellite receiver , and 1 of my frigs may have kicked in .
But 880 watts,, So , I went out and switched off the solar ..
Now 175 Watts on the usage meter.
So, ? is , why am I seeing my solar generation on my usage meter ??
It's a 3 phase usage meter, with 3 current sensors across the 3 phases.
Oh, I've got one of those "Smart" meters. ( which I have no instructions for and can't tell how many watts I'm drawing off the grid.) but my usage meter is supposed to tell me that ..
Turned the solar panels on and up jumped around 880 watts ..
Anyone guess what is going on ??
Thanks
BruceBushboy
windlight Guru Joined: 03/03/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 331
Posted: 10:34pm 11 Jul 2011
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Bruce your fancy usage meter is reading the power going into the grid minus your usage, you will have to find the wires that service your house circuits.
Allan"I like this place and willingly could waste my time in it" - (Act II, Scene IV).
VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539
Posted: 05:29am 12 Jul 2011
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Hi Bruce
It is as smart as a politician and can see power moving but doesn't which way like a politicians budget, in or out it shows power, mine is the same.
BobFoolin Around
brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548
Posted: 09:20pm 12 Jul 2011
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Thanks guys ..
Oh , yours is showing big amounts being used also ,Bob .. Strange ,, I've written to ECO-KINETICS , but won't hold my breath . they got their money ,why would they talk to this Goose ?
Never mind , it's a fun toy to look at ..
BruceBushboy
neil0mac Senior Member Joined: 26/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 210
Posted: 01:57am 14 Jul 2011
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1. It wouldn't be the power that the system is feeding into the inverter to make it run? I do confess, it does seem high for that but with 3 phases = ~200 watts per phase ????
Maybe, it isn't either!
2. Is it the same when the sun isn't shining?Edited by neil0mac 2011-07-15
MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329
Posted: 02:59am 14 Jul 2011
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Crew]
Here's a good one for everyone:
My electric meter is one of those with the little dials and hands. You read it left to right, pretty standard meter. Anyway, a friend of mine, an electrician, pointed out that there is a little screw in the upper right-hand side on the face of the thing with a + and a - on it. Rotating the screw to the + makes the meter read 10% higher than leaving it at center. Rotating the screw to the - makes it read 10% less.
So, wouldn't you know mine is as high as it can get and the darned meter is locked with one of those little security tabs? I'm told if I get caught tampering with it (i.e. the seal mysteriously breaks) that the power company can charge me their monthly "Tampering" rate, which is $5,000.00 a month.
Guess I'll leave it alone. Just thought folks should know this in case anyone was wondering if the power company has an ace up their sleeve.
. . . . . MacNothing difficult is ever easy!
Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman,
"Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!"
Copeville, Texas
Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904
Posted: 10:18am 14 Jul 2011
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Mac, does your meter also have a big alu disk in the center that rotates as power is consumed? If so the meter works by the eddy current principle and the little adjustment is there to calibrate it. Where it ends up pointing to on the +/- scale has nothing to do with running fast or slow.
Just like you have a little screw adjustment on the old analog meters to zero the pointer.
You would have to use a precision calibrated instrument to prove your meter is running fast. As a rule power meters leave the depot calibrated before being installed, probably not worth the trouble to query it.
But I'm surprised you still have the dial type meters, around here they all were replaced with fancy digital ones some years ago. The man installing them said they can be modified so a car driving slowly past the house can read them wirelessly and print the bills. Now, that's a worry. Klaus
MacGyver Guru Joined: 12/05/2009 Location: United StatesPosts: 1329
Posted: 05:11am 23 Jul 2011
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tink
The meters where I tie up are all about 40 years old. They are owned by the property owner and are used to meter each individual connection. We all sub-let our individual lots from the fellow who owns the whole shebang.
The master meter is one of the "smart" kind and what they do here is use the individual dial meters to keep a check on the useage through the master meter. It's not a really big deal, it's just that nobody likes to think they are being cheated and that's what I was thinking was happening to me.
By the way, my meter does have a large aluminum disk. Placing several neodymium mags around the thing stops things, but like I said, it could get really ugly if a fellow was caught doing that sort of thing.
I'll just pay the bills and keep quiet. Thanks for your input.
. . . . . MacNothing difficult is ever easy!
Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman,
"Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!"
Copeville, Texas
brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548
Posted: 09:21pm 23 Jul 2011
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Hi Crew , I originally spoke about the "watt-Meter" . That little fella that these power saver Govt's supply housholds to put on their kitchen table and keep an eye on how much powet they are using. They even can be set up to show how much per hour you are being charged.
I was not talking about the meter (smart or disk) in your meter box on the outside wall of your house.
Anyhow, I'm still a bit confused with what this little watt meter tells me - readings seem to be hi lo all over the place , Dunno,, might be not worth worrying about..
BruceBushboy
KarlJ Guru Joined: 19/05/2008 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1178
Posted: 09:33am 24 Jul 2011
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Bruce
Wire it like this
House Meter
Main switch
Solar supply main switch
then the three phases for the power meter
AND treat the supply from the Solar as a 4th phase.
There is a diagram on the current cost website. As someone else said the current clamp doesnt know the difference in the direction of the current flow.
another option is to do a quick re-wire measure the voltages on the three phases, put all your loads on the higher phases and the Solar on the lowest voltage of the three.
IF its an envi, it wont . cant do the math. The current cost doesnt do math either but does monitor separate circuits very well.Luck favours the well prepared
brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548
Posted: 09:39pm 24 Jul 2011
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Thanks Karl.
The govt. contractor that supplied the little meter wired it --(well, set the three clamp rings around the ,what he must of been told, the appropriate wires (probbaly the 3 phase wires from the roadside pole ,,) he probably has done thousands , so I just hope he has done all them correctly. when I find an electrician that knows what he is doing , I'll get him to check it out,, I don't know enough to start mucking around behind that board..
Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
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