Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Any Digital Electric Usage Meter Experts

This is topic Any Digital Electric Usage Meter Experts - Settings causing false readings? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=005785

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 04-27-2009, 06:12 PM:

Basically, at one of our locations the electic meter (A Power Measurement Ion 6300) is reading usage that is about double what the building should use. It will be very expensive to install a redundant meter to try and figure out what is going on. Do the solid state digital electric meters have any settings that can cause false readings like this?

I know that they should be just an induction based ammeter and a voltmeter combined with some kind of processor. I guess my question is are there any settings where you need to tell the meter the service voltage or anything like that? Besides comparing the usage to other locations, I actually charted out the consumption of everything (down to each light bulb) in the building and no matter what kind of ridiculous hours I put in for operation it doesn't come close to what the meter is saying we use.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 04-27-2009, 06:51 PM:

The Ion 6200 Quick Start Guide shows some configuration options that might affect accuracy (although I am not an authority). Can't seem to find similar info on the 6300.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 04-28-2009, 12:52 AM:

Is this the meter your power company is using for your billing? Or is it just a secondary metering for usage?

In any event, there are parameters that affect the scaling or ratio of usage to readout.

ie with a factor of 2.0, the meter will read half the actual usage, with a factor of 0.5 it will read double the actual usage. (Edited as I had the descriptions backwards)

If this is NOT your power company's meter, you can take a look at the setting "tc1" and see if it's set to 1.0

WARNING: If this is the meter your power company uses for billing, DO NOT, EVER, even try to access any of the settings!! Many of them report such attempts or keep a data log and you will get in big trouble with the power company for tampering!!

Contact your power company and request that a meter technician check it out.

[ 04-28-2009, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: Tony Bandiera Jr ]

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 04-28-2009, 01:35 AM:

How do you go about checking the TC1 setting? Is it some kind of switch or is it set in software? If switch, where would it be located?

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 04-28-2009, 09:51 AM:

Test Test Is this thing working?

Did you not click on the link to the 6200 info?

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 04-28-2009, 10:53 AM:

866-466-7627

Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 04-28-2009, 11:34 AM:

When the power company replaced our old meter (installed 1946) a year ago with a new digital one, the tech spent about 30 minutes setting it up for our use. Then connected a test instrument alongside it for 30 minutes to verify accuracy. Before he started he also ran an accuracy test on the old meter, it was within specifications. We were told that if a difference in the bill was noted to call for a recheck. No change has been noticed.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 04-28-2009, 12:39 PM:

Lyle, it would be set in the software.

Did you not read my first post?

I repeat, if this is your power company's meter, DO NOT touch it!!

You can and will be charged with power theft, and/or meter tampering and both can be charged as a FELONY if the power company wants to. I think you're under FPL there and they are very big on prosecuting meter tampering.

Call them to send a tech out to check it for accuracy!

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 04-28-2009, 02:48 PM:

Also most newer digital meters are reffered to as Smart Meters because they change the billing rate based on the rate that the utillity is actually paying for the electricity at that given moment.
Up here most people have noticed an almost doubling of their bills since most consumers use the biggest loads (stoves) during that peak demand period