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#54624 01/01/06 06:34 AM
Joined: Dec 2005
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Were these direct reading electronic meters or did they have a multiplier attached

Direct reading on some tenancies, connected to C/Ts on others. The C/T meters have a button on the front for setting it to the ratio you are using so that the meter shows actual usage instead of having to multiple
the reading.

[This message has been edited by briselec (edited 01-01-2006).]

#54625 01/01/06 07:29 AM
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These tenants must have been able to change the CT ratio via that button or "ZAP" the meter by means of an HV surge nearby.

In my years in CT metering I have found the odd CT meter ( electromechanical ) with the wrong multipler, eg. X 30 ( 150 / 5 Amps )while the CT's were at X 80 ( 400 / 5 Amps ). The meters we used at WEPB were mostly --/5 Amp ( blank 5 )meters and the readings needed a multipler attached to it.
These were on multitap CT's 150/250/400/5 Amps.
Can't prove wheather it was an utility error or changed CT tappings at a later stage by persons unknown.
A lot of CT chambers have seals missing in tenancy buildings.

Links left closed at testblocks or blown potential fuses were more common findings at CT checks in the field, or the transposed phase to current circuit.


The product of rotation, excitation and flux produces electricty.
#54626 01/02/06 05:39 AM
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 44
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JES
I have heard of this happening recently. It cut the Home Owners bill in Half after the utility fixed the problem on the pole. But i don't know what the problem was or what they did to solve it. He didn't notice any dim lights or any other symptoms.


It's Not The Fall That Kills You...
It's That Sudden Stop At The End
#54627 01/02/06 08:51 AM
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Quote biselec:
"Is that also true (meters not being RMS) for electronic meters?"

No, I believe all (most?) of the electronic meters are true RMS.

#54628 01/04/06 08:01 PM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
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Germany has a TV show about meter tampering and power theft discovered by the PoCos... the most funny episode I remember was about a family from Turkey... the guys from the PoCo found a case of electricity theft and the tenant ratted about some other people stealing power too. Getting there the guys were greeted by a woman with several children in the hallway (you know, classic cliché here). They opened the meter closet, only to find a hole drilled into the meter and a needle inserted to keep the disc from spinning... now here comes the funny part. The woman said: "Meter broken! Had fix it!" with a strong accent. To thee PoCo guy's blank faces she added: "Was broken! Always turn!" with a motion of turning her hand to imitate the spinning disc...

Here the way most common way to steal power is simply tapping into the wiring ahead of the meter. In most old multifamily buildings that wiring is easily accessible and can be isolated by means of main fuses that everybody can operate.

The oldest meters I've seen in use date from the mid 1960ies and are swapped for checking every 15 years. If they test ok they're reinstalled for another 15 years.

Digital meters didn't really catch on here. I've seen only one in all my time and that was a huge 60A three-phase meter (that's the largest direct meter available here, everything above 400V 3ph 60A is on a CT).

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