testing a meter

[sellers]

Does anyone know the best way to test if a kwh meter is working? I have a customer with a large garage divided into 4 units. Over the past week the mains meters showed 180kwh whereas the 4 individual meters showed a total of 168? Everything is metered with nothing not metered. Any ideas?

 

[SteveT]

Could be the four meters are old and privately owned - meters can and do go out of calibration.

You sure someone has not done a sneaky by pass - I am assuming these units are rented out?

22Kw is about 12.5% of total (or 50% of one unit!!!). Maybe some old SWEB guy can tell you how to adjust the meters if they can be - I thought though that they just replaced them if they gave poor readings!

 

[kme]

The test would be to put a known load on each unit in turn, for a specified period of time, to indicate, for instance, the use of 2KW. Check each unit individually against the main one.

Is this all single phase, or is the main meter TP?

 

[Apache]

Clamp meter around the tails with a known load?

 

[sparkytim]

1 Unit on Meter is 1kwatt/hour

so if you put a 3kwatt Heater on for 20 mins it should register 1 Unit.

 

[Apache]

1 Unit on Meter is 1kwatt/hourso if you put a 3kwatt Heater on for 20 mins it should register 1 Unit.

But only if it has no thermostat!

 

[Andy™]

But only if it has no thermostat!

keep the heater outside

or better still, use something like a 1KW floodlight

or even better (but not easiest), add another meter in series

 

[kme]

Tim - did you mean to groan at `pache for his comment?

It seems I keep pressing the wrong button, too??

 

[sparkytim]

Yes I thought I would try it out

:run

Pity it shows the source

; \

 

[Apache]

Yes I thought I would try it out :run

Pity it shows the source

; \

shame you can't give both!

 

[batty]

Tim - did you mean to groan at `pache for his comment?It seems I keep pressing the wrong button, too??

With all them buttons at the bottom it easy to push the groan one I really have to look to find the quote one these days.

 

[sparkytim]

With all them buttons at the bottom it easy to push the groan one I really have to look to find the quote one these days.

Its that one

:^O