Removing an old "A" base Electrical meter
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- Опубліковано 20 тра 2022
- Hey Everyone!
⚠️ First off... The power meter is absolutely not to be touched by anyone other then a representative from your power company whom is both trained and authorized to do so.
** These video's are NOT intended for training or D.I.Y. Only properly trained and authorized personal are allowed to work on this equipment. Always adhere to work methods and procedures particular to the company you are working for. **
With thousands of old entrances around town, many aren't compatible with newer "socket type" meters. Forcing customers to upgrade their entrance would be extremely costly... We have these adapters that can be quickly and easily installed for some of these customers.
It's important to mention that during home renovations or electrical problems of any kind, a complete rebuild is often required.
Be safe Everyone. Cheers! 🥂
Don't forget to drop a 👊 along with where you're watching
➡ / bobsdecline
#Bobsdecline, #Beingalineman, #Lineman
Hey Everyone! Hope you're all having a great weekend 🚴🎾
⚠️ First off... The power meter is absolutely not to be touched by anyone other then a representative from your power company whom is both trained and authorized to do so.
😳Secondly, that is not a booger... it's a grey nose hair 🤦♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️ and I'm fully prepared to accept the consequences in the comment section 😨lol, I guess I'll have to fire my makeup artist and production crew 🤣🤣🤷♂️
Cheers all! Be safe out there 👊👊🍻
Hope you have a great weekend too Aaron! Fixing to rain here. The working man’s curse. Nice and hot all week and rains all weekend.
Didn't notice, but I'll look for it.
Enjoy video I am about to upgrade from 100 Amp to 200
I am watching and living on cape cod
My electrician said have call Eversource and see what meter rating was 30 mins later there records said meter 200 Amp my neighbor had 200 Amp meter but feed was 3 AWG so he had to update weather head to meter wire to house rated 200 Amp so see what happens 30 days
How about general statement what do today meters and wire street to house
Thanks time
Your only human Aaron, we forgive you. Keep going strong electric superman 💪
Enjoying your content while staying at the hotel after being married. One of the highlights of the stay!
During my career as an electrician my hobby was collecting old A-base meters. I made table lamps out of the newer, less collectable ones and displayed the older ones. I have over 50 meters with some going back to the early 1900's. I like taking them apart and seeing how there built and putting them back together again.
Same here. I collect the Old ones, got about 500 or so.
Have to say I will look up those older meters .Good job guys.
I like meter collections. One of those rarely saved items, and when you find a REAL old one it's quite cool.
i am going to study for electrician, at 40 years of age is that to late ?
Yeah I've seen lamps made like that I've always wanted to make one for myself as well and of course having to meet her actually registering the current that the bulb is using!
I thought about building a coat tree that looks like an old-fashioned lamp post with other utilities on it.
Although one of the boxes would be a dummy just for a piggy bank for change!
And one of the small boxes would be where the boxes that would have the photocell attached to the top with the twist the lock receptacle and that would actually be controlling lights that would be dusted on inside.
My plan was to use glass insulators is coat hooks.
The post light AKA street light like the gumball type pictures or whatever you want to call them would have a vintage globe.
In addition to just being a stared lamp they would also be a candelabra night light socket in there as well.
And have what looks like an old junction box outdoor type with an old school oval or other cover at the bottom of the pole but have the plate for that modified to take a Decor type device and have four USB charging ports in place of receptacle there you wouldn't notice until you open it up.
And of course all the power going through everything would be actually registered a meter that's actually working!
I'm also possibly thinking about building a power monitor into a meter box including a Clearwater meter just as a test device but receptacles and a power Inlet and perhaps a heavy duty switch just for bench and of course have other meters and such installed in the cabinet or attached!
Had opportunity to get some old electric meters years ago I wish I would have taken them up on it all the new meters were going in the old ones are going out this was before Smart Meters they were just the electronic ones back then not even remote readable
Yeah, here in Australia, if you go far enough out, you don’t get 240v local service at all. Each house or whatnot has its own step down transformer, usually 11kV. If you get REALLY far out, you can have SWER-single wire earth return. It’s literally a single live wire, consisting of fencing wire, and your neutral is earth. A single wire, and that’s it!
Damn
Kah-RAY-zee!
Wow!
😮SWER! Prolly Not For Charging a Tesla‼️💔👀🖕😒🧐
How far out you talking
That extendo stick cam was sick!
This kind of work reminds me of the days back in the 70's when I did telephone repair in Manhattan for New York Telephone. We did not have trucks in mid-town. We carried a heavy tool bag from job to job. There were supply rooms sprinkled around the town where we could get most of the repair stuff we needed. Little known fact: there are no telephone poles or power poles anywhere in Manhattan. It's all under ground.
NYC is a maze of underground conduit and tunnels.
It is crazy how much is there and most is still in use. Very little is abandoned.
Your absolutely right... Lots of individuals don't know that....🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
We’re you there for the 2nd avenue fire?
@@maxdutiel That fire happen February 1975.... It mess up the whole telephone network for about 11/2 mouth....
@@maxdutiel you want to hear something crazy, I live in underground switching network for 2yrs rent free in new York city... (I save tons of money)🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I was making very good money and had very little bills to pay out....
Just had my meter swapped last year, I was able to stand there and watch and ask questions. Dude was super informative and my dog even liked him, LOL. :)
Really enjoying watching your videos.
I get the warnings about not doing this yourself, and I also very much like it how you don't hide the "secret" parts as a way of preventing people to do this themselves. Explaining why something is dangerous, is so much more effective compared to making something obscure.
What I actually learn from this: for this kind of job/work you have to be extremely calm and professional, take your time and never try to take a shortcut. When you aren't confident enough in yourself, just have an expert do it for you.
I'm not an electrician, I work in IT, and have been doing low voltage electronics as a hobby since I was a kid. Being able to see some HV stuff is nice, as I'm always curious about what happens "behind the socket".
I wasn't home when my meter was changed and I was disappointed that I missed that. Now I know. Thank you. That meter isn't that old (I'm probably older). My husband has a collection of very old meters on the wall in the man cave. The oldest is from the 1920's and is labeled for DC. Thank you for sharing your expertise. Stay safe and God bless.
I was surprised how fast when they replaced ours with a smart meter (so they can remotely read) how fast it was. Got everything ready, opened the panel, pulled the meter, plugged the new one, closed it up. Took longer to record the serial numbers on everything than do the entire rest of the job.
i actually have a 25 amp meter that i am still using on one of my small out buildings, it's fed off my house via underground. it's from the early 20's and still works, the building is wired with K&T and the panel is wood with slate fuse boards
@@gtb81. That's awesome! The only time I've seed slate boards is with Delco light plants. My husband collects those.
@@heatherkohlwey8379 I've always wanted one, i have thought of building a wash house for my workshop using 1920's stuff, it'd be cool to run it off a light plant! i have lots of early electrical stuff including a light bulb from the 1890's that still works! I'm an electrician so i love this stuff, and will still put it back to work!
@@gtb81. My husband is an electrician also. We have one of every Delco model made but one and quite a few other rare brands all 32 volt DC. We have a trailer and display at gas engine shows.
Liking hot stick cam!
if I was doing that job, I'd be cleaning out all those cobwebs first.... then I'd put in the new meter socket and secure all the connections, then put all the hardware back together (covers, etc.) and then plug in the meter and secure it with the ring.... after everything was done, then I'd reenergize the circuit. and if I had to double check the voltage then I'd reopen the cover to check it and then close it up and put the security tags in place. its always a good thing to clean up an old installation when making changes...
I'm amazed this is still in service. Here in the south everything has a smart meter - it's funny how many fancy new meters I've seen that read "0000" on the side of some old abandoned building or barn. I'm not sure why they even have a meter when there doesn't appear to be service, but many do, and they get changed out.
Often times, old buildings that are rarely used still have power for occasional visits. The owner may keep the breaker until they stop by... Or they have been shut off for a temporary disconnect. In our area, after two years of there is no usage and they're temp disconnected, we will remove and dismantle the service. If it's active with no usage, we'll investigate and possibly disconnect as well
There should be a monthly charge for the hookup and billing expense.
I'm watching from BC! I'm not a lineman or even an electrician, I just dig the hell out of infrastructure and I like watching you guys do your thing. I like these videos because I can see up close without getting in you guys' way or impacting either of our safety by rubbernecking. :)
They call me, RUBBERNECK!
Commenting from down here in New Jersey. Just wanted to say I love your posts. I've always been scared of electricity but after watching your stuff I have a new found respect for it. I still won't mess with it but I can live vicariously through the jobs you do.
Keep it up!
Dan C
Thanks for sharing buddy I’m watching this while my power is out lol we just had some storms here in Indiana thank goodness for great linemen like you god bless everyone
Interesting vid as always.
I watched as both my meters were changed (home and work) as I wanted to inspect the inside of the box (I had heard of some having insulator cracks). In both cases pretty pristine after 30+ years of service.
Took me a few minutes to find that church on the 915! 👊 / Montreal.
Excellent GoPro on the end of the long stick
Классно и удобно когда счётчик имеет разъем для подключения в виде штырей или пластин. У нас совсем иначе. Недавно менял трёхфазный счетчик под напряжением 380 вольт. Это гораздо сложнее чем у Вас на видео. Всего Вам наилучшего и удачи. Россия, город Белгород.
I really like the videos where you perform work and explain the process, equipment, safety considerations ... I will never be a lineman or electrician but I am highly interested in electricity and I have degrees in EE and CS.
I love content like this
I am retired never was an electrician but certainly know how to be safe.
Electrical distribution is a source of continual curiosity for me here in Milwaukee Wisconsin
54659.1 kWh
Upd: I'm from Ukraine. I really like good info in your vids. Despite there in Europe we have 1phase 230 or 3phase star 230/400V - and moslty split phase system for consumers in USA - it's really cool to understand how it works and why it's done in this way )). As for me 3phase 230/400V system more comfortable as I can power some equipment with asynchronous motors directly, when for split phase system - I don't know, not investigated this question. Also we have end transformers that powers a lot of houses, like 50-100 houses on one transformers (more tight space usage, small distances), when in the USA with big distance between houses individual transformers are more efficient. :)
Looks like all this differences mostly historical, but any way both systems cool and reliable as they works for a lot of people around the world.
The more remote end customers get one transformer per customer. The power company can provide more power over the same gauge cable if they do that. In the cities and suburbs there are multiple end consumers per transformer. My split phase power comes point that supplies power to four end customers in a star configuration. High density end users, apartment buildings, may have 208Y120 supplied and the line side of the meter connected to 2 of the 3 phases.
@@steveschulte8696 I moved to a rural location and noticed that... I have my own transformer, same with everyone else. In my old neighborhood around town the entire street was fed off one. Makes sense, can't feed 240 for miles.
In Belgium some old city streets are also fed split phase system 3*230 volts. That"s 230v between phases and 127v between phase and ground. Its a bit different than in North America, they get 3 phases in. And sockets are wired with 2 phases and neutral is not used.
@@larsvd5354 this is a standard 3phase Y connected service with greater voltage between neutral and hot. The 127 volts are not in phase with the 230.
@@steveschulte8696 as the apartment dweller I do know that this is fact on the apartments side of things
Meter supervisor 32 years. Man, this brings back memories. Thanks!
This tip saved me hundreds on my power bill thanks
A nice thing about living in my part of So. Cal. Pleasantly warm all year and not a biting bug anywhere around!
I'm from Ottawa Ontario. We just had a pretty good storm the other day. 170,000 customers lost power for days. It was nuts. I was
out 41 hours without power. Keep up the great work.
the whole damn province was out of freakin power
So cool to watch how that's done, thanks for sharing! I really liked the shot with the camera at the end of your stick opening the transformer
Opening the cutout before the transformer* 😉
@@Engineer9736 lol, I stand corrected ;)
What a view opening that cutout with camera like that. That was awesome.
When I looked at the dials on the old meter - I'd missed that some of them were reversed! In the UK we don't have modular meters on any installs like these, tails go in and out of the meter unit - the NA/Canadian system as a whole looks a massive amount easier to swap meter units out; I assume that is getting more important with smart meters that stop communicating?
Really like your content - showing the parts of electrical systems that the majority of people should never see!
Good video Aaron. Thank you
Sure enjoy all the work you do uploading these videos, keep them coming
Beautiful job! Another great video! Watching from Montana USA 🇺🇸
I've seen quite a few of those A base meters on old houses and camps around here. I never knew what they were called. Thanks.
Thanks for the video Aaron. Good to see you getting rid of the unsmart meters that are out there. My area here in Maryland has separate crews that are dedicated to metering only. That was a pretty simple operation tp replace the old meter. Thanks for sharing. How fortunate that you work in such a scenic area.
I think this is the first video that I've seen you attach the camera to the hot stick, that's a nice way to get an up close look at what is going on - not like you haven't opened cutouts a million times before, but this is the first one that really gets across how hard you have to pull to get it to let go.
I know this video is old, But thank you for uploading these when you do, I am not a Lineman or anything like that, Just a guy that builds gaming computers and plays computer games. I do enjoy watching your videos each morning while drinking my cup of tea and eating breakfast.
I've tested, calibrated, and repaired countless watthour meters in my years. Single phase, polyphase, transformer rated, self contained, 1S, 2S, 3S, 3CS, 4S, 9S, 12S, 16S, 36S, 45S, and the A base counterparts. 50 and 60 Hz versions of most.
I dont know anything about these meters. I have 1 question for you, if you don't mind.
Do you like the newer meters used, or the good old fasioned ones. If given a choice?
@@choke666 that's interesting. And it depends. The newer ones can do so much more. They can measure reactive power, depending on the model. They have communications capabilities, they can tell you when you are using power, etc. They can also sense tampering.
The old ones though are darned reliable, and it's amazing how long they can last and remain accurate. But for the most part, unless fitted with electronic registers, can only give a total of kWh used. Some have a few other features, but they are just incredibly well engineered mechanical devices.
Nice video and explanation of the what why and how. Keep up the great work, and have a nice summer. Bill - in Texas.
I like that GoPro view of you pulling the service, rather pulling the cutout. I like the beginning, but you gotta put the truck back in😂
Definitely gonna keep the old intro file! Was thinking about continuing to use it with longer videos
Love your channel and very much appreciate your attention to safety details.
trumpturd....
@@ShainAndrews Triggered by a cartoon frog are we? Your comment made my day. Thank you.
Thank you from Sattahip, Thailand.
Love the pole cam!
You guys make the modern world turn. Keep it up!
Seeing you from Puerto Rico 🇵🇷. Very good information my friend 👏 👍 keep the good work appreciated.
Good job Aaron.
I love that new intro! Is really catchy.
Im a bit late to the party here, im a powerline tech student right now going through the first year program. We are currently going through our metering module right now and I'd say the meter is reading 54659 kwh.
Thanks for the informative video once again Aaron!
I love the shot with the GoPro on the Extendo stick.
I like the GoPro on the extendo-stick that was cool lol
The grease is probably Mobilgrease 28. A lot of the medium and high voltage breaker manufactures spec it. For the electrical stabs and some of the mech parts.
Thank you, Aaron! Loved it! I really appreciate the simplicity and great hands-on explanations of everything you do for the Trade! God bless Brother! Stay safe Always! 👊
🙏👊👊
Looking good there with the work. Watching from Fresno California, USA.
I just came across you a few days ago an decided to subscribe from down here in south Texas. God Bless!!
Appreciate the sub! Great to meet you JB! 🤝👊
Yes sir same here!!
Great videos bud. Nice job
I got to say we have some beautiful vista here in the States, but nothing beats the Vistas in Canada
One trick with the sharpie. If you scribble over a number you have a good 3 seconds to wipe it back off of a non-porous surface.
Great video
I love the older meters they are easy to read
New ones are even easier to read…from the truck from a ways away.
I used an SDR to read mine one night. Left it running overnight and by morning I had 42 meters including a demand meter nearby. They repeat every minute, but demand does every 10s.
Great video! If you get the chance or unless you've already made one, can you do a video sometime on how and why lines are arranged on poles. More so relating to if there's a set of primary and a set of what I'd presume to be secondary underneath and how to identify things from the ground? May be useful for first responders. Thank you!
5:20. New Brunswick is very pretty!
Edit: After checking google street view... Wow! Stunning all around! That's an ideal spot for a lucky homeowner. Who needs mountains?!?
Really cool video! thank you! :)
That was a great video, I am a electrical construction maintenance student and your videos teach me so much stuff!!
Awesome! Glad to hear that Ryan👊👊 stay safe out there!
Here in Illinois (USA) the local electricians wire up the service drop, meter base, grounding, etc. The only thing our local linemen do is hook up the service wire I left for them to terminate to the pole pig (transformer). They do inspect the work before hooking it up hot though.
Pretty much same here, other then 3 phase metering. The only reason we're installing these adapters is because it's at our company's request. Even if we contacted the work out to an electrician, we would have to be on site. The electrician aren't allowed to cut our seals or work in the meter box while energized
In Connecticut when upgrading the electricians will pull the meter and disconnect/reconnect from the service drop. When they install a new meter can they will put in jumpers to jump from the line to the load side. The utility will then come and put in a new meter at there convenance.
Watching from Colorado Springs Colorado 👊 🤛
Watching from North Carolina
I remember when PG&E in California was switching to the Smart Meter! Marin County hippies were chasing the installation contractors out of their yards! Crazy how people react to new technology!
I'm in southern Maine. When our power company was swapping out analog meters there was such an uproar that the company had to hold off. Finally, they were given the go-ahead to install them, but the customer had the option to opt out. If they did opt out, they paid a $5.00/month reading fee. That fee has jumped dramatically now.
The one I remember most was in a commercial building in a meter room with 14 other meters. All of the meters were changed but one.
Always a pleasure to catch a decline video. Stay safe brother 👊
Cheers brother! Hopefully ya have a quiet weekend 👊👊
@@Bobsdecline we stayed on for a 16 yesterday. A 3 phase vertical double dead end corner pole got hit
Oh dang, those are never fun... Switching and traffic alone are half the job! Being a corner pole makes it wayy worse too
We had one last week with 69kv on the top and three phase distribution bank on the same pole. The boys were some busy !
@@Bobsdecline so I requested them to tie circuits so we can separate circuits at the taps on the vertical in order to be able to transfer it without jumpers. They said they had to set the regs at the sub to no auto in order to tie the breakers but they couldn’t do it via supervisory (remotely) that they would need to send a multi(technician) to manually do it and it could take up to 3/4 hours of standing down in order to do so. So we opted to use the jumpers. Didn’t want to wait around lol. I’ll email you a few pics.
Oh yeah for sure! And we know that 3/4 hours probably means 5-6 hours!
Sounds good man!
As an ex liney the HV fuse you pulled would also be removed(safety as wind could possibly blow the fuse closed). Meters these days are a far cry from the first meters that I worked on(DC 240v mercury bearinged). the old home owner trick of turning the meter upside down to dump the mercury and slow down the meter.As a meter reader i was taught to read left to right taking into acount next digit
My Start Meter Story - for about a year our smart meter was sending the hydro company 0.0 Kw consumption reading . Three " technicians "can out during that time period after we complained every two or three months that our bill was only was containing the service Fee . We paid each monthly bill . Finally a fourth " Technician " pulled the smart meter out on portable test rig and determined it was bad.
That is not the end of the story - Inside each smart meter is a memory chip that records information generated by the smart meter . This the final arbitrator of how much we owned the hydro company . And their was NO stored Data on the memory chip . The Hydro Company didn`t come after us for lost revenue , and we estimate that the hydro company lost $2500.00
Gosh! In many places the power company would "estimate" a bill!
@@GilmerJohn i think because of complaining every few months , the power company had no leg to stand on , Then again , H----- O-- , continue to embarrass them self's like buying a section of Rain Forest in Costa Rica to off set carbon emissions
@@45NUTS_PART_DEUX -- Well, it's not hard to make an argument on either side.
Reasonable "public policy" would be to charge the customer a "reasonable estimate" of his likely usage with a small rebate for the screw ups on the part of the utility. Many customers on getting essentially a zero bill might ignore routine power conservation practices.
One of the 'problems' with a publicly owned utility is that you can't "punish" the owners. All you can do is transfer wealth from one set of owners to another.
@@GilmerJohn their is a back story to this , while the fourth " Technician " was clearing this mess up for the other three , he told a story of a farmer who had a similar problem of the Smart meter acting up , the farmer ignored the same problem that we had ( lack of reporting to the central office of consumption )and said nothing to Hydro Company , in his situation the Data Chip was recording the information . An when they interrogate the meter it came up with $15, 000 worth of electrical use .
it defiantly cost money to send people out to a location at Union Rates.
@@GilmerJohn P , S , i have funny story of the actions of the Local Gas Company if you want to here it .
Great video st lucia the Caribbean
I like the convenience of the new meter Digital readout but i'm old school I like the old analog ones.
UA-cam is giving people the skill to perform their jobs with one hand. Impressive.
54659 kWh on that meter from what I can see. And as someone in the PT and CT field, there are some oddballs out there. We had a customer hook up a CT rated panel meter direct to 500 amps, apparently the stain it left matched his shorts. Also, you guys call it an "A Base Adapter" but missed the chance to call it an "A-dapter" lol
well done
A/c tech mesa,Arizona usa enjoy your videos
Nice country... reminds me when they switched us out to digital wireless units folks were not happy, did not want the wireless read system. The power company had to relent and some got just the digital units, believe they pay a fee for a meter guy to read.👊 Vegas
Klein has a new screw driver with all the adapters U might wanna check out besides that red one you are using . One thing they both need to get into which they wont do because of the liabilities is insulated tools. Just went to a rodeo of new tools by the red guys . they have a problem with the pole step removers, lag screw, and J hook removers. they never took into account a build up of rust . so they dont work because of that extra bit of corrosion... Apparently they have gotten the message from tool events. Great video . U should let ur vendor know as well..
Nice work. I've changed out dozens of A- base meters, essentially the same way you did.
Was watching an electrician from Europe go through turning off power for an outlet from the breaker box. That was super interesting to watch. He detailed the tools that do that. He first tested and verified the socket had power. He then isolated the outlet on the panel. He then flipped the breaker off. He then verified using tools that the power was off. He then tested the tools to verify that the tools had not broken after he tested outlet to verify power was off. He ended up doing like 3 or 4 tests consisting of testing the testing equipment, verifying the outlet was on, then flipping breaker, verifying outlet was off with meter, and then verifying his testing equipment had not failed after using it. In the video the hardware had failed and was able to verify that. It was not actually scripted. It just failed! He then had to start over from the beginning with other test equipment.
I don't work with electricity. Its scares the piss out of me. I will always leave it to pro like electricians and linemen to handle. The only power I get close to is plugging my phone in or a computer. And I never work on any electronics that have power. If I need to do that I call my neighbor who is an electrician and have him supervise that sort of thing. Anything I can do to avoid deal with anything with live power. I am not trained and have zero experience. Always nice to watch a pro do something with power. Gives me the shudders thinking about how easy it is to die around electricity!
I'm watching from Germany 🇩🇪. Greetings from Germany 😉
Very interesting video. You didn’t mention the two radio antennae on the left and right inside the meter. I’ve always wondered how far away from the meter it can be read?
Considering how long Smart Meters have been in use in Canada, from the time this video was made.
I'm surprised to see an old analog metre still in use.
My brother-in-law had a stolen analog metre at one time, he was staying in my other brother-in-law's abandoned house, he would put the metre in place when he wanted power and took it back with him when he left, the power company did get smart eventually and cut the lines going to the house since it was and still is abandoned.
This BiL of yours wouldn't be named Corey Lahey by any chance, yoknow what I'm sayinnnnnn?
@@gorak9000 No, lol
@@gorak9000 Trevor Corey, Corey Trevor...
I love your vid
54659. We switched over to AMI meters a couple years ago. I don't miss those old meters at all.
You've always answered my messages on Facebook Even if it took a few weeks for you to get back to me. However understanding the situation now, I'll limit my messages to those of most important and not frivolous curiosity questions. Truth be told the internet can answer a lot of those questions. If I have a question that I can't find the solution to on the internet then I'll hit you up! Keep doing your thing buddy Love your videos!
Great video, I like the gopro on hot stick video angle! Do you leave the old shedding fiberglass fuse installed or replace with a new style?
they should make a pringles tube plastic cap kind of cover for the meter body to prevent accidents during installation.
I'm watching you from indiana right now.
I was home when they swapped out my old analog meter for the digital smart one. I told the guy I'd run and turn off my main breaker but he told me not to. I found that... very weird. Fortunately at the time, no major appliances were running and my house has a constant draw of around 300w without the fridge or other appliances running, so there weren't any sparks. Yeah, that parasitic draw is kinda high... but router, cable modem, cable box, computer UPSes, cordless phones, and ALL of the electronics, computers, etc sitting in "standby" all add up.
When I had my solar commissioned, the power company tech hooked up some weird USB to... "smart meter" adapter, jacked in a laptop, and proceeded to reprogram the meter, which caused it to completely 0 out (and prompted a shortened bill). But now the meter has 2 "sub" meters... meter 004 reads inbound power, meter 008 reads outflow power. It cycles through real-time current in kw (and it reads negative when I'm pushing power to the grid).
Warning to those who think you can turn on your solar (if you have it or are getting it) without having the smart meter reprogrammed or commissioned by the power company - That single meter counter increments in both inflow and outflow directions, so you get billed for outflow as if you were consuming power. Not cool. IE - I consume 5kw, and outflow 2kw, I would receive a bill for 7kw of energy. Crazy. Plus the power company will immediately know. Those meters can do quite a bit - realtime voltage readings, power, remote shutoff, etc.
That's why I like the old analog meters best when I had my solar power supply.
300 Watts isn't bad. We're at about 600-700 Watts parasitic load here. We have a lot of people living here, so I'm not surprised.
And at our peak over the last few weeks, I think we've reached 12 kilowatts of load. Again, we have a lot of people living here.
If I see household power usage go above 2kw between 5-9pm, when electricity is most expensive without a valid reason being given to me, that's when I get upset.
@@ashtentheplatypus Highest full draw I've gotten was around that high (12kw). That was with my PHEV charging, AC running, microwave running, and my toaster oven running. There's only 2 of us in the house and my home is small (900 sq/ft with a basement).
I went solar because I was tired of $100 bills in winter and $180 in the summer, plus I suffer from 2 - 4 power failures a year, anywhere from a few hours to a solid, 5 day week. I work from home so having electricity is important, and the cable company is pretty good at putting a generator on my node to keep it going.
I have a flat rate plan from the power company, tiered based by consumption. 0 to 500kw is one rate, 501 to 800 is another higher rate, >800 is an even higher rate. There is an option for a TOD rate.
Unfortunately the power company here does not do net metering - they do something called "Distributed Generation" which isn't super great - I do get like .998% inflow to outflow pricing based on kw/h, but they do not credit back any distribution charges that I consume from the utility. IE - I use 100kw for the billing period from the utility, push out 250kw. I'll get a bill credit for the 150kw, but I get socked with 100kw of distribution charges, and those don't use any credit earned - gotta pay them that. I basically can't get a 0 bill from them unless I get a really big battery and try to go self-sustaining. For me, my 26kw/h of storage isn't enough.
@@russael001 Oh, heck! That's really lame! Tbh, I think there needs to be some kind of government decisions regarding how net metering works. I know one of the theoretical situations I frequently hear is: "If everyone goes net zero, who'll pay for our electrical infrastructure???"
I'm not an expert, but that doesn't sound difficult to solve. Especially not if there's some kind of government intervention to standardize it all. Worst case scenario, it'll end up being just like our roads, where it gets paid solely by tax dollars. And that's assuming that that idea is correct in that everyone will be net zero.
In short, that seems really crummy that you can't go zero on your energy bill.
@@ashtentheplatypus It's not all gloom and doom. My last bill was $13.65 (normally would be around 100 at this time of year). And everybody pays in to the infrastructure, but I never hear about the utilities doing any upgrades.
My state (part of MISO) is predicting power shortages this year and potential rolling blackouts. It's confusing to me a little - appliances, lighting, electronics, etc. are all getting more efficient, and yes, EVs and PHEVs are a thing that is happening, but that's been coming for well over 10 years; I think that would've been plenty of time to do some upgrades. But the utilities didn't. And my utility charges some of the highest rates for power in the country, but they say because its customers generally use less power, that the bills balance out. Excuse me? How do you rationalize that? That's like saying a vehicle automatically doesn't drive as much if gas prices are high. Sounds like priorities were on investors to me.
Oh, and for what its worth, the gas tax that you pay at the pump that is supposed to pay for road infrastructure is typically diverted away to other programs. Probably why the roads in my state are considered trash. Diesel fuel has very little tax, and generally it's the big rigs that destroy the roads, carrying 80k lbs. A single passenger car (even if it were one of the heaviest) doesn't do a thing to the road.
At my old apartment, the feed below the meter (for the entire building) melted. Got hot enough to scorch the wood siding behind the box, and the copper melted and broke the connection (luckily). If more air had gotten into the box it would have started a fire.
3:53 it reads 54,659 KWH
Edit: You ruined my thunder by reading it in the video lol.
My initial meter reading is 54658 with a little uncertainty on the last digit due to the camera angle. I was unsure of the un-numbered dial, but I suspected I would only have the last digit wrong. The pointer style is my second favorite type of meter with the odometer style being my favorite. Although time has shown the smart meter, at least on my house, is reliable.
As far as being authorized is concerned, I am very serious when it comes to that. At my house we had a free meter socket change (the electric company upgraded it several months after the smart meter was installed) and the contractor messed it up as we have two sets of service entrance cables, one for the main panel and one for the water heater. The contractor missed a hot on the water heater panel and we had to call the electric company out and I was furious as that's one part of the electrical system the customer is not authorized to touch. Luckily, we got a lineman out that time and they explained that the contractor was making mistakes all over town.
man that's a beauty of an entrance @ 23:11 🤣🤣🤣
You are way to good with that long stick
Informative video as always! I've always been curious, how do the digital meters power their electrical components without a connection to neutral?
hey love your channel and the great educational tips and tricks you show us. this video was awesome love watching others work for a change especially you because you know what your doing.😊
Thanks Travis! Cheers!
Love your videos and a fist bump from Shreveport! I wonder - how come all that is flat head and something less annoying like a Robertson?
Watching from New Zealand, just wondering do you have to input the reading from the old meter into the new one or does it start off at 00000. Keep up the great work.
*fist bumps* Still watching from Central Illinois, nice job
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Atlantic Canada is one nice portion of the country!
Would you not want to clean up the copper fingers before putting them into the new adapter to maximize contact?
The skill of combining both new with old. It's kinda funny but I love seeing examples of it. Too many trades and skills are just about fitting or installing parts.