I want one! Great video bud - I might go two of them as some times I use the grid. One for incoming power from the grid to the inverter (bypass mode & grid charging batteries) then one after like your's i can just math one from the other to keep track of my useage also !! Top idea
I’ve been using some of the current versions available on Amazon where you pass one live conductor through the tube in the unit which feeds through an induction coil etc. The ones I’ve got are resettable, and show Volts, Amps, Watts, and cumulative Wh. I always hated trying to put the little cover back over the connections on the AIMSPOWER units!
I also have AIMS 230v inverter. Instead of this type of 230v meter, I went with 2 x 115v meters - 1 for each leg of the inverter so I can track and balance the load. I used cheap ($20 each) bayite AC 80-260V 100A BYT-VAEM-034 meters from Amazon. Not pushing these meters, just explaining what I used and they seem to be working. Using my Midnite Classic KWH as the array KWH and these meters as actual 115/230v output - I'm seeing an average of 83.7% efficiency so far. That's 740kwh PV array -> 620Kwh AIMS output.
Interesting. How does that work if you have a 230v load on the AIMS? Doesn't the cumulative watts get counted twice (once on each meter) since the current is passing through both legs rather than one leg + neutral?
@@LithiumSolar Each 115v leg of an AIMS 230v Inverter delivers up to 50% of its max capability independently of the other leg - e.g. The AIMS 10K Inverter delivers up to 5K per leg, the 12K Inverter delivers up to 6K per leg. In the case of 230v appliances - such as a cooktop - the 230v is made up of 2 x 115v legs so the power 1/2 from one side of Inverter and 1/2 from the other equally. However, 115v breakers/circuits in a subpanel (or a manual transfer switch) alternate every other leg of the 2 x 115v legs. So - if you happen to get all high load 115v systems on every other breaker - then you could max out the inverter on 1 leg and still have unused power on the other leg. As a side note - In my 12K AIMS, when I first hookedup 1 x 115v circuit (e.g. only pulling from 1 leg) the AIMS meter showed 'double' - e.g. I think it only monitors 1 leg and doubles it to get the %xx value shown on the meter.
I should have clarified - I use 115v meters (not 230v meter). So there are 2 meters, 1 for each leg. You have to add both meters together to get the total amount.
Sorry - not answering your question. When you measure ONE of the 115v legs.. its white(neutral) to black OR its white(neutral) to red. Each 115v leg is not affected by the other as they are independent. When you measure 230v (black / red) you get the total 230v but you don't get a breakdown of each leg and I don't know what it does. The AIMS meter takes 1 x 115v leg and doubles it - giving a 'false' reading. I presume your 230v meter is expensive enough that if you are doing 115v @ 2000watts on 1 side and 115v @ 0watts on the other side - the meter should show 230v @ 1000watts else it would not seem to me to be accurate.
I have a Outback hybrid 240vdc 8000 watt inverter, however, it is set for grid tie mode. I hooked up theEKM-251 DS as you show in this video, but the LCD screen does not come on, does it only work in off grid mode? Do you have to do anything with those 6 mini screws on the bottom of the unit? Any help would be welcome!
The mode shouldn't matter, it's only sensing current passing through it. Make sure you used L1+L2, the neutral and ground should bypass the meter. Also double check that the screws pierced the insulation and are actually making contact. If it's making contact and still not coming on, you might need to return it for another. My understanding is the mini screws at the bottom are for some kind of pulsed output, probably to interface with 3rd party devices. I didn't use them.
LithiumSolar Thank you! It’s actually a HVAC unit in a commercial building and the landlord wants to be able to charge the tenant for power used by the unit because the unit is tied into building power. Do you know the model number for the 3 phase meter?
I have a 3 wire (hot, neutral, ground) to the meter. with a 120 volt system. Question: does only the hot go thru L1 and the neutral & ground bypass? This is what I did and I am getting no reading. Is it possible I have a defective unit?
I'd run the ground/red through 1 hole, then the black/neutral thru the other. You aren't going to use the other hole for AC input anyways, so might as well use them for the oversized wire ;)
That's not how you're supposed to connect it? The ground and neutral are supposed to bypass the meter. Running a ground/neutral through the same hole an L1 or L2 goes with a pin that punctures the insulation is just asking for trouble.
It would also mess up the current sensing. It senses the magnetic field caused by current flow. You can only run the wire you are trying to sense through the tunnel.
The EKM-25IDS is for 120/240v 3-wire configuration - 2 hots, 1 neutral The EKM-15IDS is for 120v 2-wire configuration, 1 hot, 1 neutral (this is the one you would need) Link > amzn.to/2OXvYuk :)
For home installation, is it necessary for the four 240V conductors to be "sheathed" inside the white romex covering to meet code, or is it ok to have those wires (insulated with no bare wire showing) in open air?
It does not unfortunately. It does have a pulse output though, which you could connect to a pulse counter on something like an arduino to capture data. That's about it.
Well, I installed it late in the day, probably after shutting off the inverter, it was not powering up the system, no flow of energy to our house while I was watching it!
That would kindof defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? People are using these for things like billing where electric service is split. You wouldn't want a tenant tampering with the reading ;)
Why , Really why add the meter like that? It only shows the data on the LCD screen and there is no other output. So its only good if you really want to walk up to it and read it on a daily basis. Fine for the first few days but a real pain to view your weekly data per day or looking back over the month. The issue with using that meter is it's not very smart, no Bluetooth, no wifi to send that daily data anywhere. For the 100US price tag, hmm So i would have used a simple CT clamp around the inverter output cable buy a emonTx Arduino Shield" ($20) Handles 4 CT camps or the (emonTx V3). Then that will send that data to (emonBase - web-connected base-station) ($70) Tho you would be better off with the "emonPi - Solar PV Bundle" as it comes with two CT inputs, one around your solar and one around your mains into the house. That way you will have everything monitored and graphed using emoncms. You can then send your batrium battery data to the same place for graphing and put NodeRed on the emonPi for more control of house outlets, power usage per AC plug with on/off control. Plus have alerts eg if battery drop to low voltage send alert to phone and turn off XY appliance. As you can see the $100 would have been better off spent opening the door to so many other options for the whole system. :)
I want a simple meter exactly the same as the one that the utility company provides. I'm not interested in usage per day but rather usage as a whole. I'm not interested in fancy graphs or anything like that. I'm capable of reading the meter manually each time I receive a power bill and checking the amount of money I saved. The meter has quite a few outputs, one of them referred to as "pulsed", you can see before I put the cover over the L1+L2 wire screws. I'm not sure what they do, but I'm sure you could connect it to remotely read the data if you wanted. Once you get in to things like RPI, that's where I have a complete lack of experience.
can you make it any more complicated..........? Some people, just need a simple,cheap meter, no bullshit. But I can see how a "Tesla Powerwall" person always thinks that the most complicated,expensive solution is what everyone should be using..........get stuffed.
Just to let you know the next day the meter was working fine, I’m very impressed with, thanks for the video!!
Excellent! Do you know what the problem was?
I want one! Great video bud - I might go two of them as some times I use the grid. One for incoming power from the grid to the inverter (bypass mode & grid charging batteries) then one after like your's i can just math one from the other to keep track of my useage also !! Top idea
I’ve been using some of the current versions available on Amazon where you pass one live conductor through the tube in the unit which feeds through an induction coil etc.
The ones I’ve got are resettable, and show Volts, Amps, Watts, and cumulative Wh.
I always hated trying to put the little cover back over the connections on the AIMSPOWER units!
Wish you showed an outdoor installation.
Thanks for the video dude, greetings from Colombia
Super
Does it matter which way the current flows, down thru the meter or up thru it?
This is an AC meter. By definition, alternating current alternates direction (50-60 times per second).
I also have AIMS 230v inverter. Instead of this type of 230v meter, I went with 2 x 115v meters - 1 for each leg of the inverter so I can track and balance the load. I used cheap ($20 each) bayite AC 80-260V 100A BYT-VAEM-034 meters from Amazon. Not pushing these meters, just explaining what I used and they seem to be working. Using my Midnite Classic KWH as the array KWH and these meters as actual 115/230v output - I'm seeing an average of 83.7% efficiency so far. That's 740kwh PV array -> 620Kwh AIMS output.
Interesting. How does that work if you have a 230v load on the AIMS? Doesn't the cumulative watts get counted twice (once on each meter) since the current is passing through both legs rather than one leg + neutral?
@@LithiumSolar Each 115v leg of an AIMS 230v Inverter delivers up to 50% of its max capability independently of the other leg - e.g. The AIMS 10K Inverter delivers up to 5K per leg, the 12K Inverter delivers up to 6K per leg. In the case of 230v appliances - such as a cooktop - the 230v is made up of 2 x 115v legs so the power 1/2 from one side of Inverter and 1/2 from the other equally. However, 115v breakers/circuits in a subpanel (or a manual transfer switch) alternate every other leg of the 2 x 115v legs. So - if you happen to get all high load 115v systems on every other breaker - then you could max out the inverter on 1 leg and still have unused power on the other leg. As a side note - In my 12K AIMS, when I first hookedup 1 x 115v circuit (e.g. only pulling from 1 leg) the AIMS meter showed 'double' - e.g. I think it only monitors 1 leg and doubles it to get the %xx value shown on the meter.
I should have clarified - I use 115v meters (not 230v meter). So there are 2 meters, 1 for each leg. You have to add both meters together to get the total amount.
Sorry - not answering your question. When you measure ONE of the 115v legs.. its white(neutral) to black OR its white(neutral) to red. Each 115v leg is not affected by the other as they are independent. When you measure 230v (black / red) you get the total 230v but you don't get a breakdown of each leg and I don't know what it does. The AIMS meter takes 1 x 115v leg and doubles it - giving a 'false' reading. I presume your 230v meter is expensive enough that if you are doing 115v @ 2000watts on 1 side and 115v @ 0watts on the other side - the meter should show 230v @ 1000watts else it would not seem to me to be accurate.
I have a Outback hybrid 240vdc 8000 watt inverter, however, it is set for grid tie mode. I hooked up theEKM-251 DS as you show in this video, but the LCD screen does not come on, does it only work in off grid mode? Do you have to do anything with those 6 mini screws on the bottom of the unit? Any help would be welcome!
The mode shouldn't matter, it's only sensing current passing through it. Make sure you used L1+L2, the neutral and ground should bypass the meter. Also double check that the screws pierced the insulation and are actually making contact. If it's making contact and still not coming on, you might need to return it for another. My understanding is the mini screws at the bottom are for some kind of pulsed output, probably to interface with 3rd party devices. I didn't use them.
Looks good. Im doing about 8kwh/day
What meter are you using? Do you have an EKM too?
No a cheap one but it works well. Shows amp watts and volts as well(AC)
Can this be used on a commercial HVAC unit? I have a customer who wants to keep track of the kw’s his tenant is using for the HVAC unit
Yes, as long as it's a 220v 3-wire appliance (L1+L2+N). There's a separate model that works with 3-phase systems if that's what you have.
LithiumSolar Thank you! It’s actually a HVAC unit in a commercial building and the landlord wants to be able to charge the tenant for power used by the unit because the unit is tied into building power. Do you know the model number for the 3 phase meter?
I have a 3 wire (hot, neutral, ground) to the meter. with a 120 volt system. Question: does only the hot go thru L1 and the neutral & ground bypass? This is what I did and I am getting no reading.
Is it possible I have a defective unit?
I'd run the ground/red through 1 hole, then the black/neutral thru the other. You aren't going to use the other hole for AC input anyways, so might as well use them for the oversized wire ;)
That's not how you're supposed to connect it? The ground and neutral are supposed to bypass the meter. Running a ground/neutral through the same hole an L1 or L2 goes with a pin that punctures the insulation is just asking for trouble.
It would also mess up the current sensing. It senses the magnetic field caused by current flow. You can only run the wire you are trying to sense through the tunnel.
I’m 5 years late but he is talking about your inverter blue enclosure, not the meter
would this work for 120v single phase? meaning only one hot and one neutral?
The EKM-25IDS is for 120/240v 3-wire configuration - 2 hots, 1 neutral
The EKM-15IDS is for 120v 2-wire configuration, 1 hot, 1 neutral (this is the one you would need)
Link > amzn.to/2OXvYuk
:)
For home installation, is it necessary for the four 240V conductors to be "sheathed" inside the white romex covering to meet code, or is it ok to have those wires (insulated with no bare wire showing) in open air?
Yes. They sell an enclosure to mount the meter in and you need to use the proper conduit and wire type per your local code requirements.
does it have the capacity to export data?
It does not unfortunately. It does have a pulse output though, which you could connect to a pulse counter on something like an arduino to capture data. That's about it.
Any idea what happens once it reaches the max number of 9’s? Does it roll back to zeros or something?
Yes, it rolls back to 0 once it's maxed out.
Do you need to calibrate?
No, there was no calibration required.
Well, I installed it late in the day, probably after shutting off the inverter, it was not powering up the system, no flow of energy to our house while I was watching it!
Thanks too bad you cant reset it
That would kindof defeat the purpose, wouldn't it? People are using these for things like billing where electric service is split. You wouldn't want a tenant tampering with the reading ;)
Why , Really why add the meter like that? It only shows the data on the LCD screen and there is no other output. So its only good if you really want to walk up to it and read it on a daily basis. Fine for the first few days but a real pain to view your weekly data per day or looking back over the month. The issue with using that meter is it's not very smart, no Bluetooth, no wifi to send that daily data anywhere. For the 100US price tag, hmm So i would have used a simple CT clamp around the inverter output cable buy a emonTx Arduino Shield" ($20) Handles 4 CT camps or the (emonTx V3). Then that will send that data to (emonBase - web-connected base-station) ($70) Tho you would be better off with the "emonPi - Solar PV Bundle" as it comes with two CT inputs, one around your solar and one around your mains into the house. That way you will have everything monitored and graphed using emoncms. You can then send your batrium battery data to the same place for graphing and put NodeRed on the emonPi for more control of house outlets, power usage per AC plug with on/off control. Plus have alerts eg if battery drop to low voltage send alert to phone and turn off XY appliance. As you can see the $100 would have been better off spent opening the door to so many other options for the whole system. :)
I want a simple meter exactly the same as the one that the utility company provides. I'm not interested in usage per day but rather usage as a whole. I'm not interested in fancy graphs or anything like that. I'm capable of reading the meter manually each time I receive a power bill and checking the amount of money I saved. The meter has quite a few outputs, one of them referred to as "pulsed", you can see before I put the cover over the L1+L2 wire screws. I'm not sure what they do, but I'm sure you could connect it to remotely read the data if you wanted. Once you get in to things like RPI, that's where I have a complete lack of experience.
can you make it any more complicated..........? Some people, just need a simple,cheap meter, no bullshit. But I can see how a "Tesla Powerwall" person always thinks that the most complicated,expensive solution is what everyone should be using..........get stuffed.