Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Magnetic fields of the Electomechanical Meter Vs. Solid State

My good friend Ken at the City of Lodi was posed with a customer problem; I want this smart meter gone and an old electrical mechanical meter in it's place because of EMF! The assumption this customer had was that the old meter wasn't going to have as strong a field as the new "smart meter". Ken went about testing his own theory and knowledge in the meter shop, using a Gauss meter on a variety of meters here's what Ken found:

Type

Model

Amps

Volts

Side of Meter

Distance

Magnetic Field
Strength; mGauss

Percent
Difference
SS vs Mech

Overall
Average %
Difference
SS vs Mech

Centron
Solid State

C1SR

30

240

Front

3 inches

12.5

37.7

75.6






6 inches

9.1

53.2







12 inches

4

71.4







24 inches

1.3

100.0







36 inches

1.1

115.8


Centron
Solid State

C1SR

30

240

Left

3 inches

16.7

60.7







6 inches

12.9

66.8







12 inches

4.7

61.8







24 inches

1.1

50.0







36 inches

1.1

84.6


Centron
Solid State

C1SR

30

240

Right

3 inches

86.5

78.6







6 inches

48.7

64.8







12 inches

27.1

80.9







24 inches

4.8

96.0







36 inches

1.3

81.3


Centron
Solid State

C1SR

30

240

Top

3 inches

52.1

60.4







6 inches

26.5

72.0







12 inches

8.9

81.7







24 inches

1.5

78.9







36 inches

1

111.1


Centron
Solid State

C1SR

30

240

Bottom

3 inches

22.8

45.4







6 inches

13.8

56.3







12 inches

5.7

75.0







24 inches

1.6

106.7







36 inches

1.1

100.0


ABB
Mechanical

D4S

30

240

Front

3 inches

33.2

265.6

143.0






6 inches

17.1

187.9







12 inches

5.6

140.0







24 inches

1.3

100.0







36 inches

0.95

86.4


ABB
Mechanical

D4S

30

240

Left

3 inches

27.5

164.7







6 inches

19.3

149.6







12 inches

7.6

161.7







24 inches

2.2

200.0







36 inches

1.3

118.2


ABB
Mechanical

D4S

30

240

Right

3 inches

110.1

127.3







6 inches

75.1

154.2







12 inches

33.5

123.6







24 inches

5

104.2







36 inches

1.6

123.1


ABB
Mechanical

D4S

30

240

Top

3 inches

86.3

165.6







6 inches

36.8

138.9







12 inches

10.9

122.5







24 inches

1.9

126.7







36 inches

0.9

90.0


ABB
Mechanical

D4S

30

240

Bottom

3 inches

50.2

220.2







6 inches

24.5

177.5







12 inches

7.6

133.3







24 inches

1.5

93.8







36 inches

1.1

100.0




If you look at the Hall effect of Itron's CENTRON meter you can see that not only does it measure more accurately at much lower current levels, it helps lower the EMF of the meter itself. Nice work Ken.