portable power meter

[susanmarycamilleri]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230V-100A-LC...item3f15347a2d

I am looking to make a portable power meter so that I know how much power I am using in my bus. I could use this at home or if travelling and using power at a friends's house.

My question is will this work for that application? I could either install it in my bus at the transfer switch, or have it so I plug me power cord into it.

Thoughts?

[G_man]

Check the HZ (AKA Cycles Per Second). It appears that it is designed to operate on a 50HZ system where ours is 60HZ. May work just fine but I'd check to be sure.

[susanmarycamilleri]

Rich
It states in the specs a little down the page that it is good for 50 or 60 Hz.

My main concern is that it appears to have a space for two wires to pass through it, one being marked as a common. Here in North America there are two hot wires in a 240V circuit. I was wondering how you would wire this in. The two hot wires through the meter?

[G_man]

I have never seen a sub-meter anywhere near that low price so I'd be very wary. Most start around 200.00 for a 240 volt model. The connections alone of suffficient size to attach #6 wire would cost more that that.
Do a Google search for submeters and you will see. Sometimes if it seems too good to be true, it is too good to be true. Not to say that it won't work but further checking is needed. That is what you are attempting to do here and I'm not helping much!

If I see the photo correctly it appears that on the top I see L1, L1N, L2, L2N. You would have to connect the two neutrals together for the common neutral in a 50 Amp, 240V 4 wire supply. L1 and L2 would be the red and black wires going to your coach. The ground would bypass the meter if there is no connection on the meter. I didn't see to 50-60 cycle info but that should be fine.

I would put it onto an electrical box with a 50 Amp receptacle for your coach plug and have a short 50 amp cord from the meter to the shore outlet. This way you can choose to use it or not. It would probably need to be protected from the weather. For a 50 Amp extension cord I've used a hinged plastic box with a slot cut in each end just the diameter of a 50 Amp cord. The connection/meter stays dry inside the plastic box.

[susanmarycamilleri]

Rich
Thanks for your help. I think I am going to order one.

[Rob Robinson]

Don't do it right away. Got a funny feeling

[kb0zke]

Did you notice on the specs that it has a 30A current limit? That would make it a 120V unit here. It may have the "guts" to handle higher voltages, but it doesn't look like it is set up to handle what we normally think of as a 50A RV circuit.

[susanmarycamilleri]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ABB-Electric...item2a26d5f704

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CENTRON-Elec...item2a26d5f5cd

here are two other options, bigger but no doubt okay for the application.

[gcyeaw]

These meters give a cumulative reading rather than an instantaneous reading. Are you looking to see what the RV load is at home, or perhaps how much free power you are getting at a campground? Then again, with a buddy plug you could charge for usage

[susanmarycamilleri]

What I want it for is so I know how much to pay when I stay at a friends house, using their power.
Earlier this year we stayed at a campground in Taos NM and they allowed $2/day power included. They took a meter reading and then at the end of 7 days we owed an additional $20. We had been doing laundry in the bus washer, we did heat with electricity as well. So that was $34 of electricity in 7 days. (rate was 14 cents/ KWH)

I figure that if I can make this portable electric meter for a reasonable price it would nice to be able to pay for my power use while visiting friends at their house. It might also be interesting to know how much power my bus uses when plugged in at home.