"Disc Type" Harmonic Filter Question???

[tmillard]

One of our clients has recently been approached by a company that is pushing 'donut' style harmonic filters in order to reduce energy usage. They look like small donut current transformers but these come in two pieces and are screwed together so no feeders need to be disconnected to install them. It looks like you install one on each phase as well as the neutral. I cannot find and hard engineering data to support their 10% energy saving claims so I figured I would post the question here. It also appears that they are not UL listed...

When I first heard about these the first thing I thought about was the small capacitor bank mystery boxes that also claimed significant energy savings...

So does anyone have any experience with these? Their website is economizersaves.com

Thanks,

Tom

 

[GoldDigger]

One of our clients has recently been approached by a company that is pushing 'donut' style harmonic filters in order to reduce energy usage. They look like small donut current transformers but these come in two pieces and are screwed together so no feeders need to be disconnected to install them. It looks like you install one on each phase as well as the neutral. I cannot find and hard engineering data to support their 10% energy saving claims so I figured I would post the question here. It also appears that they are not UL listed...

Since they just clamp around the outside of an insulated cable, I suspect that there is no need for them to be UL listed. And since they probably do not do anything they don't need approval for that either.

At the best, these could be ferrite type inductors. But if they have no noticeable effect on 60Hz, they probably could not have much effect on harmonics below about 15 or so either. :lol:

The only data they provide is too small to read and the link to the raw data goes to a vacant domain.

It is a chemical disk alright. Plastic is a chemical.

The money-back guarantee requires that you document the fact that the power usage did not go down, and in any case you do not get back the "service and installation costs" (!). It does not look to me as if it requires much in the way of installation, but I bet they charge you a lot for it anyway.

Your customer should slam the door on these snake oil salesmen. (Which is probably a slur against snake oil.)

 

[Jraef]

Complete and total scam.
They are essentially putting in a "ferrite bead" as a form of surge suppressor for high frequency noise. The concept they try to make you believe is that whenever the line "surges" or has harmonics, which are basically universal now, this magic device smooths out the peaks and "redistributes the energy in the peaks back into the line" (or something to that effect), so that your devices down stream can utilize it and thereby save on the amount of energy they draw from the utility. You can't find any data on it because they are making this up out of whole cloth.



Meh... GoldDigger beat me to it...

But as he said, Ferrite Bead technology is real, it just is not an "energy saver" technology, it's an EMI/RFI noise suppressor. If you have a laptop PC, look at the cord on your power supply before it goes into the socket in the back, there is a little long donut fitted over the wire. That is a Ferrite Bead suppressor; it's on the cord going to your monitor and keyboard most likely too.

 

[Besoeker]

Complete and total scam.

Succinct and apposite.

 

[Jraef]

Here are the details.

http://www.google.com/patents/US7183890

But don't confuse the existence of a patent with a claim to efficacy, i can patent a bathtub as a bus bar if I am willing to spend the money.

The company has a phone number in Scottdale, AZ, which is owned by an investment firm in Mexico,
http://caminorealinvestments.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html

that has a US address that is a small shared space office in Santa Anna CA,

The patent holder also seems to have a number of aliases, including Craig K. Cameron, Craig M. Cameron and Craig Y. Cameron

Nope, nothing scammish going on here by golly...

 

[tmillard]

Thanks for the quick responses, I appreciate them...

Tom

 

[GoldDigger]

Here are the details.

I particularly like the comments about ferrites being used up to 1Mz, and this succinct and readable explanation:

The embodied magnetic induction devices increase electromagnetic energy based on the resistance and the capacity of the electric line, thereby affecting the induction in a motor to reduce electrical usage by a motor.

:blink:

Also this sideways reference to fluorescent light ballasts:

the use of inductors is required to counteract apparent negative resistance

 

[robbietan]

maybe I can try this on my vehicle's fuel lines. might improve fuel consumption as well

 

[GoldDigger]

maybe I can try this on my vehicle's fuel lines. might improve fuel consumption as well

You will be disappointed. I believe that the goal with fuel lines is to add harmonics to excite the fuel mixture to higher energy state. So using the PowerShaver would actually hurt your gas mileage. :lol:

 

[USMC1302]

GoldDigger:
I thought for fuel lines I had heard it "aligns" the rowdy molecules, so they march to combustion in an orderly fashion...

 

[mike_kilroy]

Ya'll are too late; already patented. fuel boss clamps around the fuel line and increases mileage:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/gas-mileage/1802932