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120v meter

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ThaDanimal

Member
Location
BC
Occupation
Electrician
So a friend of mine lives in a RV park. He has a 30a 120v service and is getting 450$ power bills.
So by my math if they’re maxing out their 30 amps at 80%
its 24x120=2.8kw 2.8x24 hours x30 days is 2016kwh and at 18 cents a kWh the RV park charges
2016x0.18 equals 362.88$
So unless my math is bad 450$ is impossible without blowing a breaker.
We turned everything on and it was only 15a
The meter base is analog, it’s a 120v meter but the neutral is on one leg and the hot on the other.
There is no screw on the back of the meter to isolate the neutral, but I assume it being 120v meter it’s not actually reading the neutral.
many ideas?
 
tortuga

tortuga

Code Historian
Location
Oregon
Occupation
Electrical Design
How is it metered? By a utility or by the RV park?
Does he get a bill each month?
Does it have his kWH usage?
 
Dsg319

Dsg319

Senior Member
Location
West Virginia
Occupation
Wv Master “lectrician”
ThaDanimal said:
So a friend of mine lives in a RV park. He has a 30a 120v service and is getting 450$ power bills.
So by my math if they’re maxing out their 30 amps at 80%
its 24x120=2.8kw 2.8x24 hours x30 days is 2016kwh and at 18 cents a kWh the RV park charges
2016x0.18 equals 362.88$
So unless my math is bad 450$ is impossible without blowing a breaker.
We turned everything on and it was only 15a
The meter base is analog, it’s a 120v meter but the neutral is on one leg and the hot on the other.
There is no screw on the back of the meter to isolate the neutral, but I assume it being 120v meter it’s not actually reading the neutral.
many ideas?
Click to expand...
Where did you measure current at? At the load side of the meter or in the panel.

How far is the meter from the RV?
 
T

ThaDanimal

Member
Location
BC
Occupation
Electrician
Dsg319 said:
Where did you measure current at? At the load side of the meter or in the panel.

How far is the meter from the RV?
Click to expand...
Meter is right beside the RV. Actually measured it in the panel in the trailer as I didn’t have access to the utility room.
However I checked to make sure there were no other loads on the load side of the meter.
meter goes directly to 30a plug (no disconnect 😫)
 
Dsg319

Dsg319

Senior Member
Location
West Virginia
Occupation
Wv Master “lectrician”
ThaDanimal said:
Meter is right beside the RV. Actually measured it in the panel in the trailer as I didn’t have access to the utility room.
However I checked to make sure there were no other loads on the load side of the meter.
meter goes directly to 30a plug (no disconnect 😫
Click to expand...
Hmmm
 
H

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
Sounds like it’s a multiplier type meter, and they are using the wrong multiplier. Had that happen on a plant service I installed many years ago. They used the wrong multiplier, after a couple of months, the plant manager noticed their bill was a lot lower than it was before I changed the service, Poco came out, and said “Oops, the meter reader was reading it wrong, you owe us $6000”
 
H

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
ThaDanimal said:
So a friend of mine lives in a RV park. He has a 30a 120v service and is getting 450$ power bills.
So by my math if they’re maxing out their 30 amps at 80%
its 24x120=2.8kw 2.8x24 hours x30 days is 2016kwh and at 18 cents a kWh the RV park charges
2016x0.18 equals 362.88$
So unless my math is bad 450$ is impossible without blowing a breaker.
We turned everything on and it was only 15a
The meter base is analog, it’s a 120v meter but the neutral is on one leg and the hot on the other.
There is no screw on the back of the meter to isolate the neutral, but I assume it being 120v meter it’s not actually reading the neutral.
many ideas?
Click to expand...
You need a picture.
Is this a form 2S meter like is installed in about every house you see?
If it is and it’s not connected properly he is getting double reads because of the way the wires go through the CT in the meter.
Metering a 120V circuit with a FM2S meter has to be wired differently. It can’t be hot on one side and neutral on the other side.
It should be wired correctly or it needs to be a 1S meter.
 
T

ThaDanimal

Member
Location
BC
Occupation
Electrician
Hv&Lv said:
You need a picture.
Is this a form 2S meter like is installed in about every house you see?
If it is and it’s not connected properly he is getting double reads because of the way the wires go through the CT in the meter.
Metering a 120V circuit with a FM2S meter has to be wired differently. It can’t be hot on one side and neutral on the other side.
It should be wired correctly or it needs to be a 1S meter.
Click to expand...
That’s what I thought, but the meter says 120v on it and there isn’t a screw on the back to which I can terminate a neutral
GE 1-70s was the only identifier I could find on it.
 
H

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
ThaDanimal said:
That’s what I thought, but the meter says 120v on it and there isn’t a screw on the back to which I can terminate a neutral
GE 1-70s was the only identifier I could find on it.
Click to expand...
What your looking for is the form. 1S, 2S, 3A, etc..
with what your describing it may be a 1S.
does it look like this?
F5B9578F-B44B-49C1-A94C-78268A84646D.jpeg
 
T

ThaDanimal

Member
Location
BC
Occupation
Electrician
That’s real close! It may have had 5 dials but everything else is dead on I called and am going to get a picture emailed tonight. Friend is like 70 and still has a flip phone so he can’t do it right now.
 
tortuga

tortuga

Code Historian
Location
Oregon
Occupation
Electrical Design
I am gonna guess hillbilly1 has it right and its a multiplier meter, and somewhere around X5, perhaps it was replaced recently?
Its kinda weird that you can just sell electricity to tenants and not get your meters calibrated.
For gas stations we work on someone has to come out and certify each pump.
Same thing with scales
 
H

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
It must be in a state that’s deregulated, because in a lot of states, only utilities can sell electricity. That’s a problem commercial EV charging stations are trying to overcome, and get the laws changed.
 
tortuga

tortuga

Code Historian
Location
Oregon
Occupation
Electrical Design
hillbilly1 said:
It must be in a state that’s deregulated, because in a lot of states, only utilities can sell electricity. That’s a problem commercial EV charging stations are trying to overcome, and get the laws changed.
Click to expand...
So how do RV parks charge for power where your at?
He's north of us over the border in BC Canada.
 
H

hillbilly1

Senior Member
Location
North Georgia mountains
Occupation
Owner/electrical contractor
Depends on the state, the poco may have their own lines and meters directly to pedestals. The op said he thought the meter had five dials instead of the four on the meter picture posted, the fifth dial may be tenths, and the meter reader is marking it as full KW’s That would explain the super high reading. Even as mentioned, if it was reading double, that would still be extremely high for a 30 amp RV.
 
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