Elevator voltage problem

[Tainted]

In the summer there was a building that had one of their elevator shut down. The voltage read 190 volts but you need 208 volts (3-phase) in order to operate. Everything is good now but they are worried it might happen again as summer approaches. The guy claims it's because Con-Edison was lowering the voltage in the summer to reduce peak demand.

My solution I don't know if this will work:

Can I use a Power Conditioner/Electronic Voltage Regulator that stabilizes the voltage to 208V? Something like this maybe?:
https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p...egulator-208v-3ph-input-output-voltage-nema-1

I am hesitant with this because I don't really know why it dropped to 190 volts in the first place. What could be the reason? What if it's something simple?

 

[winnie]

On the one hand, that power conditioner will work to maintain 208V even when the supply voltage drops. That is exactly what it is supposed to do.

On the other hand, you can't make power from nothing. If the input voltage drops and this converter maintains the output voltage, then the system must increase the input current draw. If you don't know _why_ the input voltage dropped to 190V, then you don't know if this current increase is going to make the problem worse.

If Con-Ed is intentionally lowering the voltage in the summer to reduce power consumption, then this system will simply act to defeat that. Win for the customer. It looks like they intentionally dropped the voltage 8% because of a problem last year:

Con Edison Asks Customers in Central Queens to Conserve Energy

Company Reduces Voltage by 8 Percent to Maintain Reliability

www.coned.com

 

[Tainted]

On the one hand, that power conditioner will work to maintain 208V even when the supply voltage drops. That is exactly what it is supposed to do.

On the other hand, you can't make power from nothing. If the input voltage drops and this converter maintains the output voltage, then the system must increase the input current draw. If you don't know _why_ the input voltage dropped to 190V, then you don't know if this current increase is going to make the problem worse.

If Con-Ed is intentionally lowering the voltage in the summer to reduce power consumption, then this system will simply act to defeat that. Win for the customer. It looks like they intentionally dropped the voltage 8% because of a problem last year:

Con Edison Asks Customers in Central Queens to Conserve Energy

Company Reduces Voltage by 8 Percent to Maintain Reliability

www.coned.com

I wish there was a guarantee it would work. I'm afraid of telling an electrician to install it and then some issue comes up haha. Wouldn't be a bad idea to install a bypass switch in case something goes wrong. Also this issue happened in Manhattan, not Queens

 

[winnie]

Try restating your concern: what don't you know about the situation that make you unsure about this solution? Or perhaps restate as 'in this simplified situation I know it will work' and then go step by step breaking down the difference between the simplified situation and reality.

For example: the building has an ample 208V supply, and the elevator feeder is short and properly sized, so you can ignore local voltage drop issues. The voltage regulator works perfectly to compensate for any voltage changes, and supplies a perfect 208V to the elevator. That should work just fine. Now what are you concerned is different between this ideal situation and the reality at your building.

I can think of several, but I'm just guessing.