Meter base

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Denny Bear

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Location
Crestline CA
Occupation
HVAC Business owner/contractor
On an older 125 v wall mounted watt hour meter, there is a box with metal tabs sticking out the top for connecting the line and load terminals on the meter. I would like to know what the official name of that connector box is THANKS
 
Not sure. Ultility companies often have their own terms. My brother worked for over 40 years at PECO where back in the 1970's one of the older lineman collected 15 amp 120 volt meters that were used in South Philly around 1910. The glass enclosing the meter had two wing nuts to install meter seal and what I would call a terminal box for connecting the service & load wires. Any way my brother purchased one of these meters that was made into a desk lamp with a nice brass nameplate with my name on it. Only used it for a short time because I did not trust the very old wires. Was thinking of connecting it thru an 25 VA isolation transformer then thru a AFCI / GFCI circuit breaker & a non time delay 0.2 amp fuse to illuminate an LED lamp. Of course being a life long Ultility non NEC code linesmen amp only ran two wire zip cord to feed the old meter metal box . ( no ground ).
 
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Not sure. Ultility companies often have their own terms. My brother worked for over 40 years at PECO where back in the 1970's one of the older lineman collected 15 amp 120 volt meters that were used in South Philly around 1910. The glass enclosing the meter had two wing nuts to install meter seal and what I would call a terminal box for connecting the service & load wires. Any way my brother purchased one of these meters that was made into a desk lamp with a nice brass nameplate with my name on it. Only used it for a short time because I did not trust the very old wires. Was thinking of connecting it thru an 25 VA isolation transformer then thru a AFCI / GFCI circuit breaker & a non time delay 0.2 amp fuse to illuminate an LED lamp. Of course being a life long Ultility non NEC code linesmen amp only ran two wire zip cord to feed the old meter metal box . ( no ground ).

. The reason I asked is because I have made about 7 or 8 “meter”” lamps myself. The first 2 had the base. The rest of them I would use a small older 2 pole disconnect with Edison fuses. Addionally I always include an outlet because people love to plug things in and watch the meter spin faster. I get the meters on Ebay and would like to get a hold of the base again but I can never find one
 
Thank you for your reply


. The reason I asked is because I have made about 7 or 8 “meter”” lamps myself. The first 2 had the base. The rest of them I would use a small older 2 pole disconnect with Edison fuses. Addionally I always include an outlet because people love to plug things in and watch the meter spin faster. I get the meters on Ebay and would like to get a hold of the base again but I can never find one
You could have a fabrication shop make some of these bases or if you do not have access to a sheet metal brake you might be able to make them using a vise to bend thin sheet metal. Leave tabs where you can install small poop rivets. The large maintenance shop that I worked in had a great tin knocker who would make pans from sheet metal and solder them. On my old 100 plus year old meter was thinking of meggering it with 500 volts. Have a Simpson megger that supplies up to 5,000 volts.
 
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