tonyou812
Senior Member
- Location
- North New Jersey
Can anyone tell me why some meter cans have a bypass handle in them? When would some one use this?
Sorry if questions seems elementry.
- Thread starter tonyou812
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stickboy1375
Senior Member
- Location
- Litchfield, CT
tonyou812 said:
Required by POCO in Connecticut, the reason being is it lets the POCO change out the meter without disturbing power to the residence... A lot of people with home offices these days...
This of course is just my opinion.
stickboy1375
Senior Member
- Location
- Litchfield, CT
Nothing worse than running a business out of your basement and having the power disrupted...
brantmacga
Señor Member
- Location
- Georgia
- Occupation
- Former Child
southern co. is the only here that uses them, and that's what they call their "commercial" meter base. lets them pull meters w/o shutting the whole building down or having to pull it under a load. they only go up to a 400A though; anything above is CT metered.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
When the handle is up, or in the bypass position, it also releases the jaw contact pressure.
peter d
Senior Member
- Location
- New England
stickboy1375 said:
The other big reason is that it's safer for the meter crews to replace meters. No need to pull meters under load if they can't access the main breaker.
- Location
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Occupation
- Retired Electrical Contractor
I have only seen the bypass on a 400 amp (320) meter base. I have never installed a 200 amp base single phase with this feature
cschmid
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern cold country
Here the bypass is on meter bases in the 3 to 4 hundred amp areas and it is for the safty of the POCO workers and meters..it is used to remove the meter under loads for servicing meters..
code_compliant
Member
- Location
- The warm region of Minnesota
Our local utility feels by-pass meter sockets should be used on everything.
Not only homes but we have to use them on temp services. Homes I don't have a problem with but temps....
Not only homes but we have to use them on temp services. Homes I don't have a problem with but temps....
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
Meter bases with bypasses are installed over here for all businesses. The reason I'm told is that if the meter is ever stolen they will still have power available. I don't know why someone would steal a meter though, unless maybe there's copper in 'em?
quogueelectric
Senior Member
- Location
- new york
So you dont have to disrupt power to pull the meter and the meter doesnt come out under load.
- Location
- Massachusetts
Here it is not about safety, it is all about uninterrupted service to commercial customers.
Residential services in this area do not get bypass sockets, commercial services do.
Residential services in this area do not get bypass sockets, commercial services do.
LarryFine
Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
- Location
- Henrico County, VA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
That's true enough, but keep in mind that, since the bypasses are not designed to interrupt current either, removing the meter merely "forces" the customer to accept free power.quogueelectric said:
In other words, the bypass does nothing for the POCO that wants to pull a meter for non-paying customers. Bypass or not, the main must still be thrown for a safe disconnect.
LarryFine said:
True. Read the label for a lever bypass, and it will state it is not to be used as a disconnecting means.
It's there for the POCO who needs to pull the meter for some reason. Maybe to test the meter for accuracy. Maybe to replace it because it's broken. Maybe to replace it with one that can be read remotely.
One thing's for sure, if the POCO does pull the meter, it won't be for long. As soon as the bypass lever gets pushed up, the meter stops spinning. And a meter that ain't spinning ain't making the POCO money.
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