New Brultech Energy Monitoring Model (ECM-1240) due in 2009

[Btech]

I just finished hooking up my ECM-1240. I have CH 1 connected to my main panel and AUX 1 - 4 connected to various 120 volt breakers. Shouldn't the total watts for AUX 1-4 be less than the watts listed for ch1? See picture.

Regards,
Ultrajones

Is it possible that your CT settings are wrong? If you have the SPLIT CT in series and connected to the "Dual" terminal, then the CT setting need to be adjusted since the "Dual" channel reduces the signal by 1/2. This means that if you are using SPLIT-100 CTs your setting should change from 167/5 to 167/4. For the SPLIT-200 it need to be modified from 167/4 to 167/3.

Let me know if this was the issue.

Paul

Hello Paul. Thanks for helping. No, that doesn't seem to have helped the issue. I have the SPLIT-100 CT's connected as described on the top of page 13 in the manual. I have the config for CH 1 set to SPLIT-100, dual CT.

Regards,
Ultrajones

UJ,

Just a thought. Do you have more than one micro CT on one of those Aux channels?

I found my polarity off when I had more than one CT on a channel and it reported more than actual on the 1240. I used an amprobe to obtain actual current draw on the circuits to straighten out the CT polarity.

It was also helpful in checking the accuracy of all the other inputs as well if you have one.

Will

Hello Will. No, I only have one CT installed on each AUX channel. However, at this point, I only have AUX 1 connected until I sort out this issue.

UJ,

I just realized that it may be simpler just to try connecting a 100W lamp in and out of an outlet to look for approx 100W difference.

Paul

 

[ultrajones]

I just finished hooking up my ECM-1240. I have CH 1 connected to my main panel and AUX 1 - 4 connected to various 120 volt breakers. Shouldn't the total watts for AUX 1-4 be less than the watts listed for ch1? See picture.

Regards,
Ultrajones

Is it possible that your CT settings are wrong? If you have the SPLIT CT in series and connected to the "Dual" terminal, then the CT setting need to be adjusted since the "Dual" channel reduces the signal by 1/2. This means that if you are using SPLIT-100 CTs your setting should change from 167/5 to 167/4. For the SPLIT-200 it need to be modified from 167/4 to 167/3.

Let me know if this was the issue.

Paul

Hello Paul. Thanks for helping. No, that doesn't seem to have helped the issue. I have the SPLIT-100 CT's connected as described on the top of page 13 in the manual. I have the config for CH 1 set to SPLIT-100, dual CT.

Regards,
Ultrajones

UJ,

Just a thought. Do you have more than one micro CT on one of those Aux channels?

I found my polarity off when I had more than one CT on a channel and it reported more than actual on the 1240. I used an amprobe to obtain actual current draw on the circuits to straighten out the CT polarity.

It was also helpful in checking the accuracy of all the other inputs as well if you have one.

Will

Hello Will. No, I only have one CT installed on each AUX channel. However, at this point, I only have AUX 1 connected until I sort out this issue.

You can try eliminating one of the CH1 CTs at a time, for instance you can short the CT leads on one and observe the displayed power, then do the same to the other CT. If the sum of the two individual readings are not what you are currently reading then you may have the phasing wrong.

Another possiblility would be if the panel was fed from a 3-phase system (120V/208V), this would give strange results.


Paul

Paul,

How can I tell if my panel is fed from a 3-phase system? I have one main panel and one 50 amp dedicated to my AC that the power company can cut out during periods of high load.

Regards,
Ultrajones

 

[Btech]

I just finished hooking up my ECM-1240. I have CH 1 connected to my main panel and AUX 1 - 4 connected to various 120 volt breakers. Shouldn't the total watts for AUX 1-4 be less than the watts listed for ch1? See picture.

Regards,
Ultrajones

Is it possible that your CT settings are wrong? If you have the SPLIT CT in series and connected to the "Dual" terminal, then the CT setting need to be adjusted since the "Dual" channel reduces the signal by 1/2. This means that if you are using SPLIT-100 CTs your setting should change from 167/5 to 167/4. For the SPLIT-200 it need to be modified from 167/4 to 167/3.

Let me know if this was the issue.

Paul

Hello Paul. Thanks for helping. No, that doesn't seem to have helped the issue. I have the SPLIT-100 CT's connected as described on the top of page 13 in the manual. I have the config for CH 1 set to SPLIT-100, dual CT.

Regards,
Ultrajones

UJ,

Just a thought. Do you have more than one micro CT on one of those Aux channels?

I found my polarity off when I had more than one CT on a channel and it reported more than actual on the 1240. I used an amprobe to obtain actual current draw on the circuits to straighten out the CT polarity.

It was also helpful in checking the accuracy of all the other inputs as well if you have one.

Will

Hello Will. No, I only have one CT installed on each AUX channel. However, at this point, I only have AUX 1 connected until I sort out this issue.

You can try eliminating one of the CH1 CTs at a time, for instance you can short the CT leads on one and observe the displayed power, then do the same to the other CT. If the sum of the two individual readings are not what you are currently reading then you may have the phasing wrong.

Another possiblility would be if the panel was fed from a 3-phase system (120V/208V), this would give strange results.


Paul

Paul,

How can I tell if my panel is fed from a 3-phase system? I have one main panel and one 50 amp dedicated to my AC that the power company can cut out during periods of high load.

Regards,
Ultrajones

If you are in a purely residential area, I doubt if the feed would be 3-phase.

One way to determine if the feed is 3-phase is to measure the voltage from neutral to line, then from line to line. If the line to line voltage is equal to the neutral to line voltage multiplied by the square root of 3 (1.73) then the feed is 3-phase. DONT try this unless you have a proper DMM and you know what you are doing.

The other option is to check for one of line wires feeding the panel to see if it is blue.... this is not a foolproof method since the colors may be blk/red or blk/blk.

Sometimes the panel may be labeled 120V/208V (instead of 120V/240V).

Paul

 

[Btech]

I just finished hooking up my ECM-1240. I have CH 1 connected to my main panel and AUX 1 - 4 connected to various 120 volt breakers. Shouldn't the total watts for AUX 1-4 be less than the watts listed for ch1? See picture.

Regards,
Ultrajones

Is it possible that your CT settings are wrong? If you have the SPLIT CT in series and connected to the "Dual" terminal, then the CT setting need to be adjusted since the "Dual" channel reduces the signal by 1/2. This means that if you are using SPLIT-100 CTs your setting should change from 167/5 to 167/4. For the SPLIT-200 it need to be modified from 167/4 to 167/3.

Let me know if this was the issue.

Paul

Hello Paul. Thanks for helping. No, that doesn't seem to have helped the issue. I have the SPLIT-100 CT's connected as described on the top of page 13 in the manual. I have the config for CH 1 set to SPLIT-100, dual CT.

Regards,
Ultrajones

UJ,

Just a thought. Do you have more than one micro CT on one of those Aux channels?

I found my polarity off when I had more than one CT on a channel and it reported more than actual on the 1240. I used an amprobe to obtain actual current draw on the circuits to straighten out the CT polarity.

It was also helpful in checking the accuracy of all the other inputs as well if you have one.

Will

Hello Will. No, I only have one CT installed on each AUX channel. However, at this point, I only have AUX 1 connected until I sort out this issue.

You can try eliminating one of the CH1 CTs at a time, for instance you can short the CT leads on one and observe the displayed power, then do the same to the other CT. If the sum of the two individual readings are not what you are currently reading then you may have the phasing wrong.

Another possiblility would be if the panel was fed from a 3-phase system (120V/208V), this would give strange results.


Paul

Paul,

How can I tell if my panel is fed from a 3-phase system? I have one main panel and one 50 amp dedicated to my AC that the power company can cut out during periods of high load.

Regards,
Ultrajones

If you are in a purely residential area, I doubt if the feed would be 3-phase.

One way to determine if the feed is 3-phase is to measure the voltage from neutral to line, then from line to line. If the line to line voltage is equal to the neutral to line voltage multiplied by the square root of 3 (1.73) then the feed is 3-phase. DONT try this unless you have a proper DMM and you know what you are doing.

The other option is to check for one of line wires feeding the panel to see if it is blue.... this is not a foolproof method since the colors may be blk/red or blk/blk.

Sometimes the panel may be labeled 120V/208V (instead of 120V/240V).

Paul

One more quick check would be the 100W light bulb test on a kitchen duplex receptacle powered from a double breaker. Plug the 100W lamp in one receptacle, observe the power difference, then do the same with the other receptacle socket. They should cause equivalent change in power if the system is split-phase.

Paul

 

[BDHall]

I hooked up my new ECM-1240 to one circuit tonight for a test using aux 1. The circuit has a refrigerator and an overhead light fixture with two 60 watt bulbs. I think they are "long life" bulbs so I was wondering if that might account for the slightly lower wattage, perhaps the bulbs are rated for a little higher voltage. The light is controlled by an X10 dimmer switch. It looks like the two light bulbs account for around 114 watts. At the moment with the light off I am showing 2-3 watts and I am pretty sure I saw 7 watts at one point. Of course when the refrigerator is running the wattage is considerably higher. My voltage is running close to 121. Does what I am seeing sound reasonable?

 

[tenholde]

I hooked up my new ECM-1240 to one circuit tonight for a test using aux 1. The circuit has a refrigerator and an overhead light fixture with two 60 watt bulbs. I think they are "long life" bulbs so I was wondering if that might account for the slightly lower wattage, perhaps the bulbs are rated for a little higher voltage. The light is controlled by an X10 dimmer switch. It looks like the two light bulbs account for around 114 watts. At the moment with the light off I am showing 2-3 watts and I am pretty sure I saw 7 watts at one point. Of course when the refrigerator is running the wattage is considerably higher. My voltage is running close to 121. Does what I am seeing sound reasonable?

Many of the X10 dimmer switches allow for 'local control' of the light by manually turning it off/on. To do this, it trickles a small current through the bulb even when it is 'full off'. This would account for a few watts even when the lights are off.

tenholde

 

[brownsl]

Does anybody have the ECM-1240 communicating using wireless to EtherBee? I have tried to set this up and I have not had any success and the User Manual is not very clear on what to do. I have the ECM-1240 hardware installed and turned on and the data light is flashing which I assume means everything on that end is working correctly.

The manual states to plug the EtherBee device to a LAN. What the heck does that mean? Do I plug it into my router? Do I plug it into the RJ-45 port of a computer?

I have the EtherBee powered up and plugged into my Ethernet port on my laptop which I assume is correct. I have installed both the EtherBee configurator and the ECM-1240 Interface Application. I have tried following the User Manual when running the software but I never seem to start communications with the ECM-1240. On the EtherBee the green light is solid and the yellow light flickers on occasion but I never see anything in the XBee Commands window of the Interface Application. After trying to discover the coordinator and clicking the "+++" button I never receive an OK.

Boy, I never realized this was going to be so difficult to setup on the software side of things. It is quite frustrating.


Shawn

 

[moridin1138]

The manual states to plug the EtherBee device to a LAN. What the heck does that mean? Do I plug it into my router? Do I plug it into the RJ-45 port of a computer?

I have not used the Etherbee, and I am not familiar with it. However LAN stands for Local Area Network, and in this context it means you should connect it to a switch (or an available port on your router).

I have the EtherBee powered up and plugged into my Ethernet port on my laptop which I assume is correct. I have installed both the EtherBee configurator and the ECM-1240 Interface Application. I have tried following the User Manual when running the software but I never seem to start communications with the ECM-1240. On the EtherBee the green light is solid and the yellow light flickers on occasion but I never see anything in the XBee Commands window of the Interface Application. After trying to discover the coordinator and clicking the "+++" button I never receive an OK.

I am not familiar with the hardware and software of the etherbee, but you may need a crossover cable if one or more of your devices (the etherbee or your laptop) are not auto-sensing.

Generally speaking, in the networking world connecting two devices of the same type require a crossover cable as opposed to a standard/usual straight-thru. Google/wikipedia has more info on this.

I would try plugging the etherbee into your router first, and making sure the laptop is too (of course). Perhaps use a cross-over cable if you specifically want that "direct" connection.

Good luck!

 

[will40]

Does anybody have the ECM-1240 communicating using wireless to EtherBee? I have tried to set this up and I have not had any success and the User Manual is not very clear on what to do. I have the ECM-1240 hardware installed and turned on and the data light is flashing which I assume means everything on that end is working correctly.

The manual states to plug the EtherBee device to a LAN. What the heck does that mean? Do I plug it into my router? Do I plug it into the RJ-45 port of a computer?

I have the EtherBee powered up and plugged into my Ethernet port on my laptop which I assume is correct. I have installed both the EtherBee configurator and the ECM-1240 Interface Application. I have tried following the User Manual when running the software but I never seem to start communications with the ECM-1240. On the EtherBee the green light is solid and the yellow light flickers on occasion but I never see anything in the XBee Commands window of the Interface Application. After trying to discover the coordinator and clicking the "+++" button I never receive an OK.

Boy, I never realized this was going to be so difficult to setup on the software side of things. It is quite frustrating.


Shawn

I do not use the etherbee but remember reading this early on in the forum.

Maybe it will help?

http://www.cocoontech.com/forums/index.php...st&p=110655

 

[jstaab]

I have the EtherBee, but I haven't set mine up yet. I'll give it a try hopefully this week and reply back here with my success or failure

Does anybody have the ECM-1240 communicating using wireless to EtherBee? I have tried to set this up and I have not had any success and the User Manual is not very clear on what to do. I have the ECM-1240 hardware installed and turned on and the data light is flashing which I assume means everything on that end is working correctly.

The manual states to plug the EtherBee device to a LAN. What the heck does that mean? Do I plug it into my router? Do I plug it into the RJ-45 port of a computer?

I have the EtherBee powered up and plugged into my Ethernet port on my laptop which I assume is correct. I have installed both the EtherBee configurator and the ECM-1240 Interface Application. I have tried following the User Manual when running the software but I never seem to start communications with the ECM-1240. On the EtherBee the green light is solid and the yellow light flickers on occasion but I never see anything in the XBee Commands window of the Interface Application. After trying to discover the coordinator and clicking the "+++" button I never receive an OK.

Boy, I never realized this was going to be so difficult to setup on the software side of things. It is quite frustrating.


Shawn

 

[Btech]

Does anybody have the ECM-1240 communicating using wireless to EtherBee? I have tried to set this up and I have not had any success and the User Manual is not very clear on what to do. I have the ECM-1240 hardware installed and turned on and the data light is flashing which I assume means everything on that end is working correctly.

The manual states to plug the EtherBee device to a LAN. What the heck does that mean? Do I plug it into my router? Do I plug it into the RJ-45 port of a computer?

I have the EtherBee powered up and plugged into my Ethernet port on my laptop which I assume is correct. I have installed both the EtherBee configurator and the ECM-1240 Interface Application. I have tried following the User Manual when running the software but I never seem to start communications with the ECM-1240. On the EtherBee the green light is solid and the yellow light flickers on occasion but I never see anything in the XBee Commands window of the Interface Application. After trying to discover the coordinator and clicking the "+++" button I never receive an OK.

Boy, I never realized this was going to be so difficult to setup on the software side of things. It is quite frustrating.


Shawn

Browns,

Did you get your system up and running? Many people install their energy monitors on the weekend so I do my best to occasionaly check the [email protected] email throughout the weekend. If you are still experiencing difficulty, please email me and I will walk you through.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Paul

I will see that we provide more information in the manual.

 

[BDHall]

If it is desirable to have access to the kW and amps on each leg of the main service individually as well as the total, can we connect one CT to channel 1 and the other one to channel 2 and set the channel's CT option to single? Are there any special configuration settings involved for this arrangement. Any other issues to be aware of besides the loss of a channel that could have been used for omething else?

Thanks!
Brian

 

[Btech]

If it is desirable to have access to the kW and amps on each leg of the main service individually as well as the total, can we connect one CT to channel 1 and the other one to channel 2 and set the channel's CT option to single? Are there any special configuration settings involved for this arrangement. Any other issues to be aware of besides the loss of a channel that could have been used for omething else?

Thanks!
Brian

Brian,

That's the way we did it since our ECM-200 in 1992. Only lately have we started combining the two lines on one channel to open up a second channel. You would connect the CT to the COM and SINGLE terminals and set the CT settings to 167/4 for SPLIT-200 or 167/5 for SPLIT-100s.

Paul

 

[BDHall]

If it is desirable to have access to the kW and amps on each leg of the main service individually as well as the total, can we connect one CT to channel 1 and the other one to channel 2 and set the channel's CT option to single? Are there any special configuration settings involved for this arrangement. Any other issues to be aware of besides the loss of a channel that could have been used for omething else?

Thanks!
Brian

Brian,

That's the way we did it since our ECM-200 in 1992. Only lately have we started combining the two lines on one channel to open up a second channel. You would connect the CT to the COM and SINGLE terminals and set the CT settings to 167/4 for SPLIT-200 or 167/5 for SPLIT-100s.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks for the help.

Brian

 

[BDHall]

If it is desirable to have access to the kW and amps on each leg of the main service individually as well as the total, can we connect one CT to channel 1 and the other one to channel 2 and set the channel's CT option to single? Are there any special configuration settings involved for this arrangement. Any other issues to be aware of besides the loss of a channel that could have been used for omething else?

Thanks!
Brian

Brian,

That's the way we did it since our ECM-200 in 1992. Only lately have we started combining the two lines on one channel to open up a second channel. You would connect the CT to the COM and SINGLE terminals and set the CT settings to 167/4 for SPLIT-200 or 167/5 for SPLIT-100s.

Paul

Paul,

I forgot to ask about the orentation of the CT's when using the two channel method?

Thanks!
Brian