True Load Readings

[reppy007]

I want to ask all of you,at what time of day would you get a true amp reading,say if you were sent to take an amperage reading on a transformer in a neighboorhood.I cant count how many times that I was sent at different times of the day to get a reading.....even if nobody was home.....what time of day would you suggest getting a reading?

[lineman]

If you really want to know what's happening you should put a recording amp/volt meter (I don't know what they call them now a days.) on it for a few days.

To answer the question, three thirty in the afternoon on the hottest day of the year.

[reppy007]

Here I ould say around 6 or 630 pm.....when everyone gets home from work....lights are on,the a/c is cranking,the washer and dryer might also be on,fans,ect...the father might be kicking back with a beer in hand watching tv.....who knows what the kids are doing,but it isnt shutting the doors.......thats about the same time transformers overload here.......like I said before,Ive been sent in the mornings and late at night some bosses havent yet figured out that the reason to get the reading is your trying to see what the highest amperage is on your equipment.

[Divemaster]

I have seven subs that I'm in charge of, I also read all of our Industrial meters which are TOU. Anytime between 5:00 and 9:00 would be a fair guess. Depends on the customer. I have one customer that mostly peaks after 10 pm. Good for us, since their peak can hit 15 MW.

[BigClive]

I'd go for about six in the evening as well. Most people would be cooking their tea, watching telly or browsing the 'net at that time.

A recording meter at the substation would be the definitive answer though.

[T-Man]

On a whole you can watch the system from a control center and see load start to rise around 6 in the morning and continue to rise thru 7 pm. We used to turn on capasitors around 6am at stations that didn't have automatic banks and take them off the system around 7pm to keep the vars in line. Now in a residential neighbor hood 6-7 pm would be good, but in an industrial park almost anytime during the day.

In the old days we would hang Maxi meters on transformers and get a current and max load reading after two days of being installed. This way engineers could figure out what a new build would need.

[duckhunter]

I'd set my Ranger PM 3000 Power Logger. I can get a real breakdown of what is going on down to the 100th of a second. I can tell you what the real load is anytime of day.