EKM Metering

Hii,
I m using EKM Omnimeter V3 for meter reading with the ekm dash trial version as the software.
When I connect locally to the device, it is giving me read data error.(used RS 485 convert with COM port)
The line is 415V 3-phase 3 wire. The meter was connected with 2 CTs (SCT-100-1500, 1500A: 26.6mA)
The reading taken directly from the meter is mentioned below:
01 - 42.5
02 - 00
03 - 351.9
04 - 00
05 - 400
06 - A1 022.6
07 - A2 00
08 - A3 00
09 - 41.28
10 - 00
11 - 00
12 - 4126
13 - L1 L047
14 - L2 C000
15 - L3 C000

Three phase wires are connected to the meter. But we are able to read only L1 and L3 volts.
We are able to read only 1 CT.
What is the conversion ratio for CT?.

Please advice.

Thanks and Regards
Vishnu.S.R
Greenleaf Airconditioning Services LLC
Dubai, UAE

Hello Vishnu,

Thank you for sending us this information. The first thing to note is that this meter cannot be installed on 3-phase 3-wire (no neutral) systems over 400 volts. If your system is really 415 volts, you may be OK but this is out of acceptable range. Do you have a neutral available? Here is the spec sheet for the EKM-Omnimeter: http://documents.ekmmetering.com/OmniMe ... tering.pdf

If you do not have a neutral available, we would recommend our EKM-353EDM-N for your 3-phase 3-wire 480 volt system. It is on our website here: http://www.ekmmetering.com/ekm-metering ... n-v-2.html

Will you please send us photos of how you have your submeter connected? We would like to see the voltage reference wires and the CT wires going into the bottom of the meter. We would also like to see the RS485 data wires going into the top of the meter. Are you using one of the RS485 converters that we provide or a converter from a different supplier.

The Omnimeters come by default set to 200amps. If you buy CTs with the meter that are other than 200amp CTs we try to set the CT ratio for you before we ship them out. You can also change the CT ratio yourself using the EKM Dash software.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Thanks for the reply,

I would like to inform you that the voltage range is 380-400V. (3 wire/ 3phase system without neutral)
1. L1 is showing voltage on meter, L3 is not showing voltage
2. L1 is showing amps on meter, L3 is not showing amps
3. L1 is showing power (Watts) on meter, L3 is not showing power (Watts)
4. L1 is showing power factor on meter, L3 is not showing power factor
5. What is the CT ratio for (SCT-100-1500, 1500A: 26.6mA)
6. We are using the RS 485 converter purchased from EKM. (Hexin 485)
7. Please find the images attached Regards
Vishnu

Hello Vishnu.

OK, there are a few things that pop out to me.

First is it looks like you have 3 separate CTs connected, you will only need 2 CTs for this 3-phase 3-wire system. Please follow this wiring video: http://www.ekmmetering.com/information/ ... ml#answer7

Second it looks like you are using your own wire into the meter on the CT terminal blocks (the wire you are using is large). This means you are either using unknown CTs or you have extended the length of the CT wires. I would not recommend doing either of these things. This could be the cause of no current readings on line3. Also the CT wire you are using is too large for these terminal blocks (16 to 20 gauge stranded is the best for both the CT wires and the voltage reference wires)

Third, it looks like you are not using twisted pair wire for RS485 data communications. Please use twisted pair it is cheap and easy to find. CAT5 cable works best, it is cheap, easy to find and comes with 4 pairs of twisted wire. Use shielded CAT5 if you are in a noisy environment or are going to be communicating over long distances.

1. L1 is showing voltage on meter, L3 is not showing voltage

I would correct the wire as mentioned above. Then the best way to see if you are getting voltage to each terminal block is to use a handheld volt/ohm meter. Place your multimeter probes into the terminal block screws on the meter. This would be with the cover plate off, the voltage probes should go into the heads of the terminal block phillips head screws. If you do not see the proper voltages here, you know you have a problem with the connections.

2. L1 is showing amps on meter, L3 is not showing amps

Correct the CT wires (use smaller wire and do not extend the length of the CT wires) as mentioned above

3. L1 is showing power (Watts) on meter, L3 is not showing power (Watts)

This is due to issues 1 and 2 above.

4. L1 is showing power factor on meter, L3 is not showing power factor

This is due to issues 1 and 2 above.

5. What is the CT ratio for (SCT-100-1500, 1500A: 26.6mA)

You would want to set your CT ratio to 1500 amps over RS485. You can do this using the EKM Dash.

6. We are using the RS 485 converter purchased from EKM. (Hexin 485)

Is the RS232 to RS485 converter plugged directly into your computer? Or do you have it plugged into a 3rd party USB converter? Please only plug it directly into your computer.

Please send us photos of the system when you have the issues above corrected. Please also send a photo of the RS232 converter and how it is connected to the RS485 and the computer, and a photo of your CTs and how they are connected to your main wires.

Please correct the issues mentioned, and then get back to us.

Thanks, and best regards,

HI, Thanks for the reply. We have checked all the wiring for CT and power and it seem alright.
We have changed CT #2 (L3) and we could read the amps for L3 as well as voltage for L1, L2, L3
We have changed the CT ratio as per the requirement.
The problem that we are facing is that we are getting the error mesaage "socket error" in between .
The screenshot is attached.
Secondly the computer we are using (Windows XP Professional) is getting hanged in between while we use the ekm dash software. Is the software compatible with Windows XP?

Thanks....

Hello Vishnu,

Thank you for sending us these screenshots, they are very helpful.

It looks like somehow you have the meter number: -727379969 entered as your first meter number. This is not a meter number that EKM would have produced. This is causing errors when the EKM Dash software tries to read a meter with the wrong meter number. Please change this to the meter number that is laser marked onto the face of the meter right under the LCD screen. Or simply delete this -727379969 meter. This will fix the "socket error" issue you are seeing.

There are some stability issues with XP (at this point we have not isolated the issue), this is something we will continue to work on improving. But going forward, there should be full compatibility with Windows XP. The Dash is also fully compatible with OSX, Windows 7, and Linux.

If you have any questions, please let us know.