Everything seems very balanced in my incoming power now. At least my system is VERY quiet. As I have written in other threads, due to the clean power I now feed my system with, I have been forced to lower my subwoofer level at five different times to match my front speakers just by the increased power to the subs. Even then, I have more punch than ever from the whole system. That is really something, I have to say.
Measuring the Power Grid
- Thread starter wil
- Start date
I believe you immediately, very low load angle, congrats. You should see what it looks like if you live near large consumers, e.g. industry with many electric motors if they don't have a compensation system.
Did the shape of the waves vary a lot from second to second or just very slight?
My picture of voltage and current waveforms as shown in the opening post is very stable, particularly the Voltage. The Current would only change (becoming steeper and higher) as I added load when powering up equipment.
I’m wondering what would explain your ever-changing waveforms? (as I only have the very most basic understanding of any of this, everything I read just brings on more questions)
Hi wil,
Yea I would say the waves did vary quite a lot sometimes, and sometimes they did not. I did claim that the problem was coming from outside and had the power company to check and recheck all their equipment, cables and transformers. The voltage did vary a lot. The current was a bit more stable. The general distortion was the worsed part. I had a lot of distortion coming into my house at the time of the measurement.
You are right regarding questions:
I had so many questions about why I DID have all these problems, so I had the biggest power company in our country to set up a task force just to solve my problem. I have to say they were VERY helpful and very kind. But had I not have the knowledge of electricity I would not been given all that help, that I could tell by talking to them.
Well now, I had tested all there is to test as a private person when it comes to electricity. I had checked EVERYTHING. So when the power company did ask about things I had the answer - and more!!! Still the troubles remained. So finally they had no other option than hit the big drum. They came with their fullest arsenal, and as I have said earlier it all paid off in the end.
The pin point issue…???
No one can’t really tell, and even the smartest specialists on this matter can’t give me a straight 100% answer.
My own thoughts to the problem remains, and is due to frequency distortion with harmonic over tones both on the voltage but also on the current. Probably caused by switching devices such as car chargers, solar panels, wind turbines etc… DC to AC and AC back to DC…
As I don’t have any problems no more, I am pretty sure the power company has seen this (problem) and put some kind of high frequency filter at the main transmission / transformer station in secret, to calm the power grid from these high frequency harmonic distortions… -but that is only my own speculations.
Still thinks the wizard did his job though.. LOL!!
/ Jk
This is a big piece of what I advocate when I approach a project. 2 people just finished this type work and are shocked at the improvement. At times, this does little.
If you have a new panel and new meter in a dry location away from salt water, you probably have few panel issues. Provided the installing contractor did a professional job.
If your eauipment is 20 plus years old, you may hear a large improvement if no service has been performed in the past. There are loose wires, breakers that need replacing, and oxidation on the bus and wire terminations that is restricting current. And the ground is probably degraded.
You can scope your house. At times this does turn up issues in the serving utility transformer. Wil is concerned a large pump station near him may be impacting his home power. And it might be. If they don't have good filters on their VFD, a lot of distortion can go back onto the utility and impact others nearby. A good starting place is asking the utility to scope the line. Show them the meter readings you took. They will probably stonewall for a while. But they usually will come with enough pestering.
What is the best Fluke meter to read the percent of distortion on your ac line. I'm talking at your ac outlet and not with a clamp device for reading at the circuit breaker box.
I honestly don't know. I would say, not a Fluke. Maybe a desktop scope that can dial in on a particular frequency and magnify. The probes are also important. Others know more about measurements than me. I'm an electrician. I had the ability to source parts and the time and license/skill to insert them and listen.
I did purchase a bunch of tools. Probably the most valuable is the earth reaistance clamp on tester. It lets me know if your ground is functional. The next best is a true RMS volt meter. I use it all the time. Especially to get MV on Neutral to Ground. As well as MV on the chassis. There is also a Tenmar EMF reader . Nice to know if there is a lot of RF. The expensive Fluke Scopemeter is too vague. It only shows low order harmonics. Like 2nd through 12 or so. I can't see anything in the kila, mega or giga hertz.
I also have impedance testeres. Inexpensive and interesting to see ampacity available. It can give you an idea if connections are loose.
Why does the % distortion matter?
It is probably more optimal to have the voltage recorded over time, and be able to also see what the distortion products are.
And DC offset may be more important than whether the it is second or third harmonic or the Nth harmonic.
This ground resistance tester looks very capable, and isn’t expensive. Will be getting one to test the ground rod system which was just installed at my new home.
Earth Resistance Tester, digital earth resistance tester HABOTEST HT2302 0V - 200V With Analog Bar, Earth Resistance Tester for sale, Earth Resistance Tester price
High quality digital earth resistance tester HABOTEST HT2302 0V - 200V With Analog Bar from China, China's leading Earth Resistance Tester product market, With strict quality control Earth Resistance Tester factories, Producing high quality digital earth resistance tester HABOTEST HT2302 0V -...
www.habotest.com
You want a clamp on earth resistance tester. You do not want a 3 point fall of potential. 3 point fall is very hard to use. Clamp on is easy. There is no reason to get a 3 point fall. Now a 4 point has value. With a 4 point, you measure ,send the data to a lab, they engineer how many and what type of grounds to get to 5 ohms or less. And guarantee the results.This ground resistance tester looks very capable, and isn’t expensive. Will be getting one to test the ground rod system which was just installed at my new home.
Earth Resistance Tester, digital earth resistance tester HABOTEST HT2302 0V - 200V With Analog Bar, Earth Resistance Tester for sale, Earth Resistance Tester price
High quality digital earth resistance tester HABOTEST HT2302 0V - 200V With Analog Bar from China, China's leading Earth Resistance Tester product market, With strict quality control Earth Resistance Tester factories, Producing high quality digital earth resistance tester HABOTEST HT2302 0V -...www.habotest.com
My system sounded less good this evening even after a few hours warm up, I measured mains voltage and it was suspicious low. Although a step-up transformer returned mains to 230V , I assembled my emergency system to measure mains distortion and found it to be around 3% - fortunately now it is decreasing to around 1.7%. Although I usually use a different, more precise setup to carry such measurements, I am adding a few pictures of this more simple system, using free software.
Nice reading. You got a 5th of the fundimental. Hard to filter.
Yes, I know ... At this moment I would like to recover my ExactPower EP15A , one of the more clever power conditioner designs I have seen. https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/exactpower_ep15a.htm
The EP15A was simply an active corrector, adding or subtracting just what was needed to correct the actual mains system, using series feed-forward techniques. It was very effective and not expensive, unfortunately the company ceased production and service, and there is still no replacement for it. A good friend still owns mine but does not want to part with it!
Rex, I'm not sure what you're saying here.
The fundamental is 50 Hz. Are you referring to the 250 Hz harmonics and are you saying it's particularly high? I have no idea as I don't know how to read this or what the Y coordinate refers to?
I think it is not possible to find the AC power problem by looking at voltage harmonics.
This is very complex subject.
No audio company designed a perfect AC solution
This is very complex subject.
No audio company designed a perfect AC solution
Micro,
What was your mains Voltage reading when it was low?
Do you consider THD of 3% to be particularly high?
And, can you hear the difference between 1.7 and 3%?
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |