tron box

Hi, Doug. I'm not sure exactly what you want. Try expressing it a little more carefully. Take your time. You want to build something having something to do with an electrical meter?

Cheers Chris

He wants help to cheat his electric company.

"douggie" wrote in news:1159832258.460105.289840 @h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Three simple words: Use Less Power.

Puckdropper

Tape a penny to each side. They must be Canadian pennies.

turn off some appliances.

You could try putting a REALLY BIG magnet behind it (may not work)

Bye. Jasen

I once read (in a book by R.A.Wilson, IIRC) that New Yorkers in the fifties put bags of salt on their meters to slow them down. They had children watch out who would run around crying "Mon Ed, Mon Ed" so that people could take off the bags before the inspectors were coming.

Can anyone confirm this? If yes, what was the idea behind it? Slow down the rotation by promoting corrosion of the bearings?

Thanks, Leo

I guess you'd like to hide your hydro lights etc.

... J

If there is any truth to the story, I wonder if it could have been simply the weight of 25 or 50 pounds of salt caused the meter housing to distort enough to load the bearings and slow down the rotor. If so, sand would have worked just as well, it was just that everyone kept salt around for putting on icy sidewalks in winter and making ice cream in summer.

Just a thought....

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

ha! i don't know what kind of meter you have but, years ago with the old mechanical types, they use to place a large looped electromagnet coil just on the other side of the wall in side of the structure connected to the source. this would reduce the speed of the motor when placed correctly. there were variety of different methods done in this fashion. now days, i really don't think that works any more.

As a matter of technical interest only - don't actually do this because you'd be breaking the law and cheating the power company of the money they are entitled to.

Really powerful magnets will slow down a mechanical watt hour meter. The usual technique is to make a large rubber band from some surgical tubing that is a snug fit around the meter. Two magnets on a steel plate are fastened to the band NS poles facing up and towards the rotor. Play with it until the meter slows.

It works by displacing the rotor slightly and causing friction in the bearings - not by induced emf drag.

Some older meters can be spoofed by putting diodes on very heavy resistive loads so you cut the power to the load in half - the meter just sits there.

If you can take the meter from the box and get behind it you can put a shunt around it. Use something like alligator clips and the meter will still turn - just slower. (and it is dangerous - no way to turn off the power and if you short it out there's no fuse except the one on the distribution transformer which could be ~1,000 amps). Your screwdriver might turn to plasma before the distribution fuse blows.

All these techniques are against the law - I just happened to work in power line construction and saw some of them in use. They really "work" but only with mechanical meters.

You can do a lot to use less electricity. Switch to compact fluorescent lamps, put the water heater on a timer, change shower heads to a low flow type, don't use a dishwasher or clothes dryer, use liquid detergent designed for cold water clothes washing, avoid air conditioning, use the microwave for the things it does well, use a pressure cooker, cook with wood outdoors, avoid running water until it is warm if cold water will do the job - you loose the heat in the pipes each time you do it, if you use air conditioning - avoid adding humidity to the room unnecessarily (dry towels outdoors, vent the bathroom when you shower, etc.) unplug or add switches to things on wall warts or with power supplies that never turn off completely. Insulate the pipes, add insulation to the house if possible.

Check your meter daily - you'll start to see where you can save money.

I'm on well water and during a draught one year, made a big effort to conserve water - and inadvertently cut my power bill in half - hot water costs big bucks.

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"douggie" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

But beware of building it yourself - it's patented! ;-)

Can anybody comment on the effectiveness of the device?

Cheers, Leo

Is this statement actually true?

"The meter is reading each of two 120volt wires that feed into it. The meter will always read the higher of the two wires and therefore if there is an imbalance the meter will read high."

No.

I'd truly like to comment on this device but I'm rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically and I can't get up. Is there nothing so stupid that someone won't buy it? You'd do better taping your Pet Rock to the conduit!

Seriously, even if you lost one phase coming into the house you would still get accurate meter readings.

Oh. Thanks, Mr. Terrell.

In which case, complete instructions for a tron box can be found here:

Take the OP to the Logic Probe.

Cheers Chris

(By the way, this is on my "10 worst movies of all time" list. "Take him to the Logic Probe", indeed!)

Tampering with any utility is generally a felony.

-- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell Central Florida

All your base are belong to us.

This is snake oil. There's something seriously wrong with the patent system.

AND - - - they are taking orders for a product they haven't made?

I dearly want a power monitor, but it won't be from these guys.

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True. Sorry -- the link is a Windows Media Player link to the DVD re-release of the movie, "Tron" with a cardboard Jeff Bridges. Possibly not very accessible with your system?

Just as a vacuum is valued for its complete absence of matter, the movie "Tron" was notable for its complete absence of any technical expertise at all. The "Logic Probe" in the movie was used as an instrument of torture. Kind of reminded me of the Underdog episode (The Bubbleheads) where the Maldemare queen says, "Feed him... to the Clam".

You're right, of course -- the OP is asking how to commit a crime. He deserves all the snark we can feed him, sir. ;-)

Cheers Chris