Installation of the electric meter do it yourself

Many it seems that the installation of the electric meter in the house is a difficult task with which only a qualified specialist can cope with. On the one hand, it is, because it has to deal with electricity, which is unsafe for health and life. On the other hand, with elementary ideas about the electrician and compliance with the safety technician, the counter can also be the counter. In this article, you will learn all the details and nuances of the connection and after reading will be able to install the electric meter with your own hands.

Choose an electric meter

First of all, you need to choose a suitable counter, and for this you need to understand what is the device and how it works. The main and only task of the electric meter is to measure the amount of energy consumed. Depending on the task, they are estimated (such stand in apartments and private houses, payment goes for kilowatts spent) and control (such devices simply record energy consumption for analyzing any devices or payments with subabonents).

By execution, electric meters are:

• electronic and mechanical;
• single and two-time tariffs;
• direct and secondary type of launch (in the latter case, an additional counter is connected in power panels, for example, for a multi-storey building or substation, in the field of leakage of large currents).

According to the principle of operation, counters are electronic and induction. The first function at the expense of semiconductor devices or chip. They do not contain any mechanical parts, so the transformed signals go immediately from the voltage and current sensors. The advantages of electronic models include compactness, low weight, high accuracy of indications and protection against deception. Induction counters are better than electronic only in one - they cost much cheaper. These are electromechanical devices that function from rotation of the discs and the accounting of consumable energy is carried out in terms of their revolutions. In most cases, such electric meters are the property of an organization that provides electricity, and therefore the act of installation of the electric meter and its seal is carried out by their specialists for free.

By the number of phases, counters can be single and three-phase depending on the characteristics of the network. Usually single-phase put for a single-phase network, and three-phase, respectively, for three-phase, but not so long ago, three-phase electronic counters appeared on sale, which can be mounted in single-phase networks. In a three-phase network, you can put 3 single-phase devices and maintain a consumption of energy separately for each phase.

If you are going to work yourself, it should be understood that the installation of a new electric meter should occur in compliance with all the rules of installation and safety. At the same time, all responsibility for the consequences will only lie on you, while contacting a private specialist or to the office, you can get a guarantee for the work done.

The main differences in electric meters

There are still a number of differences for which you need to navigate when choosing an instrument. By accuracy class, meters can vary from 0.2 to 2.5. This parameter allows you to determine the degree of measurement error. In the late 90s of the last century, all electric meters were made with an accuracy class equal to 2.5, that is, the maximum error was 2.5%, but since 1996, the law that the class of accuracy for residential zones should be made into force 2%.

Connect the devices too can be different. So, there are direct inclusion counters and those that are connected through current transformers. The first is used for currents not higher than 100a, and for loads more will have to buy transformer counters with secondary current 5a.

The tension plays an important role when choosing a electric meter, and, depending on this, you should buy devices for 220/380 V or 100 V. If the power of 6-10 kV 6-10 kV is in the house, or you have high-voltage transformers, you will need to purchase Even the measuring transformers with the secondary voltage are not more than 100 V. For this reason, the class of the electric meter must be in 100 V.

Another classification involves the separation by the number of tariffs: one-, two- and multitariff. The installation of two-timing counters is convenient because you can pay for electricity in two tariffs: day and night. At night, electricity is twice as cheaper, which allows you to save some amount.

Instructions for connecting the electric meter

In this part of the article we will look at the technology of installing a single-phase electric meter, since such devices are the simplest and give an idea of \u200b\u200bthe installation of any other devices. Three-phase models put on the same principle. Electro-panel with single-phase electric meters and autotlists today can be bought in a set or collect from individual parts yourself. If you do not have experience with the electrician, it is better to buy a set and be confident in its good job. In the second case, there is a risk of mistaken, and even pick up all components so that they carefully fit on the shield, it is quite difficult.

If you still decided to assemble a shield yourself, you will need the following:

• electric meter;
• a bin made of wood or durable plastic, which will fit the counter and autotlists;
• auto shutters in the number of electroles;
• mounting plan for autotlists (Dean Rake);
• contact plate (best to take from copper);
• three-core cable 5 mm - 1 m;
• self-tapping screws or plastic dowels.

Choosing a place for electric meter

There are certain requirements for installing electric meters, which are detailed in the PUE collection in chapter 1.5.

Consider brief the main provisions:

1. Counter must be installed in a dry room.
2. Around the shield should be enough space for the implementation of installation and repair work, as well as removal of readings.
3. If there is no possibility to put the shield in a heated room, you can install in the unheated corridor, the compartment, the pre-tribbon or even outside the building, attaching the box to the facade or the concrete power line of the power line.
4. If you install a shield outside, you need to purchase a device designed for operation at strong temperature drops up to ± 40 ° C. The wardrobe itself, in which there will be a counter, should be insulated and protected from moisture from entering into the moisture. It is permissible to use the caps with heating to + 20 ° C from the electrollamp or the heating element. The insulation should not be flammable.
5. The shield can be attached only to a stable rigid construction.
6. The cabinet can be made of wood, metal or plastics.
7. If you are fixing the electric meter on the shield, then between it and the surface of the shield it is necessary to leave a 1.5 cm ventilation gap (use faience rollers as a backup).
8. Install the shield is not too high so that in the future it was convenient to remove the testimony from the meter. The optimal option is 150-170 cm from the floor level (depending on the average growth of residents). The minimum installation height is 80 cm (so that children and animals cannot get to the panel).
9. To reduce the risk of mechanical damage, do not install the counters near door and window openings closer than 50 cm.

The rules for installing electric meters in private homes are the same. If necessary, you can hang the lock on the box, and for convenient removal of the testimony to make a transparent window in the lid.

Installation of electric meter

Installation consists of several simple operations. When you learned the rules for installing the electric meter and chose the optimal place, you can start working.

Installation Instructions:

1. Uniformly distribute the meter, automatic switches and contact plates on the shield if you collect a set separately. At the same time, it is important to leave a little free space for mounting holes to fix the shield itself on the wall or LEP post.
2. Fix the meter, plate, mounting bar for "automata".
3. Put the auto shutters on the bar.
4. Start breeding wires. The phase from the counter must be carried out immediately on the autotrower switch for the electric stove or other stationary instrument. To do this, get one red (brown) from the cable, carefully cautiously cautiously by the stationery knife. As a rule, the phase from the counter is on 3 contacts on the left, but you can only find out if you can only find out the instructions for the specified device model.
5. Squeeze the suitable cable length. It is possible to conduct it only horizontally or vertical, but not on the wrong.
6. Clean the wire in the meter for 2 cm, insert into the appropriate terminal and clamp the bolts.
7. For switches, it is necessary to clean the wire for 1 cm and insert without clamps.
8. Make from the wires of the jumper in the form of the letter "P", clean them from the ends to 1 cm and connect the auto shutters. Only after that you can fix the contacts and connect them on all "automata".
9. Make sure that all the wires in the circuit breakers are smoothly and did not overturn each other during the clipping. Otherwise, during operation, such compounds will weaken, will become heated and can burn, provoking a short circuit.
10. Display zero by taking a white wire and measuring it from the counter to the contact plate. Watch that the wire also has only vertically or horizontally, but not maplash.
11. The rules for installing the electric meter says that the zero terminal is 4 on the left or the first right (see details in the instructions for the specifically to your meter).
12. Clean the wire and connect it to the meter or plate.
13. The most difficult, though, agree, it was quite simple, part of the work was completed. It remains to fix the shield on the wall. Attach it to the selected place and mark the markup places of fastening with a simple pencil. You can also scratch the labels with a nail or a screwdriver.
14. Make the hole drill in the marked points by selecting the drill with a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the dowels.
15. Insert a dowel, attach a box and screw it with galvanized screws with wide hats.
16. If you have chosen a steel panel, you must display the grounding conductor first to the shield, and only then on the contact plate. For a plastic or wooden panel, grounding should go immediately on the plate.

The electric meter installation scheme is pretty simple, but before being taken for work, check in the local energy sales, is it possible to engage in independently or still it is necessary to call for this specialist. If the energy sales does not give good, you will only lend to the electrolyna to the meter, and authorized controllers will be involved in connecting and sealing. Whatever the situation, the connection will certainly be discussed with energy sales staff, otherwise the risk of getting a serious penalty.

While working with electricity, do not forget about personal safety techniques. Turn off the voltage and work only in rubber gloves. Just in case, it is recommended to work together to help the assistant if anything could have the first help when hitting the current and call "ambulance". Before installing the meter, check the network for a complete absence of voltage several times! In the case of apartment buildings, where it is impossible to completely disable the network and it is necessary to connect the counter to the active electrolynee, it is necessary to attract employees of the laying.

Finally, we suggest familiarize yourself with the useful video, in which it is shown in detail how to connect a single-phase electric meter into a single-phase network: