Electric Meter Upgrade

[TractorJeff]

Wife called me yesterday saying a guy from WeEnergies showed up saying they are upgrading our meter and box. He can't do it that day as he had the wrong style of box?
My concern is the Breaker Panel is not Bonded by a Ground Wire but only by the Conduit to the current Meter Box and Earth Ground Wire. There is no Disconnect outside on the Meter Box. Main Disconnect is the 200 amp Service Breaker in my Panel. This means there is only 2 Hots and a Neutral going indoors to my Breaker Panel. The Neutral terminates at the Neutral/Ground Bar. This is the way it was installed prior to 1980.

Will they require a separate Bonding Ground Wire to the Breaker Panel?

If so will they install it because they are doing the Meter and Box upgrade?

I will be at work so there will be a "no power" time delay if they expect me to show up and get an Electrician to shove a Bonding Ground Wire through the wall and terminate?

 

[ard]

Obviously, you should call WeWeEnergy and ask them ...

 

[Terry D]

You are fine, main panel just needs two hots and a neutral. You should have a bonding jumper in the main panel bonding the neutrals to the grounds.

Sent from my SM-G960U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Terry D]

You are fine, main panel just needs two hots and a neutral. You should have a bonding jumper in the main panel bonding the neutrals to the grounds.

Sent from my SM-G960U using The Garage Journal mobile app

You should also have a grounding electrode conductor going to your water pipe coming out of the main panel

Sent from my SM-G960U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Wife called me yesterday saying a guy from WeEnergies showed up saying they are upgrading our meter and box. He can't do it that day as he had the wrong style of box?
My concern is the Breaker Panel is not Bonded by a Ground Wire but only by the Conduit to the current Meter Box and Earth Ground Wire. There is no Disconnect outside on the Meter Box. Main Disconnect is the 200 amp Service Breaker in my Panel. This means there is only 2 Hots and a Neutral going indoors to my Breaker Panel. The Neutral terminates at the Neutral/Ground Bar. This is the way it was installed prior to 1980.

Will they require a separate Bonding Ground Wire to the Breaker Panel?

If so will they install it because they are doing the Meter and Box upgrade?

I will be at work so there will be a "no power" time delay if they expect me to show up and get an Electrician to shove a Bonding Ground Wire through the wall and terminate?

Need more info-

Will there be just a meter or meter & disconnect or breaker?

If just a meter, then your current setup is fine.

 

[TractorJeff]

Quote "Obviously, you should call WeEnergy and ask them"

Calling the Power Company does not get you exactly to the Department you want but you need to wait 35 to 40 minutes on hold or they will call you back at their convenience.
I am at work, can't be sitting waiting for a Phone nor can I accept the call when they decide to call back.

Quote: "You are fine, main panel just needs two hots and a neutral. You should have a bonding jumper in the main panel bonding the neutrals to the grounds".

True but I would expect to see an Earth Ground wire also

Quote "You should also have a grounding electrode conductor going to your water pipe coming out of the main panel"

That is the WHOLE POINT! There is NO grounding electrode conductor coming out of the Main Panel! Only the Steel Conduit going through the wall to the Meter Box!

Quote by Wyliesdiesels "If just a meter, then your current setup is fine"

My understanding is just the Meter and Box?

 

[Showkey]

Mine was done this summer by WPS. I watched them do the “upgrade” .

It was the meter only. Unplug and plug and play total time was 5 minutes. This was all on the outside of the home. Jumper were used so there no break in power to the home.

Mine was also the gas meter which now communicates to the electric meter so only one signal is sent for measuring power and gas each month. Prior they were supporting two systems to collect the same usage data. Gas meter update was just the usage dials and communication module.

My area the truck was full of meters, no boxes or meter housing. It certainly could be different in other areas. Talked to the guy he did 50-150 meters per day depending on travel distance.
His biggest concern hornets nest in the box.

WPS is Wisconsin Public Service.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Quote "Obviously, you should call WeEnergy and ask them"

Calling the Power Company does not get you exactly to the Department you want but you need to wait 35 to 40 minutes on hold or they will call you back at their convenience.
I am at work, can't be sitting waiting for a Phone nor can I accept the call when they decide to call back.

Quote: "You are fine, main panel just needs two hots and a neutral. You should have a bonding jumper in the main panel bonding the neutrals to the grounds".

True but I would expect to see an Earth Ground wire also

Quote "You should also have a grounding electrode conductor going to your water pipe coming out of the main panel"

That is the WHOLE POINT! There is NO grounding electrode conductor coming out of the Main Panel! Only the Steel Conduit going through the wall to the Meter Box!

Quote by Wyliesdiesels "If just a meter, then your current setup is fine"

My understanding is just the Meter and Box?

Most PoCos do NOT allow GECs (the wire from the grounding rods) to be ran through or terminated in the meter pan.

YMMV

 

[SGKent]

It is reasonable to expect that the person doing the work will be certified for it, or they will hire a contractor who is. They are liable for any damage.

Here they just replaced the meter. They cut the seal, removed the band, removed the meter, plugged in the new meter. Put on a new band, and seal. Done. Only caveat here is every 10th one or so is a master meter meaning all the other meters nearby talk with it, and it relays the information. If you have a wifi router near it, sometimes it causes issues. Changing the wi-fi channel usually solves it.

 

[ard]

I try and be helpful and wrap a faraday cage around my meter.....


(Anyone with time to waste, there is an incredible subculture of folks who believe 60Hz AC is killing them and their families....)

 

[wyliesdiesels]

It is reasonable to expect that the person doing the work will be certified for it, or they will hire a contractor who is. They are liable for any damage.

Here they just replaced the meter. They cut the seal, removed the band, removed the meter, plugged in the new meter. Put on a new band, and seal. Done. Only caveat here is every 10th one or so is a master meter meaning all the other meters nearby talk with it, and it relays the information. If you have a wifi router near it, sometimes it causes issues. Changing the wi-fi channel usually solves it.

Thats only a coincidence.

Smart meters do not run on 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz wifi channels

 

[wyliesdiesels]

I try and be helpful and wrap a faraday cage around my meter.....


(Anyone with time to waste, there is an incredible subculture of folks who believe 60Hz AC is killing them and their families....)

Yup as well as a group of people that think the same about smart meters, wifi, and cellular phones (but never a mention about first responder emergency radio systems that also use microwave radios and frequencies)

The ignorance is astounding.

I used to be in a Favebook group dealing with that exact subject. I got banned after i educated a few people on the difference between ionizing (nuclear materials) and non-ionizing radiation (microwaves) and how microwaves do not mutate cells.

Nobody would listen...

Again the ignorance and dumbing down of society is astounding...

 

[dcg9381]

We had a group here trying to petition for the shut down of a radio tower (cellular) near a school.

An RF engineer offered to show the group that the RF radiation from those towers was far less than a cell phone in a pocket, but no one took him up on the offer. No one wanted a study of the issue or facts, they just wanted that tower gone.

Lots of people want to take action based on gut feelings and ignore the science. Lots of people only want to deal with like-minded people and aren't open to alternate opinions... Easy to take advantage of that stuff in politics or other arenas.

 

[Terry D]

We just do services here different. The ground rod conductor, which is considered a supplemental ground and never required to be larger than a #6 copper lands on the lug in the meter socket. The GEC is sized by the size of the service conductors, runs from the main panel to within 5 ft where the water pipe enters the building. Inspectors like to see it attached right where the pipe comes in. If it is a meter/main, then the GEC would go outside and land in the meter/main with the ground rod conductor

 

[TractorJeff]

Most PoCos do NOT allow GECs (the wire from the grounding rods) to be ran through or terminated in the meter pan.

YMMV

Well?
The ground conduit (assume this is what this is) goes up tot he meter pan but no ground wire goes into my panel?