Voltage/Current Counter?

[BertoBuckeye]

Hi All,
This is not directly related to my garage, but with some of the electrical gurus on here I figured I'd ask.

I am trying to find out how many times my Septic system pump is cycling on (from the top float position back down to the bottom). The pump is on its own breaker.

I was hoping to find a counter of some sort, I've seen a few amp clamp looking connections / current transformer that go around the wire and measure voltage and current. Which is great. But I just want to count how many times the wire sees current, but I don't want an hour meter.

I'd like to install the device for a week and see how many times that pump has come on over 7 days

Hopefully there is something out there I'm just not searching by the right name.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DenisG]

Sounds like you want some sort of data logger. You can get hand-held ones or ones that run from a computer (if you want to keep one running to collect data).
Here are some examples:
https://www.microdaq.com/data-loggers/voltage-current.php

 

[rockwithjason]

Do a search on digital cycle counters and you will come up with a billion options

 

[Pwrgeek]

You could also easily build this in zwave / insteon / your automation solution of choice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[matt_i]

The counter is the easy part. The current-sensing switch is more tricky. In an industrial world you'd have a contactor outside the pit turning the pump motor (also above) on and off. In a residential world, everything is down-hole and not accessible.

 

[Rookie2]

This is the less complicated route:ebay # 331215813278 ,attach it to a float asm. or

ebay: 131676602811, ebay: 181465698312

 

[woodzy]

If you have the type of pump where the pump is plugged into the female connector of the float, you can use a digital counter that is rated at 110 Volts (Most are good for any voltage). You then will just have a 3-way and when the float calls for power on the motor to start, you digital timer will count one and when it cycles again it will count again.

If you don't, you can just add another float switch (I added one for my security system) to alert me the motor may have quit and I didn't want to have a mess but that would require opening up the cover and it is not very much fun.

Ebay - digital counters.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-TIME-RELAYS-COUNTERS-TIMERS-TIRED-TACHOMETER-FREQUENCY-110V-220V-AC-50-/300993687738?hash=item46149f30ba:g:ZzYAAMXQ0pNRuh4B

 

[Teken]

My reply doesn't offer a direct solution as much as it provides insight to what I've done and the methods to render that information. For me I wanted to first track the frequency of the sump, next was the duration.

Followed with how much power it required to operate and the amount of energy it consumed during use.

All of this was great but what could you do with the information if you didn't know about it?

So, the same information is calculated at the end of the day and emailed to me. The system also emails me each time the unit operates and how much power it draws along with duration.

This ensures I know there is nothing amiss during the rainy season . . .

If there is anything wrong the system will verify for me the back up systems are in place and fully operational. This normally encompasses the system doing a load test on the back up battery, cycling the pump, and measuring the current water level in the sump pit.

The image below shows the sump operated three times on April 18, 2016. The highest wattage during operations seen was 441.52 watts.

The image below indicates the same period - which I changed to show the current (amps) draw to ensure start up loads were fine. In this case the highest current draw was 7.38 amps. The system can indicate PF, VA, and KWH, should it be required.

 

[Beemer533]

My reply doesn't offer a direct solution as much as it provides insight to what I've done and the methods to render that information.....

So is that a website or a program on your pc?

And what are you using for sensors/equipment?

Last question, do you really have 19 sump pumps?

 

[Teken]

So is that a website or a program on your pc?

And what are you using for sensors/equipment?

Last question, do you really have 19 sump pumps?

1. Its not a program its a hardware device that tracks and renders the information in nice pretty graphs / charts.

2. The system monitors the voltage / current on the dedicated electrical line. The entire homes electrical system is monitored at each breaker.

3. The number 19 denotes which channel its on there are 32 electrical channels which this happens to be on 19. The system has eight 1 wire sensors to measure temperature, and four pulse sensors to measure dry contacts, water / gas pulses.

 

[Beemer533]

That sounds very useful, thanks.

Makes sense as far as the sensor channel goes!

Anything chance you could share what the system is that you are using?

 

[Teken]

That sounds very useful, thanks.

Makes sense as far as the sensor channel goes!

Anything chance you could share what the system is that you are using?

If this is something you find interesting and want to know more about how, where, and when you use your energy you can look here: http://www.brultech.com/

As you can see below one of many tabs indicates *At a glance* all of the various metrics for every load / circuit in my home.

This is another tab which has a calendar view to break down each days KWh / $. Selecting any day will pop up another window and indicate what each load consumed in terms of energy.

Another tab I configured to display the yearly KWH consumed for each circuit / load.

This graphs shows how well my insulation project did to keep the cold out when it was -30'C. If you look very closely notice the difference between the outside and the inside of my garage which is unheated.

Another chart which compares the run time of my fridge to the previous day. Which tracked when it went into defrost mode and for how long.

This chart tracks the in coming line voltage from the POCO. As you can see I set it to compare to the previous days voltage stats. So I know if there is a surge, sag, lull, etc in my home.

This chart is a direct comparison of the outside temperature vs the furnace run time.

Essentially I know every facet of my home from temperature, humidity, light, pressure, energy, voltage, current, wattage, PF / VA, etc. I know when something is left on - when its running too long / too short, the start up current is too high and need to load shed so the back up system can operate fine with out running out of energy / fuel etc.

 

[98ssuck]

Why not use this as a excuse to buy one of those fancy data logging metres. Put it on amps. Download the information after you think there is enough data to determine a trend.

 

[Beemer533]

If this is something you find interesting and want to know more about how, where, and when you use your energy you can look here: http://www.brultech.com/

......

Essentially I know every facet of my home from temperature, humidity, light, pressure, energy, voltage, current, wattage, PF / VA, etc. I know when something is left on - when its running too long / too short, the start up current is too high and need to load shed so the back up system can operate fine with out running out of energy / fuel etc.

Thanks! That's pretty much what I would like to do...

My wife loves to leave lights on all over the house and it drives me nuts....

 

[bjcouche]

How about a current sensor, that's a switch not a sensor. Basically, any appreciable current drawn through a wire turns on a set of contacts. Then you can add the CT right at the breaker and then all you have to do is count the times the set of contacts turn on.

For the CT switch try:
http://www.automationdirect.com/adc...nge_AC_Current_Operated_Switches/ACSN100-AE-F

And for a counter you could use an electro mechanical unit or:

http://www.automationdirect.com/adc...l_Counter_-z-_Timer_-z-_Tachometer/CTT-AN-D24

There are many ways to do what you are looking for, but this combination might be the cheapest and quickest...

Brian

 

[mburrus]

bjcouche is thinking along the same lines as me... ssac makes some products that will work for current sensing, they should be available used online...

if it was me, i would use the automation direct route... maybe find a cheaper counter... not sure how one would work with constant current draw keeping the current sensor contact closed... seems like you would want a one shot pulse on the rising edge of the sump pump current... the digital counter could likely be able to handle this... an electromechanical one may have issues with this...

 

[tfalk]

Teken, are those graphs something you set up using the dashbox? I have the EXM and I'm running the standalong dashboard, I'm toying with getting the dashbox as well.

 

[Teken]

Teken, are those graphs something you set up using the dashbox? I have the EXM and I'm running the standalong dashboard, I'm toying with getting the dashbox as well.

Yes, the charts and graphs you see are indeed from the Brultech Dash Box (DB) and assume you meant to say you own a Green Eye Monitor (GEM) and not a EXM?

 

[tfalk]

Correct, I have the GEM, looks like my fingers got twisted in a few spots on that post