Diagnostic testing of an electric meter socket
AssigneeSouthern Company Services, Inc.
InventorsDrew Benton McGuire, Chad Alan McMicken
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An embodiment of an electric meter socket testing system features a plurality of tester line terminals adapted to connect with line terminals of an electric meter socket; a plurality of tester load terminals adapted to connect with load terminals of the electric meter socket; and a test module adapted to control input of voltage from the line terminals to the load terminals; and an indication interface configured to output whether the electric meter socket is determined to be safe for connecting an electric meter. Accordingly, the test module may further be adapted to check for a short circuit in an electrical distribution wiring network coupled to the line terminals in at least one diagnostic procedure.
Claims20
An electric meter socket testing system comprising:
- a plurality of tester line terminals adapted to connect with line terminals of an electric meter socket;
- a plurality of tester load terminals adapted to connect with load terminals of the electric meter socket;
- a test module comprising a switching mechanism having a plurality of test switches, wherein the test module is adapted to control input of voltage from the line terminals to the load terminals, wherein the voltage is controllably ramped up from zero voltage to a defined voltage limit for at least one diagnostic test procedure;
- wherein the test module is adapted to check for one or more short circuits in an electrical distribution wiring network coupled to the line terminals in said at least one diagnostic procedure, wherein the switching mechanism of the test module is adapted to configure an arrangement of the plurality of test switches that tests for presence of a short circuit between a neutral line conductor and a line conductor in the electrical distribution wiring network, wherein the switching mechanism of the test module is further adapted to reconfigure the arrangement of the plurality of test switches and test for presence of a short circuit between a pair of line conductors in the electrical distribution wiring network;
- and
- an indication interface configured to output whether the electric meter socket is determined to be safe for connecting an electric meter based at least in part on the at least one diagnostic test procedure.
An electric meter socket testing method comprising:
- controlling input of voltage from line terminals of an electric meter socket to load terminals of the electric meter socket, wherein the voltage is controllably ramped up from zero voltage to a defined voltage limit for at least one diagnostic test procedure;
- checking for at least one short circuit in an electrical distribution wiring network coupled to the line terminals in said at least one diagnostic procedure by:
- configuring an arrangement of a plurality of test switches that tests for presence of a short circuit between a neutral line conductor and a line conductor in the electrical distribution wiring network, and
- reconfiguring the arrangement of the plurality of test switches and testing for presence of a short circuit between a pair of line conductors in the electrical distribution wiring network;
- determining an estimated current that should pass through the electric meter after being connected to the electric meter socket and comparing the estimated current with a measured current that is passing through the electric meter during the at least one diagnostic procedure;
- and
- outputting whether the electric meter socket is determined to be safe for connecting an electric meter based on the comparing operation.
A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor comprising:
- code that controls input of voltage from line terminals of an electric meter socket to load terminals of the electric meter socket, wherein the voltage is controllably ramped up from zero voltage to a defined voltage limit for at least one diagnostic test procedure;
- code that checks for a short circuit in an electrical distribution wiring network coupled to the line terminals in said at least one of diagnostic procedure by:
- enabling an arrangement of a plurality of test switches that tests for presence of a short circuit between a neutral line conductor and a line conductor in the electrical distribution wiring network, and
- enabling a reconfiguration of the arrangement of the plurality of test switches that tests for presence of a short circuit between a pair of line conductors in the electrical distribution wiring network;
- code that determines an estimated current that should pass through the electric meter after being connected to the electric meter socket and comparing the estimated current with a measured current that is passing through the electric meter during the at least one diagnostic procedure;
- and
- code that outputs whether the electric meter socket is determined to be safe for connecting an electric meter based on the comparing step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.