Sofar me3000sp

[Marcus]

How are you measuring the 300-500w draw from the grid?

I have a wireless digital meter in the house which has a sender unit clamped to the mains tail at the meter
Also I have an analogue ammeter clamped around the same cable
I thought the digital meter was not accurate at first but when checking the ammeter it is pretty accurate
Only misleading bit is I have a digital economy 7 meter and it flashes red when you import electric apparently
And it's not flashing red when showing import on the ammeter
Pe

if you're measuring current and multiplying by 230 to get Watts then you could be seeing reactive current rather than power.the wireless clamp meter might also be assuming a unity powerfactor.

I recall testing an immersun during repair and it would draw 0.47A at idle due to the large filter caps on the input, but the power consumed was just a few watts.

if you have two inverters and any other electronic loads with filtering connected to A.C. you may well be seeing this near-zero power factor current.

the red flashing light on the meter is typically 1000 flashes/kWh so at 360w it should flash every 10 seconds, at 500w more like 7 secs: if the current is just capacitive load then it will flash a lot slower.

[GRUMPY]

Hi
That's interesting that the units power from the batteries
I am on time of use mode at the moment force charging at night on eco 7 but have this 300-500w draw during peak time
I do not know what power the units draw but if the batteries are powering them it does not matter as long as the battery power is available
am I right in saying this
Many thanks

[Tinbum]

Is the draw all the time?

If the batteries get too low the inverters will charge from the grid to protect the batteries.

[nowty]

You say the red light on the leccy meter is not flashing, that suggests your not importing any real power, certainly not the 300W or 500W that is showing on your ammeter / digital tail clamp meter, sound like its working fine.

FYI, I have a digital meter on my tails and it shows about 2.2A, so about 500W all the time when there is no real power flowing. I think Marcus is correct as in your just measuring very low power factor power, the good news is your not being charged for that.

[Tinbum]

FYI, I have a digital meter on my tails and it shows about 2.2A, so about 500W all the time when there is no real power flowing. I think Marcus is correct as in your just measuring very low power factor power, the good news is your not being charged for that.

I tried CT clamps on an ESP32 connected to the output of my SMA Sunny island and one phase showed current flowing in it of about 1000w when I knew it wasn't really. Using a UMG604 Janitza on it also showed the same but when using the Active power reading it zero!!

[GRUMPY]

Hi
I have been monitoring the led after nowty said he shows import of 500w but its not there
I have used 1 unit of peak rate in two days and I am still showing 300 - 500 watts constantly
My led is glowing constant red so I cant be using any import in theory
Is this right

[ALAN/ALAN D]

If its remaining constant.
LED On
Or
LED Off
The meter is not logging power being used.

[nowty]

But if the LED is constant on, then GRUMPY might be exporting and losing some of their power.

[Kommando]

I got myself tied in knots trying to work out how much I was exporting with a immersion heater diverter in place. This simple CT clamp meter gave me the best readings until I got a UMG104.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000582 ... 1802xiXyGH

Its cheap and accurate.

It showed me I was exporting 20W at most when the diverter was going mad but it did vary from 20W export to 10W import as the DNO meter works on a bucket of energy which the diverter exploits when sampling so there is an underlying to and fro.

The UMG104 feeds a data logger and when the immersion stops from the water reaching temperature a higher threshold of 50W export is reached and other loads are triggered. This happens once or twice a year.

[Tinbum]

It showed me I was exporting 20W at most when the diverter was going mad but it did vary from 20W export to 10W import as the DNO meter works on a bucket of energy which the diverter exploits when sampling so there is an underlying to and fro.

My meter has no 'bucket'.

I tried everything and even got into quite an argument with the developer on the open energy forum who said every meter has a bucket. Mine most certainly doesn't.

Edit
(Actually, i should have put past tense as I've not tried my new smart meter).