Enery meter : Actaris ACE300 optical readout

[domotica-fan]

I want to measure the dissipated electrical power as accurate as possible.
Of course we can use the 480 Pulses per kWh, but this meter is equipped with an optical modem which can communicate to the outside world.
It complies with IEC 62056-21 and IEC-62053-31 which is about this optical modem.

So i ordered this meter via ESSENT (my house is in the south of the Netherlands and Essent is our local power-network-provider)

Does anybody have experience with such a meter ?
According toi the standard i can adjust the accuracy of the readout.

Any adea how accurate such a readout could be ?

Maurice.

[Bwired]

Hoi Maurice,
Welcome on this forum!
Is this the meter you are talking about?

actaris.com/html/index.php?module=Infos ... mp;idp=196

Benefits
Robust construction
Precision bearings and high torque driving system
Wide load range up to 1000% of the nominal current
Asymmetrical (DIN) and symmetrical connections (UTE)
<u>Pulse output </u> (optional) to enable functional upgrades


Key Features
Voltage Ranges: 2x58/100V to 3x290/500V
Frequency: 50 or 60Hz
Current range: In 5A to Imax 160A for direct connection
Accuracy: Class 2 (ACE300 C114) or Class 1 (ACE300 C116), Class 3 for reactive meters
Temperature range: -40°C to +70°C
Single or double tariff
S0 pulse output according to IEC 62053-31 Type A




Regards Pieter

[domotica-fan]

Almost right.
I ordered the ACE3000 which looks different but has about the same specifications

http://www.actaris.com/html/index.php?m ... t&idp=1417



Interesting is this line:

The optional S0 pulse output, programmable for energy pulses or as serial pulse output, provides advanced capabilities for AMR.

This refers to the optical modem.

I am very curious how accurate that is. (I mean how many digits behind the comma we can get out of this meter)
Standard is one digit (100kWh) but according to the standard this accuracy can be adjusted.

So far i have no detailed info on the technical limitations of the optical communication protocol of this meter.

Maurice.

[Bwired]

Hi Maurice,
Did you get your meter? Would love to here your experiences with it!
Regards Pieter

[domotica-fan]

This could be the case, although the width of the bits seem to have 3 times a 1 instead of the manchaster maximum of 2 times a 1.
The real problem is of course the way of rotating the bits, or key if you like.
I think it is a rotating code based on a key like we know from car locks.
What do you think ?

[MindBender]

Would Dutch electricity companies accept this meter for a replacement of the standard meter?

[domotica-fan]

Yes,

They accept this:
The dutch energy company Essent oficially installed this meter for me.
Of course you have to pay for this. (Installation + meter)

There is a "standard" meter but if you want another one, you can ask for it. There is a limited range of meters and i assume this differs per energy company.

Maurice.

[Bwired]

Hi Fan,
Can you tell us what the total cost where, meter and installing by Essent?
regards Pieter

[Jfn]

Just today the electricitycompany (Essent) placed the Actaris ACE3000 meter in the cupboard downstairs (I went from a 1-phase to a 3-phase installation) and were kind enough to connect a cable to the S0 output of the meter (The S0 terminal is located behind a sealed compartment so you cannot access it without breaking the seal).

Will you be using the optical output (The IR led located in the large round 'eye') or do you also have access to the the hidden pulse output (S0).

The manual mentions that the S0 output can be programmed for energy pulses or for serial data output. Did you find out how this is done? I hooked up a multi-meter to the S0 output and it seems it was counting pulses, making energy pulses the default behaviour. Default (according to the manual) is 1000 impulses per KWh.

I am waiting for stuff I ordered from Hobby Boards. As soon as these arrive I will start hooking things up and start counting my electricity consumption.

Any additional info is appreciated

[nmarci]

Was there any progress reading the Actris ACE3000? I'm especially interested in the optical readout.

Note that I found the other thread about Actaris ACE3000 + S0 output + counter. I'm afraid that unfortunately the S0 output is not accessible in my case.

[nmarci]

I found some instructions about how to install Actaris ACE3000. The language of the instructions is Hungarian, here is the translation:

Chapter 2.1.3: Optical interface
The device has an interface according to EN62056-21 mode C. Using this interface the following data can be read out. For example using Laptop+optical device+Windows hyperterminal

Code: Select all

OBIS code   Value                                   Example
F.F         Error code                              F.F. (00)
C.1         Measurement unit ID (serial number)     C.1(12345678     )
1.8.1       Energy sum in tarif 1                   1.8.1(00015,10*kWh)
1.8.0       Sum of consumed energy                  1.8.0(00012,10*kWh)
2.8.0       Sum of exported energy                  2.8.0(00003,00*kWh)
C.5.0       Status                                  C.5.0(02)

The protocol to be used: 7 data bits, even parity, 1 stop bit, speed: 300 baud.

[marck]

Did anyone make some progress on this project. I'm in a similar situation the meter is already installed and sealed, therefore S0 port is not accessible for me.

What maybe is possible is to read the above data with some optical interface and store it in a database. This database can then be queried for e.g 1.8.1 or 1.8.0.

Really curious what kind of optical interface can be used for this setup.

[marck]

Apparently you need an optical probe. The industry has a number of solutions for this. Searching the web using the protocol number, I found e.g the following site: http://www.optical-probe.de/Optical%20p ... oduct.html
So for price of 80 to 90 euro you can buy this probe that connects via rs232 or USB.

[wwolkers]

The Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_62056) has a link to an open source implementation of some sorts: http://www.gurux.org/index.php?q=GXDLMSCOSEM
Maybe that helps?

[marck]

Thanks wwolkers, didn't notice this one before. This tool is especially helpful for me sinds it's compatible with Landis+Gyr.