How accurate are the EB8 AMP meters

[Jyetman]

I have a suspicion the displayed amp pull isn't correct. My EB8 is plugged into a GFCI adapter that's plugged into a Belkin higher end surge suppressor that's plugged into a 3 plug adapter to the wall outlet. That 3 plug adapter had a melt down and melted the plastic leading me to believe it got over drawn. What's confusing is the EB8 is rated at 15 amps correct if over drawn shouldn't its circuit breaker have tripped? The 3 plug adapter has a sticker on back that says UL listed and 15 amp 120 volt rated. (Yes I bought it from the $1.00 store was that a bad idea? It looked decent enough.) So after pitching the 3 plug adapter I plugged the surge suppressor directly into a APC battery backup on the surge suppressor side not the battery backup side. Thinking the APC's plugs are better constructed is this correct? I felt all the plugs while my chiller was running (pulls between 10 to 12 AMPS on eb8 amp meter) and non of the plugs are hot just luke warm. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[kurt_n]

#1: UL listing from a $1 store. Yup. Who knows if it was even legit, or what the UL listing referred to. The place I work for just ran into an industrial supplier of electrical control boxes from China that was faking their UL listing. Surprise, surprise.

#2: Pretty easy to figure out the steady state amperage of the items hooked up to your EB8 if you know the Wattage of the devices. Total up the Watts and divide by 120 and you more or less get amps.

#3: You can always reset the zero for the amps. The Comprehensive Reference Guide gives you directions. It requires that you telnet into your controller.

#4: My guess is that you got saltwater in the 3 plug adapter, causing it to short/arc and meltdown. Either that, or the chiller startup current - which is probably more than the 10-12 amps of steady state operation - overloaded the cheapo plug adapter.

[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by kurt_n

#1: UL listing from a $1 store. Yup. Who knows if it was even legit, or what the UL listing referred to. The place I work for just ran into an industrial supplier of electrical control boxes from China that was faking their UL listing. Surprise, surprise.

#2: Pretty easy to figure out the steady state amperage of the items hooked up to your EB8 if you know the Wattage of the devices. Total up the Watts and divide by 120 and you more or less get amps.

#3: You can always reset the zero for the amps. The Comprehensive Reference Guide gives you directions. It requires that you telnet into your controller.

#4: My guess is that you got saltwater in the 3 plug adapter, causing it to short/arc and meltdown. Either that, or the chiller startup current - which is probably more than the 10-12 amps of steady state operation - overloaded the cheapo plug adapter.

Good info thanks.

Is it ok to plug the Belkin surge suppressor into only the surge suppressor side of a APC 650 VA backup?

[kurt_n]

Can't think of why that'd be a bad idea.

[bobt2]

I think my watt/ amp readings are fairly close on my display

[five.five-six]

It may all depend on the power factor, the ratio of real to appearent power.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor

[slief]

Depending on the size of your chiller, 10-12 amps is not unrealistic for running current. My 1/2HP chiller pulled 11 amps while running and I am sure the startup current was upwards of 15 amps. If your chiller is pulling 11 amps, that is too much for any one outlet on the EB8 and you are at risk of damaging the Energy Bar. The max current for an EB8 is 10 amps and that is only on outlets 4 & 8. The EB4 has an outlet that will support 12A. My suggestion would be to get a Kill-A-Watt meter and verify the current draw of the chiller to be on the safe side. If it reads much different than the EB8's amp draw, then re calibrate the EB8's current settings..

The best way to control a high current chiller or other high current devices safely with the Apex is by using something like a Furman CN-20MP. The device plugs directly into a wall outlet and is controlled by a 12v input. You would use an 12v AC adapter on the Apex to switch the Furmans 20amp outlets on and off. They aren't cheap but it's about the best solution for this. Once upon a time, Neptune Systems offered a 15a socket expansion box but that has long since been discontinued as it was designed for the original Aqua Controllers.

Here is the CN-20MP. You can find them on eBay for under $200.
http://www.furmancontractor.com/cn-20mp.php

[Jyetman]

Originally Posted by slief

Depending on the size of your chiller, 10-12 amps is not unrealistic for running current. My 1/2HP chiller pulled 11 amps while running and I am sure the startup current was upwards of 15 amps. If your chiller is pulling 11 amps, that is too much for any one outlet on the EB8 and you are at risk of damaging the Energy Bar. The max current for an EB8 is 10 amps and that is only on outlets 4 & 8. The EB4 has an outlet that will support 12A. My suggestion would be to get a Kill-A-Watt meter and verify the current draw of the chiller to be on the safe side. If it reads much different than the EB8's amp draw, then re calibrate the EB8's current settings..

The best way to control a high current chiller or other high current devices safely with the Apex is by using something like a Furman CN-20MP. The device plugs directly into a wall outlet and is controlled by a 12v input. You would use an 12v AC adapter on the Apex to switch the Furmans 20amp outlets on and off. They aren't cheap but it's about the best solution for this. Once upon a time, Neptune Systems offered a 15a socket expansion box but that has long since been discontinued as it was designed for the original Aqua Controllers.

Here is the CN-20MP. You can find them on eBay for under $200.
http://www.furmancontractor.com/cn-20mp.php

The chiller is a Arctica 1/3 HP witch pulls 7 amps. Its been plugged to relay socket on the EB8 for about 3 years now until recently noticed that 3 plug adapter started to smell like burning plastic took couple days to find it. Plugged to the same Eb8 is a 8 Watt BM Nac3.5 skimmer which turns off while chiller is running, 50 Watts for scrubber pumps, 150 Watt Little Giant 4 mdq-sc, 15 watt uv and several cooling fans that are programmed to OSC every 10 seconds to keep the scrubber leds cool. The AMP1 shows 3.8 - 4.1 Amps with chiller off and with chiller running it mainly stays on 10.4 but every minute or so hits 11 or 12 Amps. Would you still suggest a EB4 to run this chiller?

[slief]

Originally Posted by Jyetman

The chiller is a Arctica 1/3 HP witch pulls 7 amps. Its been plugged to relay socket on the EB8 for about 3 years now until recently noticed that 3 plug adapter started to smell like burning plastic took couple days to find it. Plugged to the same Eb8 is a 8 Watt BM Nac3.5 skimmer which turns off while chiller is running, 50 Watts for scrubber pumps, 150 Watt Little Giant 4 mdq-sc, 15 watt uv and several cooling fans that are programmed to OSC every 10 seconds to keep the scrubber leds cool. The AMP1 shows 3.8 - 4.1 Amps with chiller off and with chiller running it mainly stays on 10.4 but every minute or so hits 11 or 12 Amps. Would you still suggest a EB4 to run this chiller?

The EB4 would be a better choice and my first choice for the chiller but given the current draw of the 1/3HP chiller, you should continue to be OK with the EB8.