[labnetwork] Power monitoring

[John Boyle]

You should be able to request (require) your power supply company to monitor
the power at the outside of your facility and if need be inside your
facility. I ran into this years ago..during summer, on hot days the voltage
dropped nearly 12% from rated voltage. As a result our CNC's drew more
current which then caused the circuit breakers to trip. The first discussion
with power utility was they stated it was "likely lightning strikes" nearby.
They suggested we spend about $30K for a lightning suppression system. I
insisted they put a recorder on the incoming electrical line. When they
recorded the low voltage levels which put them well under the "legal"
voltage drop they promptly upgraded the line to the building. Problem
solved.no cost to me.

 

John Boyle 

 

From: labnetwork [mailto:labnetwork-bounces at mtl.mit.edu] On Behalf Of
Johnson, Michael W
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2024 10:29 AM
To: Fab Network
Subject: [labnetwork] Power monitoring

 

Hello folks,

 

We have a problem with a large compressor in a building that keeps shutting
down at almost the same time on weekends. I feel like the problem may be
some regular anomaly with the three phase power feeding it.

 

Can somebody recommend a simple product or method to record the power
characteristics so we can go back and review the recorded data to see what,
if anything, is going on? We have NMR's and other instruments that record
when the compressed air is lost. It would be very helpful to then review
recorded sine wave or other useful information to determine if we have a
power problem or if the issue is actually something else. 

 

It really feels like a regular voltage loss that only happens on Saturday
afternoons when not much is going on in the building. This is causing a lot
of problems.

 

Appreciate any help with this.

 

-Michael.

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