5,000 Smart Meters Explode After Truck Crashes Into Utility Pole

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: Gemwolf
I agree that those particular smart meters are probably not well designed, as anything that has proper surge-protection shouldn't be exploding with such force. Unless it was one hell of a surge, in which case the utility provider should be blamed as they should have surge protectors higher up in the electricity network as well...

They probably got 10x their design voltage. I'd be really surprised if not only the smart meters on those houses bit it with a bang, but that the house wiring and appliances were damaged as well.

No reasonable surge protection can stop this sort of thing.

I'd be very happy if the meter fused out and protected my nice stereo & computers.

Very smart meter.

originally posted by: bullcat
...
So, they were plugged in and turned on whilst being transported?

Really? Darwin Award?

Funny, because we have solar panels, smart switching meters, and not once have we ever had high energy electrical arcs in a blink of an eye.

I'm going to guess, and this is a pretty wild guess, that you didn't read much past the title?

Personally I would love to see a truck transporting 5,000 smart meters whilst they were somehow plugged into an electricity network. Sure the Japanese managed to send electricity wireless just last month , but sadly all electricity networks on the planet are still wired at this exact moment.

Perhaps you missed the second, third and fourth sentences of the opening post, which can be summed up like this:
"A dump truck crashed near a substation hitting the utility pole, the top wire fell onto the bottom wire, creating a power surge. The power surge caused smart meters already installed at homes on the nearby grid to exploded due to the surge."

I've bolded some words for your reading pleasure.

a reply to: NthOther

It's not 'green' technology in any way, sense or form. It may be promoted a such, but it's about cutting costs (read employees) and raising profits.

I didn't know about the surveilance properties of these devices and suspect most don't - so thank you.

originally posted by: FyreByrd
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I didn't know about the surveilance properties of these devices and suspect most don't - so thank you.
...

Smart Meters don't have any surveillance properties. Think about it for a second; what do you suppose the NSA/FBI/CIA/Google/KKK can find out about you from your electricity, gas or water usage?

originally posted by: Gemwolf

Smart Meters don't have any surveillance properties. Think about it for a second; what do you suppose the NSA/FBI/CIA/Google/KKK can find out about you from your electricity, gas or water usage?

They can find out if you're using way too much for your "profile", such as a single-family residence using ten times the amount of average power per square foot.

Like, say, if you're using high-powered lights to grow certain kinds of plants in your spare bedroom. Then they can send a drone over your house to monitor it's heat signature (yes, the DEA does this), and determine whether or not they suspect you of illegal activity.

That's just one thing they can do with that knowledge.

They can also tell when you're home and when you're not. But they'd never go into our houses when we're not there, right?

Right?

If nobody has offered this yet then here it is......
news.nationalpost.com...

These new smart meters are not without problems, unlike the old meters.

Ontario’s Electrical Safety Authority has ordered local hydro companies to remove 5,400 smart meters because they pose a safety risk. The administrative body that acts on behalf of the Ontario government carried out a “due diligence safety review” of the province’s smart meters after Saskatchewan removed 105,000 Sensus Corp. smart meters following a series of fires last summer. The ESA ordered Ontario to remove all iConA Generation 3.2 remote disconnect meters manufactured by Sensus by March 31. There have not been any “serious incidents” reported in Ontario involving these devices, the ESA said.

Regards, Iwinder

S&F

a reply to: NthOther

"They" can do/tell all of that from a regular plain old analog meter...

originally posted by: Gemwolf

"They" can do/tell all of that from a regular plain old analog meter...

Do analog meters transmit data in real time?

a reply to: Gemwolf

I wonder how long before a EMF or EMR mega thread starts up or at least restarts . What you have said is true and if someone was really concerned then the first thing i would do is throw my phone in the bin . EMF is everywhere and a smart meter would be the least of my concerns . As for 5000 meters blowing up , well i find that hard to believe . Typically 5000 homes would have more than one in-feed , but having said that they should also have a common neutral . This tells me that it is not a HV distribution line as 5000 homes would not be affected , nor a transmission line but something in between , here such lines are called sub transmission and are typically 66,000 volts .So if one of these lines fell down on the neutral wire perhaps 5000 homes would be affected . Fixing the problem then re energising the line would restore supply to most customers . If 5000 meters were "blown up " i would imagine the fix would be weeks as who has that many meters on their shelves . Bypassing the meters is quite easy to do though so a lack of new ones should not be a problem . Finally i wonder if these meter were of a plug in type . Anything plug in tends to be a weak link , still i believe there is a little editorial licence employed here to jump on the smart meters are bad bandwagon .

originally posted by: bullcat
Why would an electronic METER explode?

Anybody?

Why would an electronic meter need COMBUSTIBLE components?

Something designed for 220V is going to go boom when you put 2200V across it.

It's sort of expected.

a reply to: Gemwolf
Lol, speaking about Darwin award..would need a seriously long set of cables to keep everything "plugged in" while in transport.
As for what the meter can know..a fair bit more than a non smart meter if they are looking.
Here in B.C. the meters were forced on us and the whole deal bypassed the public utilities commision that would of likely nixed the over a billion $ expenditure. Interesting to see other provinces begin to remove them after forcing people to take them.

Here nobody is trusting that the meteor or reading correctly
here a simple little test sombody did

www.facebook.com..." target="_blank" class="postlink">FaceBook Link

a reply to: Gemwolf

Actually, I would think quite a lot of behavoirs could be deduced from electrical consumption coupled with location of load. It would be analogous to analysing phone meta-data.

originally posted by: NthOther

originally posted by: Gemwolf

"They" can do/tell all of that from a regular plain old analog meter...

Do analog meters transmit data in real time?

An analog/mechanial meter that just meters usage has to be 'read' by a real person. So, no - not in real time - only the difference between readings which shows your usage during that period.

originally posted by: NthOther
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Do analog meters transmit data in real time?

Obviously not. You can always let someone stand next to the analog meter and they'll be able to see the real time usage. But that would be pointless because real time usage is not nearly as telling as usage over a longer period. If a household uses much more electricity than their neighbors then you have the same questions, whether you've used an analog meter or a smart meter to gather the data.

Perhaps I should explain where I'm coming from to help you understand why I am so sure of myself.

As I said earlier in the thread: I work with smart meters, specifically on the systems and data side.
We use Landis & Gyr, Elster and Sensus meters. In order for me to communicate with the meters I had to sign non-disclosure documents, which gave me access to the meters' datasheets and protocols.

I've helped with the design and build of the communication network, databases, information systems and websites - from scratch. I know each and every register in the meters, I know every value they keep, how long it's kept and why it's kept. In just over a year we've built a smart metering infrastructure for one of the largest electricity (and water) re-sellers in the country, with tens of thousands of installations, and they are still installing meters faster than I can program the communication modules.

In other words, trust me when I tell you that smart meters are not "surveillance devices". If a government agency came to me and asked a person's usage data I would laugh and laugh and laugh, because it's useless data in terms of "spy material". The data comes down to: How much electricity (or water) have you used during a specific period of time. I can tell whether your usage is high or low, but only if it is compared to the average of the neighborhood or similar homes. I can tell you what time in the morning you get up, what time you cook your food and so on, i.e. your "peak usage" times, and what time you go to work, get back from work and go to sleep. But that information isn't really top secret as it can be gathered from Facebook or just by watching you.
Real time usage is only of value if "Time Of Use" tariffs are used or to catch people that are "stealing" electricity or by-passed their meters.

So, to sum up, statements such as "the fact that they can be used to continually collect data on everyone who lives in a home (the newer versions can send signals from individual outlets in a home every 15 seconds to be later broken down with disaggregation algorithms)" is complete and utter bollocks.

Feel free to ask if you have any other questions about smart meters.

It won't stop smart meters exploding, but here's a look at shielding testing. Some works, some doesn't.