Power Quality Analysers

[Paulusgnome]

My employer is a distributor of electrical components (circuit breakers etc), enclosures and switchboards.
We are considering the purchase of a Power Quality Analyser set such as the Fluke 433, Amprobe DM-4 etc, for use in tracking down problems such as nuisance-tripping circuit-breakers and the like. We think that the latest-generation of this type of instrument, with transient capture capability, should be very helpful.
Can I ask for advice and recommendations as to what models of PQA are being used, how well they perform, and any pitfalls to beware of?
Thanks
Mark Monson

 

[alehman]

I have an Amprobe DM-3 which seems to work reasonably well. I don't know how similar it might be to the DM-4. The analysis software isn't the greatest, but maybe it's improved on the DM-4. My other complaint on the DM-3 is the transient recording functions are not easy to use.

 

[motorspert]

We are about to buy a Chevin Arnoux 8350 or 9352 - seems to do all we need and more

 

[LionelHutz]

We bought a Fluke RPM meter and got a free 43B with it. The 433 appears to be the three phase version of the 43B. It's a decent power meter but it is limited in what you can do with the data. Basically, you save a snapshot of the screen and download that for use in any documentation. So, you end up with a fairly poor quality representation of the data that you really can't do much of anything with. It's a good meter for field use though, it can do anything a multimeter does as well as being a scope and doing power analysis.

 

[ScottyUK]

Voltech and Yokogawa make some very good bench instruments. They aren't particularly portable - about the size and weight of a big 'scope - if that is a major concern, but have features and accuracy far beyond the reach of the handhelds. Personally I have a slight preference for Voltech's instruments over Yokogawa's, but the Yokogawa product is still a very good unit.

http://www.yokogawa.com/tm/wtpz/tm-wtpz.htm

http://www.voltech.com/products/pwr_anl/index.htm

We have a Voltech PM3000 which is quite an old design by modern standards and it lacks the LCD display of more recent models. Nonetheless it is a very accurate and versatile instrument which I find very valuable when troubleshooting. One of the best features is the huge flexibility available by choosing external VTs and CTs or Hall / Rogowski probes so it is possible to make precision measurements at pretty much any power level.

Voltech have introduced some other instruments since our purchase which have nicer user interfaces, as have Yokogawa. The best recommendation I can give the PM3000 would be: if it broke down tomorrow, I would buy another one to replace it (unless I could get the newer PM6000!)

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