Bypassing Electric Meter

[Al Moran]

Recently read a story in the local news about someone using rented house to grow pot. In the story they said that the electric meters were bypassed. How is a meter bypassed without killing yourself?

[Tony Hwang]

It's very easy but illegal. Just need a little jumper wire.

[komobu]

In Virginia, it is pretty easy. My house had aluminum wiring, and I replaced the whole electrical system with copper. Anyways, there is a security seal at the bottom of the meter box. When it is removed, a cover hinges up and the Glass meter can be pulled straight out. Then you will be looking at 4 prongs. The top two prongs go to the power pole. The bottom two go to the hous circut breaker box. (I had to replace this wire to the breaker box in my house). Anyways, you could jump the prongs rather easily with copper wire. It would help if you knew when the meter reader was coming around so you could place the glass meter back in. If you took the time with the security seal, the reader would probably never notice it....he just takes the numbers down and move to the next house.

[pipedown]

And with some meters if you plug it in backwards, it runs backwards.

Their software would flag an existing customer with extreme variations in usage as this could indicate a problem with equipment requiring a look but a new customer might go unnoticed with unlikely usage. Steal enough electricity and it becomes a Felony.

Indoor pot farmers are often busted either by the electric usage pattern or by causing fires while ignoring electrical code. Narcing neighbors too.

[gfretwell]

Around here the pot "farmers" tend to be illegals from 3d world countries where meter fraud is a well established custom. I have seen a number of tricks. The best one I saw was a guy who put a "T" fitting in the service mast where it penetrated the roof to the soffit on a service upgrade so he could loop the service conductors into the attic where they were tapped. The cops found it when they busted the grow house

[Al Moran]

But what I don't get is that at least one set of the prongs must be hot. How would they connect anything to it without getting zapped ?

[Joseph Meehan]

Very carefully. Yea, I have done it, (with the electric company's blessing) . I don't suggest anyone who has to ask how consider doing it as missing one step could be your last one.

[Al Moran]

I have no intentions of trying it. Just curious how you would do it and still be alive to talk about it.

[komobu]

Actually, both legs are hot. Each leg is 110v, so together you get 220v service. The third leg goes straigt to the circuit panel and that is the return, so for 110v, you are using one of the legs and the return.

Anyways, if your jumper is plastic sheilded you would be alright, or if you wear ruber or leather gloves. Another very common senario is that theives steel the glass meter from a vacant property. Then they simply swap meters. The stolen meter would be used for two to three weeks, and then swapped again until the meter reader comes by. This way all the time that electricity is being used while the stolen meter is inplace, is not being charged to the occupyer. If one does that for 15 to 22 days a month, it results in in 50% to 75% of the electrical usage not appearing on his bill.

[Jack]

Now that some companys use the latest tech of remote meter reading tampering with the meter could go on for quite awhile, before the electric company became aware of it. Usually when they are caught the judges are not very lenient in the sentence. You steal you Pay. Jack

[HeyBub]

Heh!

When doing a census for a Rural Electric Co-op, we found more than one person who had bought their own TRANSFORMER and tapped into the 7,200 volt mains.

Look, if a lineman can fiddle with umpty-ump volts on the job, he can certainly do it off the clock.

[Buck Turgidson]

If they look for high wattage use to flag potential growers, couldn't they just look for zero (or ultra-low) wattage users, too?

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

There are lots of times work is done on hot systems. Many precautions need to be done but essentially wearing the correct protective equipment (gloves, isolation mats, etc...) presents a pretty safe environment. How do you think those guys working on the high voltage power distribution lines do it? They certainly don't shut the line down for some routine maintenance (depends on the maintenance I suppose). Personally, I wouldn't want to do it but that's why those guys make the money they do. Cheers, cc

[hah]

First, build a mud wall at least a foot high all around the meter and fill it with salt water. Wash your hands thoroughly in the salt water and keep them wet. Stand in the pool while working on the meter.

[Mike Plate]

[dpb]

Actually, w/ remote monitoring and latest technology, the utility company becomes aware of it essentially instantaneously--that's one of the points of the remote (as in automated) monitoring besides the cost reduction of eliminating meter-readers...

for a overview of current technology for one particular meter/vendor...

[gfretwell]

Just stay insulated and use insulated tools. Power company employees work on hot power lines every day. They are literally like a bird on the wire.

[gfretwell]

They only tap off the grow lights so the normal usage stays roughly the same. We have so many snow birds and real estate flippers with empty houses around here, low usage is not a strange thing.

[Doug Miller]

From a helicopter.

I used to live right across the road from a 750KV transmission line, and watched them doing maintenance several times. Really awesome to watch. I have a lot of respect for both the electrician *and* the pilot.

[Robert Gammon]

Its called a Faraday cage. Basically the workers suit up in a chain mail suit, not unlike the under armor of the middle ages. The metal then acts as a conductor of any induced currents, keeping them away from any path thru the body of the worker. They reach out with a long metal rod to touch the wire as the chopper brings them close to equalize the charges.