ION8650 Remote Power Cycle

[Scott_MCN]

Hello,

Is there a command which can initiate a power cycle on an ION8650, and which can be executed remotely through ION Setup or other software such as PME? Preferably without any additional hardware such as relays. 

Customer is a large utility who has hundreds of meters in the field across an entire province – occasionally, the meters require a power cycle, which requires sending a technician to site to manually power cycle. Remotely power cycling would save the utility time and money on truck rolls, and would free up their technicians and supervising engineers. 

The closest to a solution that I could find is in the User Manual for the ION8650, where changes through the front panel initiate a power cycle (see step 5 of the attached excerpt). My thought is that if there isn't a dedicated power cycle command, is there a similar command to this that can be executed remotely instead of through the front panel?

Any assistance is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

– Scott Clysdale

[Charles_Murison · Accepted solution]

Hello Scott,

Short answer is no, there is no command that can remotely power cycle the meter. The only option would be as you said external relays connected to the control power of the meter.

My first question to you is why do the meter's need to be power cycled?

Charles

[Scott_MCN]

Thank you for your response, @Charles_Murison!

Occasionally an error will occur in one of their meters, and almost all of the time a power cycle will fix it.

However, this means sending a technician to site to manually power cycle the meter via the front panel – costing time, resources, and money. 

In their eyes, achieving this remotely via software is the most cost effective method when compared to adding relays to their hundreds of meters already in gear, or sending a technician into a substation or service entrance. 

Regards,

– Scott

[Charles_Murison]

Hello Scott,

While I understand where you are coming from, when I talked to people here the repose was more why meter is needing to be power cycled rather than how can we make a Revenue meter remotely power cycle.

Remotely power cycling a meter would be a new feature request that would need to follow proper channels for submission.

Charles

[Scott_MCN]

Hi Charles,

It doesn't happen too often, but I'll definitely submit it as a potential feature to the PowerLab. They're confident in the quality of the meters (as am I), and as a large utility, they're always looking to digitization for cost-savings, no matter how small those savings may be.

Thanks for the information!