SECO meters
 

I got a notification from SECO about a new meter installation. They will change the meter whether I'm home or not.

The Connected Villager club recommends disconnecting your electronics during the meter change. They said a member experienced a brownout when the power was restored.

I called SECO and they said I can call Honeywell (the subcontractor) and schedule an appointment. This would help with the timing of turning off my electronics. Their # is 855/663-1674.

all that for a short period of time brownout?
were the electronics damaged from a brown out?

sample size 1 for a brownout with no adverse effects?

we have modems, routers, access points, printers, televisions, monitors, cameras,
what electronics were damaged from a brownout which are commonly connected to the power grid?

Occasionally areas are affected by power outages. I might be home or not when power is restored no adverse action's

They had mine replaced in less time than it took me to put shoes on and walk around to the side of my house. I don't think brownout is the proper word, either the meter is in place and you have 110V or the meter is out and you have 0V but I don't think there is a way to get anything in between.

Being concerned about electronics makes sense.

Recognizing that hundreds have been changed in the last couple of months and at best you have heard of one possible issue makes it seem like it's not worth worrying about.

EDIT: Several responses after this have reported problems after the meter change. It seems like it should be no different than a short power outage but apparently something about it is different. I guess I got lucky.

I'm finally getting rid of my surge protector.
Six Bucks straight in the pocket. :)

When they installed our Smart Meter, it caused our air conditioning unit motor to break and we were without AC for over 8 hours in 100 degree weather. Honeywell said they would enter a claim to pay us for the $900 in damages, but alas they reneged claiming it was over ten years old and was getting ready to break. We were not the only house on our block to have this damage done. We kept our AC in good condition in those ten years by paying $200 a year to SunKool to service our machine and didn't deserve this treatment.

Ouch!

There was no brownout.

I understand that some irrigation systems were affected to the point that in some cases this change by SECO damaged Rainbird controllers. Anyone else having this issue?

My Hunter controller has backup battery.

Some meters rotate and unplugs, some have clamp with tampering locking key. Takes less than minute to replace, more time putting the tampering key back on. Refrigerator, AC, TV, probably most affected. A/C unit when compressor running don’t like power out them immediately start up back up neither does the refrigerator. Older units most vulnerable.

Seco changed out our meter yesterday ,knocked and informed power would be off for a few minutes , probably 5 minutes , power came back on interner reset itself but had to reset all digital clocks seamless procebure.

My meter was changed out a few months ago. I had a brand new multi speed AC installed last year. After SECO left my AC malfunctioned. The condenser outside shut down but the air handler inside the garage kept blowing hot air. Called for service. The new AC had shut off due to a surge when the new meter was installed. It is a separate surge protector installed on my AC. (I also have a whole house surge protector at the meter but this didn’t stop the AC surge protector from shutting my AC condenser off.

I got the new meter about a month ago. No problems. Lost power for a few minutes as expected & I had to reset the digital clocks. Everything else came back as normal after a brief power outage.

I fail to understand how this would be a problem. Virtually all compressor based appliances will not try to restart immediately after a power interruption. We have experienced numerous brief power interruptions over the years with never an issue with ACs or refridgerators. The AC waits a bit before restarting.

Take precautions
 

I had my meter changed last week and watched the Honeywell tech. I had already shut down and disconnected sensitive devices like computers. I had also shut the A/C units off. He agreed it was a good idea. But takes 5 minutes of his time. When he tried to install the new meter into the old contacts he had some problems. He tried 3 times. Each time the electric made momentary contact. But I can just imagine what my refrigerator and freezer were doing when the current was so intermittent for a few seconds, 3 times. Before he left I checked my house and found that some devices (phone and clock) reacted to that rapid ON/OFF power. My whole house surge had no reaction. But I did not have any damage to my devices.
So I would highly recommend you MAKE AN APPOINTMENT WITH HONEYWELL AND POWER DOWN AND UNPLUG SENSITIVE DEVICES LIKE COMPUTERS, A/C, AND ANYTHING WITH A COMPRESSOR LIKE FRIG. AND FREEZER. PUT A NOTE ON YOUR DOOR: "HONEYWELL: NO METER CHANGE WITHOUT MY PRESENCE."

Skip

Meter Replacement Damage
 

The meter replacement damaged our bed cooler mat motor. $600 for a new one. Air fryer control panel is acting up. Cannot change time or temperature units.

Neighbor had to replace A/C compressor on a seven year old unit.

Strongly recommended you make an appointment and turn off the breakers on your appliances and A/C.

Wouldn't it be easier to flip the main breaker off before the meter change, rather than individual breakers?

First turning off refrigerator. Freezer and A/C all nice it had heads up when they was coming. I got same message with no date and time.

Go to know The y at least knock before, that give me time to sit off AC, refrigerator, freezer.

Yet!

Our meter was replaced this week. The electricity at our house was off for less than 1 minute. We had to re-set some clocks, but other than that, no issues.

Just had my meter replaced. It took about 2 minutes and I didn't have to disconnect anything. No problems.

Good advise, best to shut off the main breaker when they are swapping out the meter.

Especially on an older home whet the meter connections may have corroded.

Is there a way to shut power off to the whole house at the circuit breaker box? I can't imagine trying to pull my refrigerator out to unplug it. And how did you shut power off to your A/C?

There will be a main circuit disconnect circuit breaker typically at the bottom of your panel, but could be at the top. Throw that and it will turn off power tο the rest of the breakers.

They were so fast, I did not have time to disconnect anything! Reset some clocks and no problems.

Thanks. I called and made an appointment. Our A/C is in good condition but is old, and we're not ready to replace it.

I get it turning off your desktop computer and any other sensitive electronic devices and the HVAC for sure but I hope everyone realizes when we get a storm or a power outage, even a short one that the electric doesn't come on in one shot. Often it's the same On, then Off then On again similar what you are experiencing with the meter replacement. If you have equipment failing with the meter change it would have probably failed in a future power outage.

The issue is the likely spark that occurs when the power meter is pulled and then reinstalled. These sparks create huge power surges on your house circuits that many computer controlled devices don't like.

Which is another reason why whole house surge protection is a good idea. In fact, I've now heard so many reports of surge damage that in my opinion, it's something that you need to get living here in Central Florida. Not really an option any more.

Same here!

Surge protection is now a requirement of the FL electrical code for new installations.

Correct so now the homeowners in the "older" areas need to get educated on this topic so they can make an informed decision.

As part of the Villages Lightning Study Group, I focus on surge protection and give that part of the presentation. With all the presentations we have given, all the threads in Talk of the Villages and other social media, and Len's articles in the Sun and the Villages News, you would think everyone would be aware.

Some of the point of use surge protectors have a delay period built in, to protect from just this kind of on / off fluctuation. This one available at Amazon has a three minute wait period, & there are others. https://www.amazon.com/Refrigmatic-W...dp/B07QT8SCHN?

Small Claims Court.

You don’t have to pull refrigerator out just click it to off, turn A/c off, shutdown any computers then flip main breaker box cut off, this prevent all these starting up at once when power flipped back on.

After reading this thread I can see where some honest people had appliance failures after the meter change and blame it on Seco. The reality is you can probably fight with them but as in one case where the A/C was 10 years old failed, you are probably not going to get any satisifaction. Why? because you will get the same power fluctuation, this Off/On/Off/On when we get a power interruption. It happens periodicaly over the years. I'm sure Seco has some sort of protection for this type of event or they would have a lot of claims to deal with. In the case of the A/C failing, when the unit looses power when the meter is pulled, when power is re-applied there is a 5 minute timer where the A/C stays OFF because it doesn't know it's prior state. So the new meter change shouldn't cause the A/C to fail even if the meter caused the power to fluctuate. In this case it might just be a coincidence. If the appliance failed during this meter change, it was probably going to fail anyway. As far as the event causing a surge, possible, but it shouldn't have been enough to make appliances fail. Surges in you home due to appliances going On and Off occur all the time. It's frustrating and unfortunate but it's important to understand the reality of things and move on.

jrref is correct, turning off power and turning on power either by switch, by outage and restoration, or by pulling out one meter and putting in another meter, all have the same effect on the equipment in the house, 120v to 0v to 120V. A surge is generally considered higher than stable supplied voltage of 120v, which is generated from a non stable usually external source.

which is why i previously stated that there is no need to shut the house down for a meter replacement as its no different than an outage and restoration by the power company, no different than turning your house off and on at the breaker, has the same effect, 120v to 0v to 120v

unfortunately with all situations, things and stuff work until they don't, for many times unknown reasons, but that's modern day life with cheapest cost economic strategy. . ever said that they don't build 'em like they used to? well, that just happened. . .

In the 12 years that we've lived here, we have not once had the kind of power interruption an earlier poster spoke of--off, on, off, on. The one time the power went out--Irma--it was a nano second and not even long enough to trip the clocks. I'm not going to take my chances with a 12-year-old a/c (that was just recently deemed in good working order) and an 8-year-old expensive refrigerator.