REVIEW: SilverCrest Energy cost meter - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 18, 2013, 11:44:42 pm
content: I am posting this here in general because it doesn’t belong between electronics reviews, I am just trying a spoken review and want to see what you guys think of my English, it is pretty crap that’s why I always use subtitles but some reviews need a lot explaining and editing the video with subtitles takes too long, so if you guys can go along with my crappy English I will do the electronics videos with my voice instead of subtitles.If you have spare time watch the video and tell me if I am understandable, normally I talk little bit better after watching the video I hear I was trying to talk more clear and went actually opiside side of clear, I shouldn’t think about it and speak along with the flow how the video goes.Here it is:EDIT: Adding the little teardown pictures.Case split in two:The main PCB, nice shunt and every wire is secured with a black sticky stuff, bigger components are secured with silicone, piezo buzzer and the battery clips are wired and even those are secured with some clear glue. Notice the big MEX TENTA MKPX2 filter capacitor and the resistors for little input protection.The display and the button PCB, nicely coded for wiring:And the specs on the backside of the meter, it seems a UK company called Milomex is getting these from Asia:

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 12:39:40 am
content: Quite nicely done.Gave you a thumbs up, and left a comment.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 04:17:33 am
content: Thanks nanofrog, I appreciate your feedback

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 06:41:12 am
content: Looks good, did you get a chance to try with loads of different power factor?

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 06:57:59 am
content: Plug a non electronic ballasted fluorescent lamp into it.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 07:44:03 am
content: Hmm I should do another review for electronics freaks lolI was keeping it simple so people without electrics knowledge understood too.Quote from: Harvs on January 19, 2013, 06:41:12 amHarvs, it also calculates the power factor, it is in the display, when I was doing the charger it was showing 0.52 and with the heating gun 1.00Here a scan from the manual of the screen:Here when I was testing the current with the Nokia charger:Here current test with the heating gun:

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 07:53:17 am
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 19, 2013, 06:57:59 amSorry SeanB, I don’t have any capacitor in that range to put on, but I will get one next week for you and test it, my whole house is light up with LED's and dont have fluorescent lamp eitherBy the way my plasma TV runs on the other energy meter and the Power Factor goes crazy between 0.85 and 0.95 every time when huge amount light color comes up

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 08:00:38 am
content: Expensive electricity in der Nederlands then.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 08:08:55 am
content: Man don’t get me started hehehttp://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/global_gasprices/and I drive a americanEverything is expensive here...Btw SeanB do you remember my topic aboutwork bench control panel? This energy meter could be nice monitoring panel if you take it appart and put in another shell.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 08:37:46 am
content: And here we complain about petrol being one Euro a litre..................

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 08:52:26 am
content: Nice review, thanks! (although the "9 ERUOS" subtitle typo felt like a discordant note)Generally I'd like to see more reviews (and possibly teardowns!) for these relatively cheap devices.I'm not talking about the supercheap no-warranty Chinese class, but these products from e.g. Lidl, that are cheap but they come with some warranty and even some certification stamps (TüV, GS, etc.)

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 08:59:19 am
content: Nice and a little more accurate. You just need to make a panel that will duplicate the fixings for the board, then put it in there. If you are lucky then the LCD may be fixed to the PCB, then you can put it in a case with a clear panel of the right size then use separate mains rated switches to do the control functions.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 01:21:38 pm
content: No need to apologize for your spoken English Spawn, very clear and far better than my Dutch (I cannot speak any) Nice video .

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 03:31:52 pm
content: Quote from: bitwelder on January 19, 2013, 08:52:26 amNice catch there with ERUOS, I am using that footage for a while now and every time I do some typo’s in there I don’t know why.About the teardown, my intentions where to open up, and I am embarrassed to show how bad my tool was but this happened, and guesses where it came from:And then I grabbed my Wera branded one but that was just too thick and didn’t fit in there:Quote from: SeanB on January 19, 2013, 08:59:19 amI was going to look in there see what happened above@G7PSK, thanks for your kind wordsthe thing is I speak Dutch also with a mumble.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 08:01:21 pm
content: 5 minutes with a file and it will work well enough for the job. Annoying how often you come across those screws.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 10:04:46 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 19, 2013, 08:01:21 pmSeanB thanks for reminding me, I already had one made with Dremel somewhere, took me a hour to find itDidn’t want to use my good brand screwdrivers for that.Anyways I am also adding the photo’s in the start post.Case split in two:The main PCB, nice shunt and every wire is secured with a black sticky stuff, bigger components are secured with silicone, piezo buzzer and the battery clips are wired and even those are secured with some clear glue. Notice the big MEX TENTA MKPX2 filter capacitor and the resistors for little input protection.The display and the button PCB, nicely coded for wiring:And the specs on the backside of the meter, it seems a UK company called Milomex is getting these from Asia:

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 10:12:42 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on January 19, 2013, 03:31:52 pmIt shouldn't have been an expensive bit then.Not sure I'd be willing to take a file to a Wera or Wiha though. But they're more expensive here than in EU from what I understand.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 10:34:55 pm
content: Yeah it was a set from Dealextreme

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 10:48:26 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on January 19, 2013, 10:34:55 pmI was going to suggest you might want to give one of those 33pc. el-cheapo security bit sets a go, as worst case, you wouldn't have much in it if you ended up needing to take SeanB's advice and file the spanner bit to make it fit.Example:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Security-Tamper-Proof-Bit-Set-33pc-Torq-Torx-Hex-Star-Spanner-Tri-Wing-Screwdriv-/170975221363?pt=Routers_Bits&hash=item27ceead673But since you got it open, the suggestion is moot. For the moment anyway.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 10:51:04 pm
content: I got similar set from Wera, it didn't fit because the hole was too small. But after SeanB mentioned I remembered I had one made with Dremel somewhere.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 19, 2013, 11:12:24 pm
content: Quote from: Spawn on January 19, 2013, 10:51:04 pmOther than cutting corners (easier to manufacture), I've never understood the purpose for making a bit with square pegs to fit a screw with round holes.

author: sorin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 01:12:56 am
content: I think that this itemhttp://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=16729296321sold on ebay for 10 EUR (including shipping) is better quality.

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 04:18:32 am
content: Quote from: sorin on January 20, 2013, 01:12:56 amDo you have a ebay link for it?I think the quality is not better if it's not worse, and it is also not dual tariff one, it has a rechargeable battery pack compared to Silvercrest’s changeable ones, the components are not same quality, ribbon cable is secured with glue but not the mains wires, bigger components are not secured either. Mains are worst soldered no quality in their either.There are dual tariff ones on Ebay and they go around 17 euro. By looking on the PCB probably they come from same factory as SilvercrastHere easy to compare, this below is the energy meter sorin mentioned:

author: sorin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 05:22:54 am
content: http://www.ebay.com/itm/200879677330

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 05:46:00 am
content: Quote from: sorin on January 20, 2013, 05:22:54 amThankson ebay they mention about 2 tariffs but I can't see that in the manual on the Chinese site, it is not bad actually if only the build quality was better. I like the screen layout better than Silvercrest, because it has 3 read outs instead of a graphics bar which you never look at, it is shipped out from China.SeanB, maybe something for you?

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 06:23:35 am
content: Not too bad, actually has right sized components, right use of clearance, right use of the thermal fuse ( though soldered direct so likely to fail in soldering) and uses voltage derating on the chip resistors. Soldering and finish of board not the best though.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 12:52:09 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 19, 2013, 08:37:46 amtry that with 1.5eur/litresometimes more

author: Spawn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 03:44:24 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 20, 2013, 06:23:35 amWhich one do you mean SeanB. the Silvercrest or the Ebay one?M. Andás, try 1.80eur/litre thats 6,81eur per gallon or 9 us dollars per gallonTo make it compleet while we talk about energy meters, I pay € 0,2465 per kWh during day time and € 0,2264 per kWh late night/weekends, how much is it in other countrys?

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 04:45:54 pm
content: The eBay one, the other uses proper high wattage resistors for the mains side connections.As to electric prices I pay about 14c US per kWh, but it is slated to go up by at least 20% per annum for the next 5 years ( long story, contracts to massive smelters that pay 6c per kWh and no escalation for inflation ( you can bet there was an envelope passed there) along with having to pay "preferred" suppliers) at least.

author: M. András
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2013, 06:29:58 pm
content: 0.167232733 Euros here on 1 of the utility companies, its pretty much here consider that the avg income is around 400eur/month