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https://www.dropbox.com/s/wsg8mfo4zg29sme/20150910_113738.jpeg?dl=0

I am running about 280 amps worth of mining equipment "S5"s and it looks like the cover on my
meter is starting to change colour.

I have 400 amp service.  Meter is also warm to touch.

Electric bill last month was $2,500.00.

be proactive contact them.  rather then wait.

They do not care.  I have 400A as well and it really means 320A continuous.

The browning plastic would bother me though, while the meter is fine you might be melting wires and contacts in the meter can which you are responsible for.

I would get some wire brushes and freshening up the wire with some Anti-Ox and tighten those lugs down in the meter can.  280A should not generate enough heat to cause that, I think you have a loose or corroded connection.

I emailed the power company and sent them the picture.

My electrician wants to replace the feed lines going to my breaker boxes with larger wires anyway
so it can all get taken care of.

I did get a additional 400 amp service installed where I plan to build a shed for more miners...... I mean "driveway heating system".

So wire is rated at a 80% duty cycle, and I go even bigger for extra cooling.  So if you want to use 320A continuously your wire should be sized for 385A.  I went with 500kcmil copper which is good for 430 @ 90C

Better to be safe then sorry.

Always over size your wire, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS.

Turn some things off and call them.  If they come and see all the gear and a hot meter they will not be happy.

But unplugging some is the best temp solution.

I was glad to see we've got current transformers for our meter at the shop, rather than an inline - takes out a lot of reliability questions like you're experiencing.

call them and tell thm youre NOT growing marijewhuana

I would be more worried about the meter being hot to the touch.   I would not want to sleep near what this sounds like.   And if he has a 400 amp chances are they expect him to have high electricity.

My electricity bill vary a lot depending on how many miners I have running.  But I am lucky that I live on a real farm (crop/cattle kind), and electricity company are fine with large ones and smaller ones. Only pain is if it is too big it takes multiple credit card transactions they have a cap that they charge per transaction.

Or if you are in a state where it is legal and you have the state-issued paperwork for it, go ahead and tell them you are  :P

If the ambient air inside the meter is heating up enough to cause plastic to discolor, the power company's thoughts would be the last thing on my mind. You're literally playing with fire. I wouldn't be surprised if the connection lugs were red hot. Get the power company there ASAP, and unplug your equipment.

Finally someone thinks what I though.  Miners should be turned off and electricity company needs to check it.     I honestly hope he does not sleep in this place mentioned. I can't imagine running like this.

I've used a LOT of electricity and company has only sent one voluntary questionnaire.  I choose not to take it as it was a lot of pages of 5 dollars off.   They never sent another one, and did not get mad over it.

It's a fire hazard IMO.. When things are improperly installed they can degrade much faster, I think that's what's happening here. The meter's legs probably aren't making proper contact with the terminals.

I had the power company pay me a surprise visit this summer. They found it odd that I was consuming 10 times more than the average household, I imagine. They ran some tests on the power meter to see if it was accurate, and checked to see if I had bypassed the meter to steal electricity. Pretty funny!

I got lucky with being on a farm (crop/cattle).  The electric company does not view using lots of electricity as a big thing, they expect farmers to use quite a bit.  

Only thing I ever had trouble with was a electrician who I showed old mining area and got quote of getting 240 put in.   He saw miners and wrote a ridiculous quote did not want the job.

Ended up for the best now I have a better mining area that works summer or winter.  Was a lot of work to get setup but was a good project in the end. 

I don't it will trigger them to look, it's power cycles that get their attention.

18hours on, 6 off, for a few months, 12 on 12 off for a few months then back to 18/6, THAT is a huge trigger for you are growing something.  No one grows with the lights on 24/7, it won't flower with a continous or 18/6 light cycle.  Although 24hour light is silly it won't work as well.

That might explain why nobody's questioned us at the shop about growing drugs, which has surprised me a bit. We moved in and immediately started burning 25-40KW of power off the bat, but it is 24/7 use. Sheriff's deputy did stick his head out the window and talked briefly to Novak once while I was out; apparently they thought the place was abandoned which meant they weren't paying close attention since we'd been there with cars out front and all the lights on five or six days a week for the previous six months.

I wish our power bill was $2500

I have seen a electric service on a house upgraded to 200 amps from 60 and most the times the electric company leaves the thin wires from the pole to the meter. Even with a 400 amp service they may have a weak link going to the meter which could be causing problems or loose connections in the meter base. Either way its a fire hazard which you Insurance company could question you on if you have a fire as they may consider a 400 amp service on a home or what your doing as commercial.
 

1) I doubt power companies care about what you're using power for (in terms of growing pot).  I find it very unlikely that they would be monitoring their customers for power trends just to report them to the police and shut them down.

2) What would stop growers from running alternating 12/12 hour light cycles in different rooms to make it look like 24h steady-draw?

Utilities are still companies, they care about preventing stolen power and maintaining profits, everything else is just white noise.

#2 = exactly..... growing p is too much work tho imo

is that why 'you guys' 'hire' vietnamese slaves to do all the growing and then dust off the immature buds with ground glass/silica or whatever that shit is?

I guess one could do that adds more to the cost as you'll need more lights.  They are not cheap, more so the balastest.

Don't know where you shop but that is some nasty shit ya must be getting. The apothecary I use (I have a a Medical users card) tests/screens everything they sell as any reputable supplier would do... We know exactly what we are getting.
Also getting seriously OT here...

If you're running 280A on a 400A service it should be fine.

damn how much hashing power are you running.
also why are you still running the damn miners with the picture you posted looks danguerosu.