My first exposure to power monitoring was the WT series. I started out in the warehouse shipping them. Then I progressed to stripping the wires used for the CT shorting assembly. After that I assembled them, put them in enclosures, and added the shorting switches when they were ordered. From the warehouse I moved to the sales department where I got to enter orders for WTs. Finally, I moved to tech support where I got to recommend, sell, and troubleshoot WTs. I am not ashamed to say that it was one of the most difficult challenges. Power monitoring, the WT in particular, made me cringe. High voltage/high current electricity is dangerous. While the WT was a fine product; it was very hard to troubleshoot – especially over the phone.
Then Kele had a significant breakthrough: The PT-9000 Series PowerTrak Monitoring Interface. Even the name is cool. It had 9000 in the series name long before Internet memes taught us that 9000 = cool. The PT-9000 went way beyond the WT. It was like adding indoor plumbing. The PT-9000 has 2 configurable 4-20 mA outputs and a pulse output for kWh. It also has lights, wonderful lights that tell the full story of how the unit wired – a gift to the telephone trouble shooter. To top it off it has an auto configure feature that corrected CT/phase wiring errors. Not long after the launch came the communication abilities (BACnet, LON, N2, Modbus) that made the user capable of capturing parameters never dreamed of by the WT.
And now we have the endicator™ Intelligent Power Monitor with its 58 monitored parameters, easy to use interface, installer focused design, standard NEMA 4X enclosure, I could go on for quite a while with this. I’ve only played with the beta but I’m pretty sure it can change Coke to Pepsi and find your car keys. It’s that cool. All kidding aside the endicator™ launch is very exciting for me. It truly is the evolution of power monitoring.
The WT series is still alive and working in many installations around the world and we still get the occasional tech call about them and they still scare me a little, but that doesn’t stop me from helping when I get those calls. Truth be told the WT did make me a better tech support person, kind of like the fat football coach that always made you run, called you horrible names, and yelled at you all the time. Sure you hated him, but he made you better.
