What is a Three Phase Power Monitor?

Definition

A three phase power monitor measures a variety of electrical parameters for equipment such as large motors and other heavy loads that are powered with three phases of electricity.

Why it Matters

Both single phase and three phase power systems refer to units using alternating current (AC) electric power. With AC power, the flow of current is constantly alternating directions. The primary difference between single phase and three phase AC power is the constancy of delivery. Large loads such as motors, pumps, chillers and boilers may use three phase and require special equipment to monitor their performance.

A three-phase power monitor can measure a variety of electrical parameters, from current and voltage to resistance, continuity and beyond. This data provides insights into a variety of electrical sources from live wires and circuit breakers to electrical panels and power transformers.

Some more advanced three-phase power monitors feature data-logging functionality with the capability to measure and store readings to memory, and then transmit to the cloud. This IoT data can be used for troubleshooting to find the answers now; or as benchmarking tools to discover the trend of power quality over time.