Quote:
Originally Posted by oil pan 4
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Then I have tested an old electro mechanical utility meter powering a 140w 500va 120v welder at no load versus light bulbs.
I found that a 200w light bulb didn't spin the meter nearly as fast as the welder. But the welder spun the meter as fast as a 500w halogen work light.
If the meter only counted watts then the 200w bulb should have spun the meter faster than the 140w 500va welder.
The only logical conclusion is that electromechanical and digital meters do read volt-amps.
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It may be that the RATED OUTPUT of your welder was 140w. It may be that it pissed away another X00 watts as waste heat in the transformer/circuitry, and had little to do with power factor. It may also be that just because 140w is it's RATED usage, it can and could put out a lot more for a brief period. Like a typical motor can put out 2 or 3x it's rated output for a limited period.
Or you could be spot on with your deduction. Rather hard to tell without further testing.