The Energy Meter Standard Event Log

The energy meter event log-book

All extraordinary things happen inside or close to an electronic meter are called "events". An event has at least one time record (date & time of occurrence). Some events can also have an end-time stamp. Depending on the energy meter type the records are collected in the event log books. Events are handled as FIFO objects (first in, first out). The capacity for event logs can be different.

All events are captured by the DLMS object structure. For interoperability IDIS has set up best practice log book classifications. A typical log-book structure for a high-end smart meter can look like this:

Event log object	Number of records
Standard event log	255
Tamper event log	255
Power quality event log	255
Disconnection event log	64
Power down event log	64
Power failure event log	64
Communication event log	255
Certification data log	100

Overview for event classification

Standard event log

Today we only look at the standard event log. The description for the other logs will follow in different blogs.
The standard event log contains all events that are not recorded in other event logs.

Standard event log	OBIS
Standard event log, event object	96.11.0.255
Standard event log	99.98.0.255

OBIS definitions for standard event log

IDIS	Event	Description
3	DST enabled or disabled	Indicates the regular change from and to daylight saving time. The time stamp shows the time before the change. This event is not set in case of manual clock changes and in case of power failures.
4	Before Clock adjusted	Clock has been adjusted. The date/time stored is the old date/time before adjusting the clock.
5	After Clock adjusted	Clock has been adjusted. The date/time stored is the new date/time after adjustment
6	Clock invalid	Clock maybe invalid, e.g. if the power reserve of the clock is exhausted. It is set at power up of the meter.
7	Replace battery	Battery has reached expected end of lifetime and must be replaced.
9	TOU activated	Indicates that the former passive TOU has been activated
12	Program memory error	Physical or logical error in the program memory
13	RAM error	Physical or logical error in RAM
14	NV memory error	Physical or logical error in non-violate memory
15	Watchdog error	Indicates watch dog reset or hardware reset of the microcontroller
16	Measurement system error	Logical or physical error in the measurement system
17	Firmware ready for activation	Indicates that the new firmware has been successfully downloaded and verified. The firmware is ready for activation.
18	Firmware verification failed	The transferred firmware verification failed. Firmware cannot be activated.
19	Passive TOU programmed	A new passive TOU structure or a new activation date/time were programmed.
48	Global key changed	One or more global keys changed
88	Wrong phase sequence	Wrong mains connection. Indicates tamper or wrong installation.
89	Missing neutral	Indicates that the neutral connection from the supplier to the meter is interrupted. The phase voltages measured by the meter may differ from the nominal values with neutral.
230	Fatal error	Indicates occurrence of a fatal error
231	Billing reset	Billing reset was executed
254	Load profile cleared	Any load profile was cleared
255	Event log cleared	Indicates that the event log was cleared. This is always the first entry in an event log. It is only stored in the affected event log.

Commonly used IDIS event codes for the standard event log

What do we learn?

The standard event log provides mainly meter status information. It can be downloaded cyclic from the meter to have the whole meter history available for review and action in the system database. All events can also be pushed to the system if necessary and reasonable.

For end-customer support the event log can be read out on demand. Please contact us if you have specific questions or use the comments section below.

Thank you for reading.