There are many products out on the mkt purporting to save you energy, with claims of 5% to 50% on you electric bill.
Truth is, they don't work!
Here is one of those little gems, looks very impressive, even the web site looks above board, but a closer look and a little knowledge in the electrical field exposes this one as nothing but a scam designed to part you with your hard earned money.

Voltage Control Guard (VCG)
Voltage Control Guard 1 (VCG1
    *
      Voltage Control Guard 1 is an Energy Management Device
    *
      In single phase electrical installations we are seeing savings ranging from 15 to 20 plus percent reduction in daily KWH
    *
      Voltage Control Guard 1 is patent pending.
    *
      In three phase electrical installations we see savings in a range from 5 - 12% in daily KWH
    *
      Voltage Control Guard 1 has been tested by Met Labs to UL safety standard 916 and CSA C22.2.
http://www.gig2inc.com/index.php/product-voltage-control-guard/vcgdescription-voltage-control-guard
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The reason it's a scam is they claim you hook it to the neutral buss in the breaker box.
Problem with this is there is no power on the neutral side of the Buss, and therefore, no way for this unit to do anything at all.
The Neutral buss is the ground wire that connects to the Earth, there is no power on this leg, if there were, you would be throwing money and electricity away.
The only time the Neutral buss is energized, is when you short something out in the house, so the excess power goes to the Earth, or Neutral buss.
For a better explanation, check my thread below, that is the reason I created it.
http://conservativepoliticalforum.com/index.php?topic=318.0

Here is the White paper on the unit.
Not sure you will be able to access it, I had to join to see it, but hopefully you can still view it.
If you notice in the schematic, the unit connects to the Neutral buss and the ground, this is akin to claiming you can get shocked by sticking your had in a hole in the Earth.
There just isn't any measurable electricity on any of these connections.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.gig2inc.com/images/gig/whitepapers/Brief_VCG1_Whitepaper_06142009.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true

Quote from: Solar on October 18, 2010, 10:20:17 AM

All I see a box with a big red X 

I was afraid of that, it's password protected.

What the schematic shows, is one wire connected to the Earth ground buss, while the other connects to the Neutral buss.
Problem is, there is no electricity on those buss connections, no more than holding onto the breaker box housing.

This scam reminds me of the magnet craze, it took a lot of faith to get any benefit, seeing how there wasn't any benefit in the first place.

Quote from: Solar on October 20, 2010, 12:12:12 PM
I was afraid of that, it's password protected.

What the schematic shows, is one wire connected to the Earth ground buss, while the other connects to the Neutral buss.
Problem is, there is no electricity on those buss connections, no more than holding onto the breaker box housing.

This scam reminds me of the magnet craze, it took a lot of faith to get any benefit, seeing how there wasn't any benefit in the first place.

Um, not quite.

In AC systems, there is most definitely current flowing on the neutral/ground side, in fact just as much as on the "hot" side. The AC sine-wave cycle pumps current from "hot" to neutral/ground, then back again, 60 times a second (in the US). If you could reduce yourself to sub-atomic size and station yourself at any point on an active AC circuit, you'd see the same electrons going back and forth sixty times a second. If you could paint one of 'em red, you'd see that red one go by 120 times every second, half the time toward the neutral/ground side, half the time back toward the "hot." It wouldn't matter if you were parked on the "hot" side or the neutral/ground side, you'd have exactly the same view.

It is the energy tapped from resisting this back-and-forth flow that makes light bulb filaments hot enough to incandesce, and magnets in motors spring into motion.

Of course, the device in your OP is an obvious scam. How can any electrical device with two terminals attached to different points on a single conductor do anything at all? I would classify this POS in the same file with the 200 mpg carburetor that magically appears every time gas prices get uncomfortably high. (Remember the DIY water-injection kits back in the 70s?)

Quote from: tbone0106 on January 02, 2011, 04:01:34 PM
Um, not quite.

In AC systems, there is most definitely current flowing on the neutral/ground side, in fact just as much as on the "hot" side. The AC sine-wave cycle pumps current from "hot" to neutral/ground, then back again, 60 times a second (in the US). If you could reduce yourself to sub-atomic size and station yourself at any point on an active AC circuit, you'd see the same electrons going back and forth sixty times a second. If you could paint one of 'em red, you'd see that red one go by 120 times every second, half the time toward the neutral/ground side, half the time back toward the "hot." It wouldn't matter if you were parked on the "hot" side or the neutral/ground side, you'd have exactly the same view.

It is the energy tapped from resisting this back-and-forth flow that makes light bulb filaments hot enough to incandesce, and magnets in motors spring into motion.

Of course, the device in your OP is an obvious scam. How can any electrical device with two terminals attached to different points on a single conductor do anything at all? I would classify this POS in the same file with the 200 mpg carburetor that magically appears every time gas prices get uncomfortably high. (Remember the DIY water-injection kits back in the 70s?)

Sorry T, but you're wrong in this case.
The only way you can get power to the buss or the ground, is by connecting to the hot leg, hence the term Alternating Current.
Read it again:

QuoteWhat the schematic shows, is one wire connected to the Earth ground buss, while the other connects to the Neutral buss.
Problem is, there is no electricity on those buss connections, no more than holding onto the breaker box housing.

These are both neutral, and that is what the unit is connected to, they do not incorporate the hot leg, therefore you will not have any power on the Neutral/Ground side of the legs.
I think you misread what was written, because what you described was correct, but only in a Complete circuit, of which there is none in this case.

I think we're saying the same thing, but in different ways!  :P :P :P

Based on the wiring diagrams, this unit would do nothing whatsoever whether the circuit was open or closed, because both terminals are connected to the same thing. You could disconnect the service out at the pole and this hunk o' junk would work just as well. But it's interesting to consider that you could hook this thing up with both terminals to the "hot" side and it would still do nothing.

Alternating current is so named because of the process I described, where current flow alternates direction cyclically from "hot" to neutral/ground and back again. Direct current, on the other hand, describes a system like a car battery, where the current always flows one direction, from the anode to the cathode. In both cases, when a circuit is closed, current flow on both sides is exactly the same.

The difference between the two sides of the circuit is only that one -- the "hot" side -- has power behind it, potential energy (voltage) seeking a place to go. The reason that old drill made me do the hoochie-koochie under my house that time was that missing ground prong on the plug allowed the "hot" side to be connected to the magnesium drill case and when I grabbed it, my body provided a path to ground. I'm alive today because the human body is a pretty shitty conductor of electricity. But while I was jittering around under that house the current flowing into my hand was exactly the same as the current flowing out of my back and into the ground -- and back again into the drill (AC). The amount of that current would be difficult to calculate, and probably varied quite a bit as I thrashed around trying to get away from the damn thing...  :P :P :P But at any given moment, the current entering my body precisely equaled the current leaving it.

Quote from: tbone0106 on January 02, 2011, 08:27:49 PM
I think we're saying the same thing, but in different ways!  :P :P :P

Based on the wiring diagrams, this unit would do nothing whatsoever whether the circuit was open or closed, because both terminals are connected to the same thing. You could disconnect the service out at the pole and this hunk o' junk would work just as well. But it's interesting to consider that you could hook this thing up with both terminals to the "hot" side and it would still do nothing.

Alternating current is so named because of the process I described, where current flow alternates direction cyclically from "hot" to neutral/ground and back again. Direct current, on the other hand, describes a system like a car battery, where the current always flows one direction, from the anode to the cathode. In both cases, when a circuit is closed, current flow on both sides is exactly the same.

The difference between the two sides of the circuit is only that one -- the "hot" side -- has power behind it, potential energy (voltage) seeking a place to go. The reason that old drill made me do the hoochie-koochie under my house that time was that missing ground prong on the plug allowed the "hot" side to be connected to the magnesium drill case and when I grabbed it, my body provided a path to ground. I'm alive today because the human body is a pretty shitty conductor of electricity. But while I was jittering around under that house the current flowing into my hand was exactly the same as the current flowing out of my back and into the ground -- and back again into the drill (AC). The amount of that current would be difficult to calculate, and probably varied quite a bit as I thrashed around trying to get away from the damn thing...  :P :P :P But at any given moment, the current entering my body precisely equaled the current leaving it.

I think you need to reread the thread, thats exactly what I said.

I will do that, my friend... When I get a chance.  :P :P :P

Like I said, I think we both understand it, but we're saying it differently.

Vive la difference!

(Uh, I think that's French, but I sure wouldn't swear on it...)

Quote from: tbone0106 on January 02, 2011, 09:40:18 PM
I will do that, my friend... When I get a chance.  :P :P :P

Like I said, I think we both understand it, but we're saying it differently.

Vive la difference!

(Uh, I think that's French, but I sure wouldn't swear on it...)

I see where the misunderstanding came in.
I said the only time the neutral/ground is energized.
To expand on that, in the case of this POS equipment, a short in the house would be the only time this thing could possible receive energy, is what I meant to by the only time.

Think about it, you could stand there your entire life holding the neutral/ground buss, but unless there is an actual short, you would never receive current, and even then, you may or may not feel a thing.
But to expand even further, seeing how this unit is isolated to just the neutral/ground, it would still never be effected, which is as you pointed out, an obvious scam POS.

Quote from: Solar on January 03, 2011, 07:24:09 AM
I see where the misunderstanding came in.
I said the only time the neutral/ground is energized.
To expand on that, in the case of this POS equipment, a short in the house would be the only time this thing could possible receive energy, is what I meant to by the only time.

Think about it, you could stand there your entire life holding the neutral/ground buss, but unless there is an actual short, you would never receive current, and even then, you may or may not feel a thing.
But to expand even further, seeing how this unit is isolated to just the neutral/ground, it would still never be effected, which is as you pointed out, an obvious scam POS.

Even a short wouldn't make this thing work. As long as both leads are connected to the same side of any load, it ain't doin' shit.

You're correct, I could stand at the box with my fingers wrapped around the neutral/ground buss and be A-OK for all time. (Of course, I have other things to do...  :P) But as long as there was a load somewhere, current would be flowing through that buss -- captive current, contained by the least resistive path to ground. In fact, I could stand in front of that box and hold the hot buss and not be able to detect it also, as long as my body didn't provide a path to ground that the line voltage could force the current to follow.

Ever see those guys who do maintenance on high-voltage transmission lines from a seat mounted outside a helicopter? These puppies are energized at like 245,000 volts! The first thing they do before they start working is reach out with a special conductor probe and hook the wire that needs work, thereby "energizing" the chopper and everybody in it. (Makes one HELL of an arc!) As long as everything and everybody is at the same energy level -- as long as the voltage is exactly the same everywhere -- no current flows and no one gets shocked. As long as that lead is hooked on the wire, the guy doing the repairs can operate on the "hot" wire with his bare hands, using metal tools.

Quote from: tbone0106 on January 06, 2011, 01:25:10 PM
Even a short wouldn't make this thing work. As long as both leads are connected to the same side of any load, it ain't doin' shit.

You're correct, I could stand at the box with my fingers wrapped around the neutral/ground buss and be A-OK for all time. (Of course, I have other things to do...  :P) But as long as there was a load somewhere, current would be flowing through that buss -- captive current, contained by the least resistive path to ground. In fact, I could stand in front of that box and hold the hot buss and not be able to detect it also, as long as my body didn't provide a path to ground that the line voltage could force the current to follow.

Ever see those guys who do maintenance on high-voltage transmission lines from a seat mounted outside a helicopter? These puppies are energized at like 245,000 volts! The first thing they do before they start working is reach out with a special conductor probe and hook the wire that needs work, thereby "energizing" the chopper and everybody in it. (Makes one HELL of an arc!) As long as everything and everybody is at the same energy level -- as long as the voltage is exactly the same everywhere -- no current flows and no one gets shocked. As long as that lead is hooked on the wire, the guy doing the repairs can operate on the "hot" wire with his bare hands, using metal tools.

Yeah, as soon as I saw the schematic on this POS, I knew it was a total rip off.
Why are these people even allowed to sell this shit?

Quote from: Solar on January 06, 2011, 02:24:44 PM
Yeah, as soon as I saw the schematic on this POS, I knew it was a total rip off.
Why are these people even allowed to sell this shit?

Hehehe... I've got a piece of property in Arizona that has a view of the ocean... as soon as California slips out of the way.

Well, actually, it belongs to the daughter-in-law's boyfriend and there could be some legal issues....
:P :P :P