Electricity meter is running after I've turned the electricity off at the mains

[Deleted User]

Abingdon_Chris wrote: »

The meter readers identify the failed ones but the ones that are mis-reading are not detected unless someone queries the reading. The suppliers first reaction is, unsurprisingly, that it's extra consumption.
The onus is on the consumer to detect the mis-reading meter. It seems as though switching off the supply at the main board and then looking to see if the meter is still flashing is a reasonable and simple test? Is that true, you meter experts? Watching for a couple of minutes should suffice?

I ll be watching out for this meter flashing in vacant properties, it causes enough trouble going blank constantly for no reason. This fault could be much more widespread , it can pass unnoticed

Consumerist

Abingdon_Chris wrote: »

It's a Ampy Metering 5235A dated 2007. Looks like the OPs is the same? I wouldn't be so sure though that all these digital meters have similar components inside, so it may not be limited to one type?

These things often turn out to be faults common to a batch so the date of manufacture is probably a good clue to whether the meter might be in the same batch as other faulty meters.

We seem to be hearing a lot these days about problems with a batch of one meter or another. Another good reason to read meters at frequent intervals to quickly spot sudden unexplained increases in meter readings.

brewerdave

...oh goody -just had my leccy meter changed ...............they have fitted a Landis + Gyr 5235A -guess I'm going to have to keep a VERY close eye on it:(

Abingdon_Chris

Eventually got a check meter fitted. The check meter is confirming my own energy monitor readings. The original meter is adding around 6kWh/day to our actual consumption. It's pretty easy to confirm the meter is faulty - with the supply to the house off, the check meter shows a steady red light (as opposed to the periodic flash as it logs the consumption when the electricity supply is on) where as the faulty meter continues to flash once every 14 seconds (equivalent to the 6kWh/day it's adding to our consumption).

macman

Don't rely on a domestic energy monitor to give accurate results, they are notoriously inaccurate at low wattages.

polymaff

Abingdon_Chris wrote: »

Eventually got a check meter fitted. The check meter is confirming my own energy monitor readings. The original meter is adding around 6kWh/day to our actual consumption. It's pretty easy to confirm the meter is faulty - with the supply to the house off, the check meter shows a steady red light (as opposed to the periodic flash as it logs the consumption when the electricity supply is on) where as the faulty meter continues to flash once every 14 seconds (equivalent to the 6kWh/day it's adding to our consumption).

Pretty conclusive, Chris. Now for the compensation. £1 per day for N years, just for the overcharging?

joeblack9

The black box is the main service cutout which houses the main fuse.ie the cable coming from outside and this black cutout is owned by the distribution company.
So electric comes from the power stations into your property to the cutout and is protected by a fuse inside.then a live and neutral cable is wired into the electric meter and a live and neutral cable leaves the meter ie the 2 grey cables and are connected to your fuse board ie consumer board.

MeterMan

espresso wrote: »

Absolute rubbish!

Stick to reading meters as you obviously do not understand basic electricity and your post is unhelpful.

I have actually witnessed first hand that when the CU was off, the meter was 'alive' and when the CU was on, the meter when blank. Technically the opposite of what sacs said, but anything is possible.

I found that there was no potential difference between phase and neutral, SPEN where out the next morning with the pavement and street dug up fixing it.


As for OP. Ring your supplier, tell them you have a dodgy meter. When the engineer turns up to replace your meter, tell him to make sure he does his '11th, drop test' to ensure there isn't a bypass.

Definition of a bypass is that it avoids the meter otherwise what is the point?

The L&G ampy meters do get a lot of blank screen issues, but rarely do they record electric usage when none is passing through. I suspect the issue is somewhere in your property. A loose connection within the consumer unit could cause electric to continue flowing through.

jp456

Hi - the original issue regarding this post has now been resolved. The meter was tested by BG and found to be running 87.5% too fast at a low load. The meter has been replaced and I have been suitably compensated. This only happened on Monday - took ages to resolve it. I hope this thread has been helpful to others and thanks for the help.

I would add that the new meter has me using between 5 & 7 kWh per day depending on what's being used - quite a bit different to 24 kWh per day...

Abingdon_Chris

Glad to hear you are sorted. We both seem to have the same experience with this type of meter. Still would be interested in how many more there are out there that haven't been reported!

It would appear easy to check by switching off the house supply and seeing whether the meter shows a constant red or continues to flash? Don't know why supplier didn't suggest this.