Faulty Gas Meter Help

seagullboy1

Hello all,

I am hoping someone within the Meter world can confirm some things about my siemens E6s gas meter. We have been getting giant bills that we know we are not using. Since we have complained about the amount to Npower and given all the details about the gas meter. We have an old E6s gas meter that's battery hasn't been changed and the meter was installed in 1998.

Npower insists its our bill and our usage but they keep trying to replace the meter. We had an engineer down to replace it but I refused to let them take it as I believe its faulty. The engineer was kind enough to look over the unit and said that the battery is supposed to be replaced every 10 years or the unit is replaced but it was installed in 1998 so well out of date. He also pointed out that there is a letter 'd' at the end of my usage amount on the LCD screen which means major fault. Npower say there is nothing wrong with it (even though there engineer in confidence to me said otherwise) and ever since the moment I complained on the size of the bills Npower have been constantly writing to me to replace the meter, its as if they want to hide the evidence.

Is there a meter man/woman on here who can confirm the 'd' means fault and also any advice what to do next.

Thank you for your help.

C_Mababejive

The thing about the E6 series of meters is that they are inferential..i.e they do not positively measure the volume of gas passed. They infer the volume passed by virtue of the data supplied from an ultrasonic transmitter and receiver sited in a tube of accurate dimensions.

The unit is battery powered and the battery lasts quite a long time.

The letter D is known as a flag and indicates a problem of some kind.

If you are sure this meter is faulty then you should request an OFMAT meter accuracy test.

The meter will then be removed and sent to an independent OFGEM approved laboratory for assessment.

If it is found to be accurate then you will be billed for the test.

A lot of this type of meter are now being replaced as they have not been used for some time and so it may just be co-incidence that they are seeking to replace yours.

chanz4

Take reads every day at the same time, they should average out that's how you can tell. Also if the battery is low, it wont effect the hard meter reading.


Ofmat tests are okay, but do the above. Also technically they can if they used their brains use section 2b of the gas act the force a meter exchange. But npower staff that have taken over don't have a clue. Pm me and can tell you a lot of tricks

naedanger

seagullboy1 wrote: »

Is there a meter man/woman on here who can confirm the 'd' means fault and also any advice what to do next.

In addition to what the previous posters have said, I suggest you photograph the meter showing the letter d, as possible future evidence.

Then tell npower you believe, as the meter is indicating a potential fault, they have a responsibility to ensure it is independently tested at their expense.

(I can see why in certain circumstances a customer might be billed if a meter turns out to have been accurate all along. However in your case it is your supplier's, or their agent's, meter that is indicating a potential fault. In that circumstance I would argue that they should be liable for the cost of testing, regardless of the outcome. If they disagree I would be formally complaining, to the Ombudsman if necessary.)

chanz4

Doesn't work that way, and a battery can produce this fault

footyguy

seagullboy1 wrote: »

Hello all,

I am hoping someone within the Meter world can confirm some things about my siemens E6s gas meter. We have been getting giant bills that we know we are not using. Since we have complained about the amount to Npower and given all the details about the gas meter. We have an old E6s gas meter that's battery hasn't been changed and the meter was installed in 1998.

Npower insists its our bill and our usage but they keep trying to replace the meter. We had an engineer down to replace it but I refused to let them take it as I believe its faulty. The engineer was kind enough to look over the unit and said that the battery is supposed to be replaced every 10 years or the unit is replaced but it was installed in 1998 so well out of date. He also pointed out that there is a letter 'd' at the end of my usage amount on the LCD screen which means major fault. Npower say there is nothing wrong with it (even though there engineer in confidence to me said otherwise) and ever since the moment I complained on the size of the bills Npower have been constantly writing to me to replace the meter, its as if they want to hide the evidence.

Is there a meter man/woman on here who can confirm the 'd' means fault and also any advice what to do next.

Thank you for your help.

You think the meter is faulty, and it seems the supplier also thinks so (despite you suggesting otherwise) yet you wont allow it to be replaced? :huh: :eek:

You won't have any choice. The supplier will eventually be forced to obtain a warrant if necessary to replace the faulty meter. You will be charged accordingly.

Whilst you don't have a correctly functioning meter that accurately records your consumption, you will have great difficulty in challenging any bill.

They don't usually change the battery - they just swap the entire meter instead. For this reason, these meters are not installed very often, if at all, these days - don't be surprised if its replaced with a mechanical meter.

[Deleted User]

Siemans E6 credit meters do have battery exchanges.Got a friend who does this job all the time, he says " D " is error code for "catastrophic error, major event 6 to 12 months ". (also added that possibly meter has been taken off ! ) F would be displayed for a battery fail- 6 months remaining
I would nt expect a Npower call centre chappy to know these rare codes but I would expect him to get in touch with National Grid who would know these codes on Siemans e6 gas meters.

naedanger

footyguy wrote: »

You think the meter is faulty, and it seems the supplier also thinks so (despite you suggesting otherwise) yet you wont allow it to be replaced? :huh: :eek:

The OP is not objecting to the meter being changed per se, he is objecting to it being replaced without being tested.

You won't have any choice. The supplier will eventually be forced to obtain a warrant if necessary to replace the faulty meter. You will be charged accordingly.

The OP will not be charged to replace a meter. It is not his responsibility to replace it. If the supplier tries to get a court order to replace the meter he can explain his objection to the court. They will almost certainly side with him unless npower deny what others here have said, namely that a letter "d" indicates a potential major fault. A court would almost certainly agree the meter should be tested, at the supplier's expense, in such circumstances.

Whilst you don't have a correctly functioning meter that accurately records your consumption, you will have great difficulty in challenging any bill.

It is npower that will have the problem trying to collect charges based on a meter that indicates it has a major fault. In such circumstances, i.e. a faulty meter, the only sensible option is to go on estimates, and I would expect the estimates to err in the OP's favour (as he is not responsible for the faulty meter and was ignored when he first highlighted the problem).

Cardew

footyguy wrote: »

You think the meter is faulty, and it seems the supplier also thinks so (despite you suggesting otherwise) yet you wont allow it to be replaced? :huh: :eek:

.

Perfectly understandable in my opinion; I would do the same if I were convinced the 'giant bills' received were due to a faulty meter.


'Getting rid of the evidence' would suit Npower!

chanz4

This doesn't always mean there is something wrong with the recording, also a magistrate wouldn't block a warrant for access to change the meter for this reason. People are confussing debt warrants which are applied under the rights of entry act and not 2b gas act

naedanger

chanz4 wrote: »

This doesn't always mean there is something wrong with the recording, also a magistrate wouldn't block a warrant for access to change the meter for this reason. People are confussing debt warrants which are applied under the rights of entry act and not 2b gas act

I am not saying there is definitely a fault with the meter. I am saying there is sufficient reason to believe there may be a fault to require it to be tested at the supplier's expense.

If I was in the OP's position I would complain formally about npower's service. And after 8 weeks if I was not satisfied with their response I would be going to the Ombudsman.

Personally I find it shocking that npower is arguing a meter is fine (yet still wants to replace it without independently testing it) when it is showing a code that indicates a catastrophic error.