Help-Faulty Electricity Meter

Zandoni

The index on an electric meter looks identical to a gas one and I can't for the life of me imagine how the last drum could turn black, I'd be very interested to see how this could happen.

A gas meter has little transfer pinions between each drum and a small peg turns the next highest number after a complete revolution, I'd like to know why an electric meter would be different.

SAC2334

Zandoni said:

The index on an electric meter looks identical to a gas one and I can't for the life of me imagine how the last drum could turn black, I'd be very interested to see how this could happen.

A gas meter has little transfer pinions between each drum and a small peg turns the next highest number after a complete revolution, I'd like to know why an electric meter would be different.

If you are baffled who worked for years examining gas meters with a similar barrel type index  cannot explain the mystery blank section then the mystery stays a mystery.
Normally a 9 will follow on immediately from an 8 almost touching , and likewise the zero following on from the 9  .So where does this blank space appear from ? 
I have exactly the same Sangamo Weston meter and it operates as all the analogue gas and electric meters do.
This event is not that uncommon.  I reckon on average I d come across one a week on my rounds (reading up to 2000 meters a week ) which had stopped due to the blank which needed the old thump on the side to get it moving again .

 I ve got one of my old photos of one on my laptop . The others will still be on my old camera memory cards along with a host of various fiddled meters  I would come across.  It differs a little from the  one by QrisB   showing the blank in that I can t see the remnants of the last number at all.
On that photo  shown by QrisB it looks to be an 8 .
A question which should be aimed at Sangamo Weston. Over the years this fault would have cost suppliers millions in lost revenue all over the UK.  

Zandoni

SAC2334 said:

Zandoni said:

The index on an electric meter looks identical to a gas one and I can't for the life of me imagine how the last drum could turn black, I'd be very interested to see how this could happen.

A gas meter has little transfer pinions between each drum and a small peg turns the next highest number after a complete revolution, I'd like to know why an electric meter would be different.

If you are baffled who worked for years examining gas meters with a similar barrel type index  cannot explain the mystery blank section then the mystery stays a mystery.
Normally a 9 will follow on immediately from an 8 almost touching , and likewise the zero following on from the 9  .So where does this blank space appear from ? 
I have exactly the same Sangamo Weston meter and it operates as all the analogue gas and electric meters do.
This event is not that uncommon.  I reckon on average I d come across one a week on my rounds (reading up to 2000 meters a week ) which had stopped due to the blank which needed the old thump on the side to get it moving again .

 I ve got one of my old photos of one on my laptop . The others will still be on my old camera memory cards along with a host of various fiddled meters  I would come across.  It differs a little from the other one  showing the blank in that I can t see the remnants of the last number at all.
On that photo it looks to be an 8 .
A question which should be aimed at Sangamo Weston. Over the years this fault would have cost suppliers millions in lost revenue all over the UK.  

Perhaps there is something else in there, a backstop for instance, I’m not sure that’s a thing with electric meters.
Obviously the numbers on each drum must be there all the time as you say, this black area must drop into sight for some reason. When you thumped the meter did the black area drop down?

SAC2334

Zandoni said:

SAC2334 said:

Zandoni said:

The index on an electric meter looks identical to a gas one and I can't for the life of me imagine how the last drum could turn black, I'd be very interested to see how this could happen.

A gas meter has little transfer pinions between each drum and a small peg turns the next highest number after a complete revolution, I'd like to know why an electric meter would be different.

If you are baffled who worked for years examining gas meters with a similar barrel type index  cannot explain the mystery blank section then the mystery stays a mystery.
Normally a 9 will follow on immediately from an 8 almost touching , and likewise the zero following on from the 9  .So where does this blank space appear from ? 
I have exactly the same Sangamo Weston meter and it operates as all the analogue gas and electric meters do.
This event is not that uncommon.  I reckon on average I d come across one a week on my rounds (reading up to 2000 meters a week ) which had stopped due to the blank which needed the old thump on the side to get it moving again .

 I ve got one of my old photos of one on my laptop . The others will still be on my old camera memory cards along with a host of various fiddled meters  I would come across.  It differs a little from the other one  showing the blank in that I can t see the remnants of the last number at all.
On that photo it looks to be an 8 .
A question which should be aimed at Sangamo Weston. Over the years this fault would have cost suppliers millions in lost revenue all over the UK.  

Perhaps there is something else in there, a backstop for instance, I’m not sure that’s a thing with electric meters.
Obviously the numbers on each drum must be there all the time as you say, this black area must drop into sight for some reason. When you thumped the meter did the black area drop down?

Zandoni said:

SAC2334 said:

Zandoni said:

The index on an electric meter looks identical to a gas one and I can't for the life of me imagine how the last drum could turn black, I'd be very interested to see how this could happen.

A gas meter has little transfer pinions between each drum and a small peg turns the next highest number after a complete revolution, I'd like to know why an electric meter would be different.

If you are baffled who worked for years examining gas meters with a similar barrel type index  cannot explain the mystery blank section then the mystery stays a mystery.
Normally a 9 will follow on immediately from an 8 almost touching , and likewise the zero following on from the 9  .So where does this blank space appear from ? 
I have exactly the same Sangamo Weston meter and it operates as all the analogue gas and electric meters do.
This event is not that uncommon.  I reckon on average I d come across one a week on my rounds (reading up to 2000 meters a week ) which had stopped due to the blank which needed the old thump on the side to get it moving again .

 I ve got one of my old photos of one on my laptop . The others will still be on my old camera memory cards along with a host of various fiddled meters  I would come across.  It differs a little from the other one  showing the blank in that I can t see the remnants of the last number at all.
On that photo it looks to be an 8 .
A question which should be aimed at Sangamo Weston. Over the years this fault would have cost suppliers millions in lost revenue all over the UK.  

Perhaps there is something else in there, a backstop for instance, I’m not sure that’s a thing with electric meters.
Obviously the numbers on each drum must be there all the time as you say, this black area must drop into sight for some reason. When you thumped the meter did the black area drop down?

On this meter there s no backstop .Its a meter which runs backwards when solar panel users are not using too much  electricity  on a sunny day , so it starts to take off  units .Yet another revenue loss to the suppliers .Meter readers won t spot this unless they see the metal barrel spinning in reverse , neither will the occupiers .

There is a  Youtube vid showing  it in action running backwards , same meter ,Sangamo Weston analogue and the older  dial meters do it too.

TBH I don t really know if it drops down or up as it all happens so quick after the thump on the side .

Reading is  say, 6399blank  suddenly becomes 64000 and the meter starts registering as normal.
 It may do it again   when two 99s align   or it may never do it again .

I have been back to a property where I d restarted it and it was stopped again three months later on next quarterly read 
Somewhere on my old camera memory card is a  vid of myself   showing me thumping the side and  dislodging the blank and restarting with the zero appearing  and working as normal .

krissy08

Thank you so much everyone. I have learned a lot- `I will now proceed by not mentioning the word faulty as advised and give my readings as they are and let them work it out