No Economy 7 electricity supply - both storage heater and water heater stopped working?!

QrizB

Gerry1 said:

Was the clunk definitely from the contactor?

And is the plastic case of the contactor slightly warm to the touch (it should be, they usually dissipate a couple of watts when active)?

Phones4Chris

On one of the Meter screen shots it's showing usage of 00589, on another screenshot it's showing 00000.
The display is probably cycling through the registers, but there should be at least two with readings, possibly three.
One being Peak, one being Off-Peak and maybe the third is total.
I'm asking because 00589 is maybe quite low usage for it being a few months old.

lohr500

As per @QrizB suggestion, check to see if the large white box is slightly warm at some point before the off-peak period ends.

I would also repeat the test this evening just after 22:30, but this time place your hand on the large white box. Just to be 100% sure it is the large white box that makes the clunk like @Gerry1 has asked.

The reason for this is that there are two relays in the system.

One inside the smart meter which clicks when it sends power down the thin blue wire to the large white relay box.
The second inside the large white box itself.

If there is no click coming from the large white box then that is definitely where the fault is. In this case contact E-On as my understanding is that the relay box is their responsibility unless anyone can tell us otherwise.

If the click is coming from the large white box, then the fault is either in your consumer unit/fuse box or with the large white box. In this case I would call out a local electrician first to check that there are no problems with the connections inside the consumer unit. I say this because I am rightly or wrongly assuming that the cost of calling out E-On for them to tell you there is nothing wrong with the large white relay will be more expensive than getting a local electrician to check the consumer unit wiring first.

Bambi12345

Thanks all! I think the clunk came from the small white box near the meter, but I'll watch again tonight and pay closer attention. 

However, there was a very interesting update overnight. Before I went to bed I turned off the storage heater, as I figured it was a lost cause. I kept the in-home display next to me and around 0:15 I noticed it was flashing amber, indicating high energy usage. I hadn't turned anything on so left bed to investigate. I found that the off-peak switch was glowing red, and the tank had started to warm up! This was very unexpected but obviously not unwelcome. 

I then went to the living room and tried turning on the storage heater. This time, the off-peak switch glowed red and the heater seemed to be charging up. 

I then went back to bed but kept a close eye on the in-home display, which continued to show high energy usage for half an hour before dropping off to almost nothing at around 0:45 (so overall it seems like there was off-peak supply for half an hour). I left bed to check what had happened, and sure enough the indicator light had turned off at the water tank and at the storage heater. I checked the consumer unit, and as before no switches had tripped. 

When I woke up, my in-home display showed a typical cost that would correspond to how much energy I'd use when both devices were working (jumping by around £1 from when I checked before I went to sleep), which makes me think the Economy 7 must have reactivated after I went to bed. 

So overall very, very odd! Was wondering if anyone has any theories on what could be going on based on this new information?

Gerry1

You may well have switching times such as 2230-0030 and 0230-0730 GMT which is used in the South Eastern region and elsewhere.  My RTS has a label stating the times are ± 15 minutes.

Bambi12345

Gerry1 said:

You may well have switching times such as 2230-0030 and 0230-0730 GMT which is used in the South Eastern region and elsewhere.  My RTS has a label stating the times are ± 15 minutes.

Yeah but I'm very confused over why this would just start happening now? Before the red indicator lights would come on/devices start charging at 22:35 or thereabouts, in line with when the meter switched to displaying T2. It's also very weird that there would be zero overnight charging for a few days and then it would suddenly start working again last night...

Gerry1

The contactor or the meter relay may be intermittent or the cable may have a loose connection.  It may even be temperature dependent.

Give the contactor a gentle thump with a fist and see whether it turns on !

born_again

Is this a follow up to a previous thread?
As the picture with the red tape on looks familiar.

Bambi12345

born_again said:

Is this a follow up to a previous thread?
As the picture with the red tape on looks familiar.

No this is the first time I've posted on this forum. The picture with the red tape was posted by someone else as an example, so it's not my CU. 

QrizB

Intermittent faults are a pain in the posterior to diagnose. If it keeps happening, you're likely to need an electrician and/or a visit from a meter technician.