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

markin

Has this meter not got a menu to test the E7?

Seems the meter is brand new fitted in September 2023.

GibbsRule_No3.

born_again said:

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

No that was mine, I was asking if the fuse in Bambis main fuse box was okay. When my new NSHs were installed the electrician doing the fuse box did not add a fuse. I was just showing the different boxes I have.

Bambi12345

Tonight, both storage heater and water tank have turned on at the right time/started charging as usual. So positive in a sense!

I waited by the cupboard again and the clunk is definitely coming from the contactor. I recorded a video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvhBsR0jWmg

Towards the end of the video, I caught a weird crackling sound coming from the consumer unit. Obviously I'm not in the habit of listening to my consumer unit at changeover time so have no idea if this is normal or not. The crackling sound only lasted for around 30 secs, and the consumer unit is now completely silent. 

I'm thinking of getting an electrician out tomorrow to check the consumer unit just for peace of mind, but if anyone sees this would be grateful for immediate advice re. the noise from the consumer unit. If it's very worrying/a dangerous sign, I'll shut off the heater and water tank overnight and wait for the electrician to come tomorrow. 

Phones4Chris

Yes, do get an electrician out immediately to check that consumer unit. That sounds as if you had some electrical arcing. That could be dangerous and cause some overheating due to a bad connection.

MultiFuelBurner

Could just be some loose tails as the E7 switches over and everything on that circuit draws all it's start up power. (A lot of amps when all the storage heaters etc kick in)

Electrician is the safest course next.

QrizB

Another vote for calling an electrician.

Consumer units aren't meant to be noisy.

Bambi12345

Thanks everyone - I ended up shutting off the storage heater and the water heater last night for my own peace of mind, and will call an electrician as soon as it turns 9.

lohr500

As per above. Get an electrician to check the consumer unit urgently.

But at least by going through the checks suggested you have pretty much eliminated the possibility of a fault with the meter or the large relay and avoided a possible charged call out from E-On.

And in narrowing down the problem, you know what the electrician should be looking at and charging for 

MultiFuelBurner

Good video to show the electrician as well.

Gerry1

Well spotted: the loose connection is likely to have been the cause of the original problem as well.  A screw that's not tight will heat up under a heavy load. 

Repeated heating and cooling can create a ratchet effect which further loosens the screw and worsens the problem.

It's often experienced with the L & N pins of 13A plugs on washing machines, fan heaters, car chargers so it's worth checking them from time to time.