Smart meter installation issue

nobakup

I just had edf round who failed to install a smart electricity meter, the guy said he "couldn't find the power" and left. Can anyone tell me what he meant by that? Sounded ridiculous to me, its perfectly obvious where the power cables to and from the meter are, my flat has power to all sockets and lights, it has left me confused. 

JSHarris

nobakup said:

I just had edf round who failed to install a smart electricity meter, the guy said he "couldn't find the power" and left. Can anyone tell me what he meant by that? Sounded ridiculous to me, its perfectly obvious where the power cables to and from the meter are, my flat has power to all sockets and lights, it has left me confused. 

Is your meter in a services room within the building, along with all the other meters for the other flats?

This is a very common arrangement, particularly in larger blocks, where the DNO only run supplies into the one service room (often down in a basement if there is one, or the centre of the building). If so, then it's possible that he couldn't identify which supply cable and meter was yours.  Not an uncommon issue, especially with older buildings where the wiring has been changed about a bit over the years.

Any chance of a photo of your existing meter and incoming cable and fuse (please black out any personally identifying information)?  I should be able to make a good guess as to why the chap has said that he can't find the power from that.

QrizB

That's a new one on me!

If he'd said "couldn't find the signal", it would've made more sense.

Might he have said tower, not power, meaning the mobile phone tower?

nobakup

JSHarris said:

nobakup said:

I just had edf round who failed to install a smart electricity meter, the guy said he "couldn't find the power" and left. Can anyone tell me what he meant by that? Sounded ridiculous to me, its perfectly obvious where the power cables to and from the meter are, my flat has power to all sockets and lights, it has left me confused. 

Is your meter in a services room within the building, along with all the other meters for the other flats?

This is a very common arrangement, particularly in larger blocks, where the DNO only run supplies into the one service room (often down in a basement if there is one, or the centre of the building). If so, then it's possible that he couldn't identify which supply cable and meter was yours.  Not an uncommon issue, especially with older buildings where the wiring has been changed about a bit over the years.

Any chance of a photo of your existing meter and incoming cable and fuse (please black out any personally identifying information)?  I should be able to make a good guess as to why the chap has said that he can't find the power from that.

My meter is in my flat, see photo below

QrizB said:

That's a new one on me!

If he'd said "couldn't find the signal", it would've made more sense.

Might he have said tower, not power, meaning the mobile phone tower?

That's quite possible, I have excellent coverage on my mobile, but perhaps they're on a different network

QrizB

Ah, your photo raises another possibility.

In order to fit a meter, the installer has to isolate the power to the current meter. Usually that's done by removing the main incoming DNO fuse. But I can't see a DNO fuse anywhere in that photo.

Perhaps that's the power that he couldn't find?

nobakup

Ah OK, if that is the case do you know if its fixable or will I have to make do without a smart meter

JSHarris

Looks like it, @QrizB and that raises another issue as the incoming tails to that meter are way too small and ancient.  The meter's been replaced at some time, and someone has upgraded the PE conductors (they are no older than about 20 or so years) and the tails out to the CU.  I'm guessing that this is a looped incomer, fused somewhere else, perhaps the adjacent flat, so to isolate the power the main fuse needs to be located.  I strongly suspect that the tails coming in need replacing as well given their age.

Sailbad

Is that cover beneath the meter removable?
If you follow the leftmost wire from the meter it will lead to the main fuse. This is what the meter man needs access to.

JSHarris

nobakup said:

Ah OK, if that is the case do you know if its fixable or will I have to make do without a smart meter

It's fixable, just need to find the head, which for an installation of this age may well be either an extremely fragile (definitely DO NOT TOUCH - they just fall apart if you look at them the wrong way) black phenolic one or perhaps a ceramic one, maybe with a cast iron cover and asbestos cloth internally (again something to stay well clear of).  It's possible that the main fuse head has been replaced at some time, given that the wiring on the consumer side of the meter isn't that old.

Given the tails into the meter are very thin and old cables, I'm near-certain this is a looped supply.  If you are lucky there may be a main fuse head under that cover, but if not then I suspect it may be in a neighbours flat.  It shouldn't be far away, as what is now a 3m max length for unfused supply cables used to be (I think) 10ft in old money (and this installation pre-dates the switch to metric I think.  Do you know what's behind the wall where the meter is?  Is there a chance that it could be where your neighbours meter is?  If so, this might be a short loop through the wall and be fairly easy to sort out.

One thing to remember is that meter monkeys aren't usually fully qualified electricians, they are trained to do one job safely, isolate an incoming supply, do a dead test, swap meters over, torque the screws to the right setting, and make good, test and re-seal the meter and main fuse.  They aren't usually qualified or authorised to work on the incoming side of the installation beyond the meter connections, nor are they permitted to work on the consumer side, after the meter.

It may be that your supplier needs to get the DNO involved to sort the incomer out, but that shouldn't be a major problem, as in all probability that should be done free of charge on the basis of the age poor condition of their wires.

Swipe

Exactly this, the installer should have contacted the supplier who would then arrange any required work with the DNO. This is what happened when a smart meter installer came to replace my old mechanical meter only to find there were no neutral Henley blocks in place. They contacted the DNO who then came out to the work free of charge and a new smart meter appointment was subsequently scheduled.

nobakup

@JSHarris

There's nothing under the cover, the cables disappear into plywood, behind the meter is my bathroom and kitchen, my next door neighbour is on one side about 5 or 6 meters away, also flats above and below. 

Not sure what u mean by dno, do u mean the landlord will have to get involved? I'm in a block of council flats

Thanks alot for your response, appreciate it