UK Electricity meter problem

[LukeD]

Either you have a circuit you dont know about due to it been used by "next door" etc . I would be pulling the main fuse out .See if the neighbours start looking around !


Yonks ago A clients sister bought a flat in London, terrible place and never worth 50% of what she paid . 3 flats all developed . turned out developer owned ground floor and the other 2 flats supplied his electrics ! His mate had been crafty with the wiring . Seen other flats where they have spurred off a ring and used it etc.

 

[brianmoooore]

Put everything on both fuse boxes in the down (off) position, not just the main switches, and see if that stops the meter.

 

[mainline]

Put everything on both fuse boxes in the down (off) position, not just the main switches, and see if that stops the meter.

Ok I’ve turned off every switch in the fuse box. Could the RED message on the meter be anything to do with the water heater electrics being worked on? A new water heater was fitted but required a bigger fuse and new wiring which was fitted into a spare socket in the fuse board.
The red lights are still flashing after everything is turned off.

 

[brianmoooore]

OP says they've turned off every switch. We don't know if that's the three labelled as switch, or absolutely everything. That RCD could conceivably be wired as a fourth main switch.

 

[pc1966]

OP says they've turned off every switch. We don't know if that's the three labelled as switch, or absolutely everything. That RCD could conceivably be wired as a fourth main switch.

If it is that convoluted the OP really, REALLY, needs to get someone in to sort it out!

 

[mainline]

OP says they've turned off every switch. We don't know if that's the three labelled as switch, or absolutely everything. That RCD could conceivably be wired as a fourth main switch.

Read post #13 onwards

 

[brianmoooore]

Read post #13 onwards

I have, and post #16 tells me that the CU has been 'played with' since it's original installation, and that the person who made the changes might even have been a plumber.

 

[pc1966]

...the person who made the changes might even have been a plumber.

Indeed, someone competent has to check it!

 

[mainline]

I have, and post #16 tells me that the CU has been 'played with' since it's original installation, and that the person who made the changes might even have been a plumber.

Or he may have been an experienced electrician.

 

[brianmoooore]

Indeed, someone competent has to check it!

the fact that power is being drawn through the meter when it shouldn't be demonstrates that this is self evident, but in the meantime, it would be helpful to the OP if we could discover just how and where this power is being drawn, and whether it's bad wiring or something more sinister.

 

[Rockingit]

Absolutely needs checking out for a dodgy circuit or faulty meter but there’s another third option, too…. Conceivably, if an outgoing Live tail from the meter was poorly terminated and a conductor was ‘shorting’ onto the brickwork/concrete/whatever it’s not impossible that current is flowing back to the TN point - nobody would ever know as the Ra would be significant but Ohms Law remains the same.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

there’s another third option, too…. Conceivably, if an outgoing Live tail from the meter was poorly terminated and a conductor was ‘shorting’ onto the brickwork/concrete/whatever it’s not impossible that current is flowing back to the TN point

It's hard to visualise a fault of this nature using so much juice without making itself immediately apparent. If I read the post correctly the meter registers 20 units each night so the fault would have to be dissipating a few kW, which would rapidly burn out. I would think that only an actual heating appliance, or a circuit feeding someone else's property, could consistently rack up that kind of consumption.

Definitely needs expert investigation and as mentioned above, a detailed step-by-step record made and nothing changed initially. There could be financial and legal advantages to keeping all the evidence intact until any resolution with the supplier or other parties is completed.

 

[pc1966]

To be wasting 1kW would be difficult to ignore unless it was in to some buried conductor and no RCD on that circuit, then you could be seeing 4A go endlessly with little evidence other than toasted worms.

 

[mainline]

It's hard to visualise a fault of this nature using so much juice without making itself immediately apparent. If I read the post correctly the meter registers 20 units each night so the fault would have to be dissipating a few kW, which would rapidly burn out. I would think that only an actual heating appliance, or a circuit feeding someone else's property, could consistently rack up that kind of consumption.

Definitely needs expert investigation and as mentioned above, a detailed step-by-step record made and nothing changed initially. There could be financial and legal advantages to keeping all the evidence intact until any resolution with the supplier or other parties is completed.

He's also got the added benefit of posting on here.

The only logical thing is theft, probably done years ago, nobody would have noticed another added storage heater to their bill.

 

[Davephoto]

Small update, i’ve had an electrician come out to do the electric safety test and PAT test on the flat and while he was there he checked the electricity meter and confirmed that no electricity was coming out of the meter so it appears the fault is within the meter, once again I’m in the hands of SSC, still waiting for the electrician.

 

[littlespark]

OK... so you need to prove how long this has been faulty for. Have you recently bought the place, and not moved in?
Have you got previous readings that you know should be zero?

 

[brianmoooore]

Wouldn't happen with an old style analogue meter with clock dials. So much for progress.

 

[pc1966]

That is a good start, but did they see the meter incrementing (i.e. flashing) while no power on the tails? Just in case it is an intermittent load (or someone knows they are being investigated!)

 

[Davephoto]

All I can say is the council come round to check the flat was empty so I could get vacant occupancy on the council tax 3 months ago, plus the lettings agent has also seen it vacant and the electrician said he would put in writing that no electricity was coming from the tails. As a side note the consumer unit had to be changed yesterday to a new unit to comply with the latest regs, I checked after the unit was changed 12 hours later and still the meter is going up.

 

[pc1966]

All I can say is the council come round to check the flat was empty so I could get vacant occupancy on the council tax 3 months ago, plus the lettings agent has also seen it vacant and the electrician said he would put in writing that no electricity was coming from the tails. As a side note the consumer unit had to be changed yesterday to a new unit to comply with the latest regs, I checked after the unit was changed 12 hours later and still the meter is going up.

OK that point to either a faulty meter or someone has very cleverly tapped in to the meter output tails.

Definitely time to get the supplier out to check/replace the meter.