Smart meters (again?)

[Syd]

<SNIP>

How did you find out the polarity was reversed?

By using a socket tester similar to that in my previous post.

Something I do every time I move into a new home or change any sockets.

[simonineaston]

gave me evidence to get Western Power out to fix it.

Proudest moment of my life (well, one of them) was when the chaps from Western Power came to connect up my re-wired house, what I had done myself, and they had a quick look round and said it was a tidy-looking job

[Oldjohnw]

gave me evidence to get Western Power out to fix it.

Proudest moment of my life (well, one of them) was when the chaps from Western Power came to connect up my re-wired house, what I had done myself, and they had a quick look round and said it was a tidy-looking job

I understand that. 40 years ago I refurbished a semi-ruined cottage and did the wiring myself. When Scottish Power came to reconnect it was straightforward with no issues. I did it with a Reader's Digest manual.

A number of years later I had an extension built and the wiring was done by an expensive electrician. Scottish Power had to revisit three times.

[GranvilleThomas]

<SNIP>

How did you find out the polarity was reversed?

By using a socket tester similar to that in my previous post.

Something I do every time I move into a new home or change any sockets.

That's a good idea, not many people would think of doing that.

[PDQ Mobile]

And in much of Europe a two pin non-earthed appliance plug is extremely common on small tools lights etc.
Goes in either way!!
Seems to function.

[Syd]

And in much of Europe a two pin non-earthed appliance plug is extremely common on small tools lights etc.
Goes in either way!!
Seems to function.

Two pin, non-earthed are double insulated devices. Removes a number of risks.

[kwackers]

And in much of Europe a two pin non-earthed appliance plug is extremely common on small tools lights etc.
Goes in either way!!
Seems to function.

It's really the same in this country - or would be if the earth pin didn't enforce a physical standard.
Most devices don't care which way round they're plugged in and most small stuff doesn't have an earth lead.

I did have the weirdest fault once, so weird I had to get an electrician to look because I couldn't work out what was happening.
Basically the RCD tripped. When I tried to reset it then it tripped again, so I turned off all the circuits, reset the RCD and turned them on one at a time. When I got to the kitchen the RCD tripped again so I turned the kitchen off and reset the RCD and it tripped again.
After a bit of fiddling around I discovered it would randomly trip whenever I turned a circuit on - so I might be able to turn on the kitchen or I might not.
Even weirder if I turned on a circuit it might be fine unless I turned on a device on that circuit which then might (also randomly) trip the RCD.

So basically turning anything on may (or may not) trip the RCD.

I pulled the front off the consumer unit and spent some time looking for live to earth shorts and couldn't find anything obvious even though some of the readings really didn't make any sense.
In the end I went to bed and called the electrician.

They spent a couple of hours in the house and finally found the fault - an earth to neutral short in a socket I didn't know existed because it was behind a wardrobe. (Why it waited years before deciding to short out who knows).

Once you realise it's an earth to neutral short then it makes sense but I'd never seen one before.


Prior to this I did fix an issue whereby occasionally when it rained the RCD would trip - spent ages checking outside lights etc and eventually discovered whoever had built the house had run an armoured cable under the drive to the front gates where it was coiled up under an hedge presumably waiting to be used for electric gates or something.
All fine and good - but it was live as well as unterminated!
(It seemed a handy thing for the future so I just fitted an isolating switch and turned it off).

[paddler]

<SNIP>
Not uncommon to find ring trip faults on phone extensions behind cabinets or beds, especially if the occupants slept with the windows closed.

Dave

[[XAP]Bob]

Earth to neutral faults are interesting to diagnose...

[mercalia]

some tales of woe

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/experts/article-8867797/My-smart-meter-wont-work-told-fixed-updated-do.html

[kwackers]

For those who can get smart meters - tonight's prices (Octopus Agile)
Bear in mind this is a tariff that tracks wholesale prices - which means not too long ago they couldn't even give the stuff away and ended up paying folk to use it.

If you can choose when and how to use electricity it's a no brainer - the downside is that between 4pm and 7pm tomorrow the price varies between 24p and 32p so you definitely wouldn't turn the oven on then.

If I had a pumped storage system I'd be rubbing my hands in glee right about now...

[bigbloke]

I have consulted for one of the Smart Meter operators in a previous employment and
worked on the submission for one of the companies that bid for the contract to provide
the solution.

I don't have one! , I don't need one. There is only one reason I would have one and that
is if they offered to replace the meter cupboards at the same time (its knackered)

As to the real reason they are needed - its simple - energy supply is a commodity - right now
those that plan power stations for the future have zero idea exactly how much the UK is really
consuming and that makes planning future power supply systems ruddy difficult!

In the Shetlands as part of the Northern Isles New Energy Scheme, they took a different approach
their systems control demand rather than measure consumption. As memory serves, this is because the
generator used is approaching 50 years old.

Regards

BB

[PDQ Mobile]

For those who can get smart meters - tonight's prices (Octopus Agile)
Bear in mind this is a tariff that tracks wholesale prices - which means not too long ago they couldn't even give the stuff away and ended up paying folk to use it.

If you can choose when and how to use electricity it's a no brainer - the downside is that between 4pm and 7pm tomorrow the price varies between 24p and 32p so you definitely wouldn't turn the oven on then.

If I had a pumped storage system I'd be rubbing my hands in glee right about now...

Capture.PNG

01:00 -01:30 appears on the list twice.
With two different prices?
-9.05 and -1.29

It is a very strange short-term tabulation.
One set of times is reversed!

Do you sit there watching it and switching stuff on and off?

Or preprogram to charge your "motor" when the price falls below a certain level?

Either way it looks difficult to be sure!!!

[kwackers]

01:00 -01:30 appears on the list twice.
With two different prices?
-9.05 and -1.29

Why do you think that is?
(Hint - something happens tonight)

Do you sit there watching it and switching stuff on and off?

Or preprogram to charge your "motor" when the price falls below a certain level?

Nail, head (my bold).

Easy enough, just plug the car in. The charger is already set up to make use of cheaper than free lecky.
I only have to do anything special if I need it fully charged the next day and thus don't care about the cost.

I did have to change the program for my wife's kiln.
I built the controller for it back in 2004 (apparently) and Agile meant it makes sense to fire it overnight - often at different start times depending on cost.
So I had to dig out the source code and add a start timer to it (a clock would be better but that means extra hardware since I never designed it with one in the first place).

[PDQ Mobile]

01:00 -01:30 appears on the list twice.
With two different prices?
-9.05 and -1.29

Why do you think that is?
(Hint - something happens tonight)

I dunno! Your birthday?

If the clocks change there's still only 01:00 to 01:30?

And then lower down times are reversed?
Back to the future?