EDF saga the resolution.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I did keep my promise to call them every day, and finally they did find an English person who could book an appointment to get me off of their backs. Andrea he name was and the engineer arrived that evening and replaced the meter. Apparently the Engineer told me two things that they had not told me.

1 The communications, both data and phone from Manila to the UK had been flaky for some days, and 2 that there were only 2 engineers working in SE England since boxing day. I do question the logic of this. It had nothing to do with people isolating with covid, just bad planning. The actual hardware in the switching part of the meter was defunct. He had to fit a complete new smart meter. Would not one have thought that the module that does economy 7 switching would have been a module which was replaceable? Apparently this one in now is of different manufacture to the Toshiba one I had originally. I wonder how long this will last then. Brian

[newshound]

Oh well that is good news. I don't have a "feel" for how many fixers there are "on the ground" in this strange new world, particularly in holiday periods.

I'm sure commercial pressures have cut the numbers, OTOH I recall when I had my first phone line fitted in the 1970's the normal wait was a month, although I was able to get mine in a week because a GP friend moved in with us (after being kicked out by his wife). I imagine that was while the administrative wheels turned, rather than any limitation in the number of so-called engineers.

[Andy Burns]

That goes against current thinking ... build as much functionality into a single piece of equipment as possible, after all the smart meter already has a clock and one contactor in it.

Perhaps see what emergency contacts you can get hold of while you haven't got an emergency?

[Andrew]

There has been a ferocious cyclone over parts of the Phillipines

Switching big loads like storage heaters normally needs relays or 'contactors'. I am surprised that a smart meter has this capability inbuilt.

[charles]

Hight current relays don't have to be big.

[Andy Burns]

Andrew wrote: `

There is certainly a 100A contactor built into every smartmeter to allow disconnecting supply remotely, sounds as thought there's a second one in E7 capable smartmeters.

[Steve Walker]

There were all sort of delays then, for many reasons. My aunt and uncle have an (0161) 865-xxxx number, when their location dictates an (0161)

747-xxxx, 748-xxxx or 749-xxxx number. When they first moved in, they were quoted 9 months for connection - or 3 months for the 865 number.

[Tim+]

If only you had a gas boiler? ;-)

Tim

Brian Gaff \(Sofa\) snipped-for-privacy@bluey> I did keep my promise to call them every day, and finally they did find an

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

And one thing to add having it fitted has automatically generated yet another welcome to smart email. Its as if I'd not been on smart for all these months. Next week when the dust settles on the holidays, I'll need to call them and see if they are going to refund me for the daytime electric I used. I estimated its probably only about 30 quid over the amount I would have used due to the warm weather. Also, it looks like the meter display will not be giving me the usage back that was lost prior to the change so the evidence is gone at this end. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

All lines to to Manila apparently though I really should perhaps store the engineers mobile number but odds are its blocked except for calls from base. The main emergency number I used to have goes to UK power Networks a company created by several of the big energy providers but who runs it these days I do not know their remit as I say, only goes for dangerous gear and complete loss of power. ,they don't even have emergency numbers at any of the companies. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Well it does he says, and one suspects its that large load problem that shortens their life, I never hear a relay not even on the original non smart meter, so wondered if it some kind of semiconductor that is used. The original scrs latched on as I recall and hence dissipated very little, and to turn them of again just bypassed them with some other device, but as you say, I'm no fan of these devices either though zero voltage switching was done in dimmers they got through a lot of semiconductors if you had the wherewithal to be bothered to fix them when they popped on the first bulb that momentarily shorte out!

Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

It could of course be that the relay is separate I do not knoww, but the control signal to switch it on and off might be where the fault lay of course. At that time of night he was anxious to get home. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

why? I don't want anything to do with gas and hot pipes poked around the place. I don't have any gass, indeed there is now no usable pipe since when the came to do the plastic ification here they just left a stop end in the street. Brian

[Andy Burns]

Do they have a number for non-English speakers, often those are located in the UK

That would be used for total loss of supply.

[Martin Brown]

Failure of the meter to register is a billing issue though and that has to be the responsibility of the box shifter flogging the electricity.

And is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard in a real emergency. You tell the gatekeeping Dalek your tale of woe (yes, yes) and then spend ages waiting to talk to an advisor only to be cut off before you ever get to speak to a human. Northern Powergrid total failure.

Even reporting lines on the ground didn't do much good. They insisted that my village was *on* supply because too few people rang them up!

[Andrew]

People used to pay to get an inner London prefix if they lived in the next outer band.

[Andrew]

Apart from the extra leccy cost, they really should offer you some additional compensation for causing the situation at an important time of year.

Andrew

[Roland Perry]

In message <sqmtdp$1pf$ [e-mail], at 12:35:05 on Fri, 31 Dec

2021, newshound [e-mail] remarked:

When I had my first (ie installed for me in a house I owned, and not inherited from a landlord) phone line installed, in 1980, the wait was typically six months. But I agree that frontline health workers were bumped up to the top of the list.

[Bob Eager]

I had to have a second line installed for some consuktancy work. It took five days in the mid 1980s.

OK, the consultancy was for BT at Martlesham...