The electricity meter in my new flat looks like its been tampered with. It has three large wires going into it. The red and black wires are connected, the grey wire is hanging free and looks pretty scary!
Anyone got any idea whether it is safe and what is the grey wire for, earth? I haven't been close enough to tell if its live!
Cheers
Tom
Ring them up and get them to come and check it ASAP.
When I moved last but once they came out to change the meter from a card meter to a proper one and the bloke said it was a good job as there's been something wrong with it like someone had attempted to fiddle it.
delivery
I don't know which them to ring yet. I tried manweb, the usual local supplier and they just told me they don't supply me.
Just not keen on accidentally frying myself in the meantime :-)
delivery
You need to talk to the distribution authority which should be written on the face of the meter. They are responsible for the installation upto and including the meter. Phone number will be in the local directory. The people you pay for the power is likely to be different and they won't be interested.
Bob
You can find out who supplies your electricity by calling the electricity distribution for your region. The numbers are listed below. Region Contact number Eastern England 0870 196 3082 East Midlands 0845 603 0618 London 0845 600 0102 Northern Wales, Merseyside & Cheshire 0845 272 2424 West Midlands 0845 603 0618 North Eastern England 0845 0707 172 North Western England 0870 751 0093 Northern Scotland 0870 900 9690 Southern Scotland 0845 272 7999 South Eastern England 0845 601 5467 Southern England 08457 70 80 90 Southern Wales 0845 601 5972 South Western England 0845 601 5972 Yorkshire 0845 330 0889
Hope that helps :)
Where in the country are you? If in doubt go to a local substation write down the number on the warning label and phone it. Have a look at
Awesome, cheers
Have you had a bill? Maybe you have fallen through the cracks in the deregulation and no supplier thinks they supply you = no bill...
It might be for economy 7 switching.
You shouldn't have red and black wires going to the meter anyway - they're supposed to have an outer sheathing (usually grey) over the red and black insulation.
Is this a new build flat, or new-to-you?
Owain
Take a pic of it and post a link via
Older tails had red and black sleeving. Plenty still around as they don't often give trouble.
0845 272 1212* - ask for a check for safety due to exposed wires at the meter.
Its irrelevant who the supplier is if you think there may be a safety hazard, and exposed wires ARE a safety hazard.
If you happen to have the name of the one who said they don't supply you, it could do with being taken further - no doubt it's someone on accounts who hasn't had sufficient training to understand the difference between paying bills and safety issues...
Feel free to drop me a line off-group if you still have no joy...
Not entirely correct Bob - the distribution company are responsible for the incoming supply as far as the cutout, and are empowered (nay required!) to render the supply safe irrespective of who the actual meter operator or supplier may be, even if that means bridging out a third-party company's meter to get a customer back on supply.
If the same REC happens to own the metering, there's a good chance the shift sparks will have a suitable replacement on the van and can sort it out at the same time - but I believe the ratio of REC owned meters on their own cutout is now about 9:1 (so there are now quite a lot of non-REC meters on the system within their own areas)
They should be, as it was them who nominated who the meter operator (aka MOP) was... this also needs flagging up as an issue with their own supplier if they tried them first, as they've blatantly ignored a safety issue. The customer should have been advised to contact the local REC.
On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:57:25 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)" mused:
New tails can have red and black outer sheathing as well.
New? - Brown Blue Black Grey Insulation/Identifier colours, usually with a Grey sheath ? Of course elsewhere in the world current colours could be different :-)
Tails from the cutout to the meter are "suppliers works" and don't come under BS7671. They can be any colour the supplier likes.
That explains things. My meter was moved from the cellar to the top of the cellar stairs before I bought this house and (I assume) the 'lecce board used 3 phase SWA, with the blue as the neutral and not sleeved black. And a right mess they made - rather than drill one hole through a joist they went all round the houses. When I rewired and fitted a new CU and tidied up the meter board I re-routed it, shortened the SLA by about 6 feet and sleeved it properly so the tails showing at either end were double insulated. Which probably breaks some reg or other. ;-)
Don't forget to give us an update!
On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:03:21 +0100, "Dave Plowman (News)" mused:
I doubt you'll find anyone who uses 'single phase SWA'.
Two core in all sizes to 16mm is stocked by TLC so I doubt it's that unusual.
But my comment was that it wasn't sleeved to the correct colours.
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