testing to see if upstairs is leeching off my meter

[a1]

You picking on my Mate? X(

I have the Direct number for the "Don's Boys".

 

[kme]

You picking on my Mate? X( I have the Direct number for the "Don's Boys".

OOOOOOH. Scared Big Big now!!!!!!

So solly massa.

Memsa`hib good massa!!!

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........................Yeah, Right!!!!!!

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Do I look scared?

( can we have a "schwartzenegger" smiley please? This post would look much better with one:x:x:x:x:x:x)

And on that note, I shall bid you all a fond "goodnight".

Hope you all have a pleasant day today; and a happy, relaxing weekend.

cuafta

Martyn

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Even if its proven that your electricity was being stolen by upstairs, its not B Gas problem. So get this sorted ASAP. Don't turn off your consumer unit to check usage , as this would also turn off anything upstairs is nicking. Just try switching off all your own bits and look at the meter for the disc spinning or red light flashing..

Something does not sound correct here anyhow. The storage heaters electricity would be shown separately from the normal electric on your bill. It may say 'Day' or 'Normal' and 'Night' or 'off Peak' for the two rates on your bill.

Where are the meters and fusebox. Are they in your property or in a common area ?

 

[billkruse]

Switch everything off in your flat, record/observe the meter reading, check the meter the following day.Don

See, that doesn't do anything if everything's off in his flat also. It often is, I htink, he's not there a lot. Or, more specifically, if maybe it's just one thing that's bleeding though and that one thing isn't on. I did turn everything off at my main fuse one night, turned the main fusebox off overnight, but of course the fact that the meter didn't (digitally) move doesn't prove anything as something could be in line before the fusebox. And as Matey upstairs says, if his heaters went off, overnight, and went on next day again, he probably wouldn't even notice because they're slow to respond either way.

BB

 

[billkruse]

Ahem - all this clamp metering and so forth - is it legal for me to try this? Don't I need to be an electrician, legally speaking? I wonder at the advisability of tampering, or appearing to tamper, with what is already a suspect installation.

Anyhoo, I'm getting the landlady to have a safety inspection from BG prior to getting a proper sparks in, see what we find. I've been talking to BG's Escalation people, who have access to more info than the front-line complaints people. They're at something of a loss to explain how I can be being charged what I am. I'm on the click energy tariff and I'm using 10 units a day regularly at the moment. I mean, do the math That's about a quid or so a day. I'll keep digging.

BB

 

[billkruse]

Even if its proven that your electricity was being stolen by upstairs, its not B Gas problem. So get this sorted ASAP. Don't turn off your consumer unit to check usage , as this would also turn off anything upstairs is nicking. Just try switching off all your own bits and look at the meter for the disc spinning or red light flashing..Something does not sound correct here anyhow. The storage heaters electricity would be shown separately from the normal electric on your bill. It may say 'Day' or 'Normal' and 'Night' or 'off Peak' for the two rates on your bill.

Where are the meters and fusebox. Are they in your property or in a common area ?

Red light flashing... that's how you tell if it's going fast or not, isn't it? When the techie guy came to install the check meter, he commented that the original meter seemed to be going fast. He couldn't have seen the display from where he was, he was bending down to get into the under-the-stairs cupboard. He said it slowed down as he was watching it, and he said this as he was bending down.

How often should the red light flash? Once a unit is used? One hundred times a unit is used?

Yeah, you're dead right about it all not being right. As for the configuration of the bill... I'm not sure, it's a DD. It's now a cancelled DD. I'll ask for a breakdown of the last bill. My meter's under the stairs here with the fusebox, his meter used to be against a wall upstairs but they may have moved it when they refurbed, I don't know.

Mind you I'm going round and round without getting more tested. I'll go get that letter off to the landlady.

BB

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

See, that doesn't do anything if everything's off in his flat also. It often is, I htink, he's not there a lot. Or, more specifically, if maybe it's just one thing that's bleeding though and that one thing isn't on. I did turn everything off at my main fuse one night, turned the main fusebox off overnight, but of course the fact that the meter didn't (digitally) move doesn't prove anything as something could be in line before the fusebox. And as Matey upstairs says, if his heaters went off, overnight, and went on next day again, he probably wouldn't even notice because they're slow to respond either way.BB

If something is connected after the meter but before the fusebox..

you would see the physical wires branching off,,,

probably with some henley blocks?

Thats assuming you can see your meter & fusebox & the direct link between then i.e. they are not either sides of a wall!?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Ahem - all this clamp metering and so forth - is it legal for me to try this? Don't I need to be an electrician, legally speaking? I wonder at the advisability of tampering, or appearing to tamper, with what is already a suspect installation.Anyhoo, I'm getting the landlady to have a safety inspection from BG prior to getting a proper sparks in, see what we find. I've been talking to BG's Escalation people, who have access to more info than the front-line complaints people. They're at something of a loss to explain how I can be being charged what I am. I'm on the click energy tariff and I'm using 10 units a day regularly at the moment. I mean, do the math That's about a quid or so a day. I'll keep digging.

BB

All perfectly ok..

A clamp meter (I think KME put a link to a picture of one earlier?)

is just a test meter that will read any current flowing down a cable.

It doesn't involve touching any LIVE parts,

or opening up any connectors or boxes etc..

All you do is loop it around one of the accessible big wires from meter.

It has a spring loaded loop at the top which you just open & clamp it around the cable... (hence general definition.. 'clamp meter')

All perfectly puka & legal..

Probably one of the safest sort of meters to use cuz you don't need to touch any bare exposed live wires!

What part of the country are you in Billkruse?

 

[billkruse]

The part men call Surrey

BB

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

If it was my flat i would turn off everything of my own and whack a 1000v megger across the installation a few times .

 

[kme]

Star thought. I think that is definitely "scoob-worthy!"

 

[steptoe]

If it was my flat i would turn off everything of my own and whack a 1000v megger across the installation a few times .

I LIKE THIS MAN.

its times like this you wish you could get a step up transformer for this very purpose. ] ]

or you could always get someone to feed in some reverse polarity.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I would rather put 2 phases across it. Could be possible if its flats. In the Victorian parts of North London most houses have a 3 phase head.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I LIKE THIS MAN.

In that case you can have your scrap back

 

[Mr Sworld]

Slightly off-topic but..........

One of many rental flats I used to live in had a really annoying upstairs family. Used to return at 1am and decide to party. Didn't mind it on Fridays and Saturdays (weekend after all) but weekdays........!

Noooooooo............!

However, their main fuse was in my flat(!). So noisy night and the fuse was whipped out until they 'when round to a mates coz the electrics keep cutting out!' :^O

 

[billkruse]

Yes but then you know what you're talking about regarding this stuff. Anyway, him upstairs offered to pay the difference when we first found out about all this but I said it would be best to get it all sorted out properly.

I ordered a safety check yesterday only to be told by two departments that there's no such thing as a safety check. Typical BG. So I've now ordered that the duff meter be removed, I'm told by Escalation that it will be replaced on a like-for-like basis. I asked about this (without saying why) as I'm concerned that they'll sneak in a key or card meter. I still am actually, I'll have to watch for that when the engineer comes on the 24th. We tried to have this done by getting the landlady to do it but BG won't deal direct with her, they'll only deal with me myself direct. Security, they say. Fair enough, I say. And let's face it, if I was having problems with the landlady then that could work in my favour.

I had two bills from BG last week, same account, one for just under

 

[billkruse]

The BG man came today to read the meter. That's a good thing as I had the reading witnessed yesterday so it'll all tie in with the daily readings I've been giving BG.

BB

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

The BG man came today to read the meter. That's a good thing as I had the reading witnessed yesterday so it'll all tie in with the daily readings I've been giving BG. BB

 

[billkruse]

I may do some more, let me know what you want to see.

BB

 

[billkruse]

All the cables loop off into the ceiling. It looks impossible to determine where they go after that without ripping the ceilings out. This is why we have meters and so forth, I suppose. All I can think of to test it is to turn the fusebox off here and then check his heating upstairs to see if it still has power. Any comments?

BB