Meter Banging / Flickering Supply

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Hi Guys & Gals hope you can help me.
Weve had a flicker problem in our own house for a little while now. Over the past couple of weeks it has got worse now the meter will start banging the low/normal switch.

Symptons:
Intermitant flickering of supply both to lights and electric appliances.
Banging/switching of the Meter low/normal indicator (its a little arrow).

Observations:
Banging only seems to happen at night/early morning time and only lasts about a minute at most.
When extra appliances/lights are switched on the flicker seems to subside or go away.
Flicker is speradic and there is no set pattern.
Anything like a TV or PC Moniter or even the PC when switched on causes the flickering in both lights and power supply to appliances to last that little bit longer before it restores itself and then only flickers on occasion.

Actions:
Weve taken the fuses out of the board in different orders to try and narrow down the problem to a specific area but with no joy, it seems that it is a general overall problem.
Weve tried to Force the flicker by switching all lights on, PC on, TV on but it only seems to happen when it wants to.
Because the PC seems to cause the flicker (when the flicker decides to arrive) weve plugged the PC into both ring mains (with extention lead) and the same flicker happens on both of them.
Ive asked a neighbour, only one mind, if they have had any flicker problem and they said 'No'.

Im yet to contact an engineer to see if there is a problem at the local sub station.

My dilemma:
Im pretty confident that there maybe something wrong with the meter but if i call out the electric board they will charge £35 if the meter is not at fault.

What would you do?
or What would you have me do?

look forward to your replies. :confused:
 
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Hi Snaithsa,

If the meter is banging as you say then I would call an electrician straight away, especially since you say it's getting worse. I would not feel comfortable in my house knowing that the main meter makes loud noises and the lights flicker. To me it's not an obvious DIY problem and I would pay a professional to sort it properly. It could be that a large loaded appliance like a water heater is shorting when it's trying to turn on. But personally I'd take no chances and get it seen to properly.



OliveBranch
 
You mean a banging noise coming from electricity meter? Does not sound good to me.

Do I take it that you have a low/high rate electricity supply? I do not know what sort of arrangement you have got, but so far it sounds awfully like your meter is switching power from one circuit to another and making a right hash of it. Flickering is really not good.


Don't you just hate people who threaten you with large biils when something is a safety issue. Sue them the hell to death if your house burns down. Bet they have a get out clause though. How are you supposed to know if it serious or not?
 
Ive watched the Meter front while it 'bangs' or switches from low (night rates) to Normal (day rates) and it sounds alot worse than it appears. There is no flashes or sparkes or anything like that, it just appears that the Meter with the circulating disc has a bit of a fit, to me that says dodgy meter or maybe the electric board have a dodgy supply.
 
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I don't know how this thing is supposed to work, but I also do not see how your equipment could be affecting it. Sounds as though it is their problem.
 
cheers Dam thats reassuring and what i wanted to her.
Do you think its worth giving the Engineers call to see if there is a problem at the local station, or do you think the Electric Board guy will be able to pick this up?
 
snaithsa said:
cheers Dam thats reassuring and what i wanted to her.
Do you think its worth giving the Engineers call to see if there is a problem at the local station, or do you think the Electric Board guy will be able to pick this up?

As you are very unsure as to the cause yourself, I'd suggest telling them what you do know for certain, that is, describe the symptoms and the other details - what, where, when and extent - and keep quiet about possible causes.

For "where", think macro and micro - for instance, where is the meter located and from where on the meter does the sound appear to be coming? Repeat for your other symptoms.

Extent means find out which of your neighbours have noticed each of the symptoms in their homes. Clarify which symptoms each of your neighbours have seen. It is important to go further afield than your immediate next-door neighbours.

Looks like you have done a lot of this already.
 
Tell them you can hear a buzzing, crackling noise as well, and there's a funny smell.
 
get to the rec straight away and report it sounds as if metering devices are faulty or a loose connection on there side of the supply. RING THEM STRAIGHT AWAY .flickering sounds like a loose connection will overheat and may cause a fire if a meter goes on fire could burn your house down
ps are your smoke alarms working
 
Now theres a thought. Mr Electric Man is coming round this fri morning, we booked him in last week.
 
Well i took the day off work , as you do. At 10:00am a guy from SEIMENS came round saying that he was told we had a faulty meter switch that needed replacing, i told him the symptoms and he didnt even touch it and said oh! thats not what i was told. He then proceded to call call an electrician from the electric board. So at 2:00pm this electric guy came and did a few tests on the meter etc. and said oh! looks like its the line on the external wall, i'll call for a Linesman to check it out. So i waited till 6:45pm when a Linesman turned up and checked the meter and line and found the fault straight away, it was a joint on the over head cable that runs around my house, apparently it had burnt out and needed replacing, of which they did. They changed the fuse and switch in the meter as well as they were looking a bit tired. So alls good in the end.

Thanks you guys for your comments!

snaithsa
 

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