Leaking Electricity Meter

[khan_izabela]

Hi,

I have a question regarding leaking electricity meter.

Last month we had a leak of a black and smelly substance from pipes/wires around the meter. We called emergency and the guy told us that the meter itself is fine and that the leak is because of the pipes/wires overheating. He made something to fix it and said that it shouldnt happen again. Recently we can smell it again so i am a bit worried.

Todat I made a reading of my meter to pay mi bill and I have discovered that apparently I have used 500% more electricity than usually!!! It was a ridiculous! Instead of paying £20-£30 it seems like I will have to pay £200!!!

Can someone advise if such usage can be a result of meltin/leaking electricity meter? I am panicking a bit and I would like to know before I will call my supplier (just in case they would tell me its impossible I would like to be prepared!)

By the way - I am using electricity as I did before, I did not buy or install any new equipment, not even changed a light bulb in the mean time! and i checked the reading 5 times by now to make sure I didnt make any mistake! And I am living in London (British Gas is the supplier)

So what caused that usage? Can someone please advice?

Thanks.

Iza

 

[telectrix]

switch off or unplug all appliances, then see if you meter is still clocking up units. if it is, sounds like somebody has tapped into your supply, maybe in the attic? seen it before

 

[Darkwood]

your bill may have been re-calculated you need to check previous bills and see how the readings were taken if they all have (E) by the reading its means they are estimated readings, if then they came out and took an actual reading from the meter it may have been higher than their estimates hence you got a big bill, the black stuff sounds like a tar of some kind common in supply cables thats soften and leaked this can be due to cable getting warm but even a fault on this side of the meter shouldnt register on the meter, only if the fault or overheating cable occurs on your side of the meter would it give a possible higher usage reading than normal but usually the fuses/mcb's would see a fault like this.
Its strange that your cable is getting warm enough to soften the tar substance it would point to either loose connection or heavy loading on cable, how is you property heated ?

 

[rocker]

I believe arcing caused by the breakdown of insulation would cause some extra 'usage', don't know if this would be to that extent though.

As telectrix said, do you live near any dodgy people?

Did the engineer open up the meter to look inside it?

 

[Darkwood]

The black tar stuff sounds like the supply cable to the cutout this is well before the meter and any low insulation fault draining power wouldn't register on the meter, they would only know if they had another meter up-stream to monitor this property which is unlikely, but yes dodgy neighbours, dodgy meter guy its not unheard of have witnessed electric thiefs before myself.

 

[khan_izabela]

The electricity meter is placed under stairs next to gas meter. The property is heated by gas. The black thing leaking looks like some king of insulation on the wire coming into/out the meter. Its a pretty fat wire and the black thing is all over it. I am sorry but I dont think i can explain it properly...

We have reported it previously when the smell was very strong and the electrician came in. He said that there was something loose and that he fixed it and it should be resolved. However after 2 weeks the story is repeating and it smells again.

Neighbours... well I dont know. I am living in a flat and havent seen my neighbours doing anything strange...

I am just trying to investigate as my landlord is a bit lazy and I would like to make sure that I will not get burned sleeping!

 

[malcolmsanford]

Loose connections on a head would cause arcing and fire, then your pitch would leak as it burst into flames, but not a cause it to leak over a period of time.
The pitch weeping is a load issue as was said turn your CU off at the main switch and see if your meter is still registering. IMO there can not be a fault inside the installation that will cause an increase of consumption.

 

[telectrix]

i would get a local electrician in to advise, for the sake of a £40ish callout. he can then tell you what the problem is and if it's your landlord's responsibility, or your suppliers'

 

[IQ Electrical]

I would say it's highly unlikely that a fault could increase your meter reading by 500% without symptoms other than some black liquid.

Your best bet would be to call your supplier's emergency line and perhaps mention the smell of burning-that usually pushes them into action.

Make sure that you get a good explanation for the black liquid and then document the whole scenario in a letter asking for an explanation into the increased charges, also mention that no additional load has been added to your installation.

Keep us informed.....

 

[rocker]

If he's in flats, is it possible that his flat has a main head unit and the DNO guy has hooked the rest of the flats up to his meter?

 

[IQ Electrical]

If he's in flats, is it possible that his flat has a main head unit and the DNO guy has hooked the rest of the flats up to his meter?

That's a more plausible explanation than a fault but whatever, it needs to be examined by the DNO and I'd be watching over his shoulder like a hawk!