I’ve just had a Kaisa MA329b Smart Meter fitted. Has anyone been able to find a user manual for this model?
The OVO Engineer said he wasn’t given any information about this meter type, so couldn’t help.
Solved
Kaifa MA329b Smart Meter manual
Best answer by HexhamUser
Updated on 05/12/25 by Abby_OVO
I managed to get some information from Kaifa about a different meter (MA120) which has a similar display/interface to the MA329B. I hope this description might be of use to others with this meter.
To add some information to the image posted by
The display normally scrolls through a number of items with a 10 second delay between each item. The set of items is configurable by the supplier, but the default set is: Current Time, Current Date, +A value , -A value.
+A is the total accumulated number of units (kWh) used from the grid. If you have Economy 7 (dual rates), +A is the total of the peak and off-peak units used.
-A is the total accumulated number of units exported back to the grid (e.g. if you have solar equipment that can export excess solar).
Icons on the Display
Snipping a part of
L1, L2, L3: show the three phases are active. If you are exporting on one of those phases, the L for that phase will be blinking.
L: This is currently showing Low energy consumption. It could also be M or H for Medium or High consumption. I don’t know what the ranges are for those three bands of consumption.
The “hat” icon: This shows the state of the electricity supply. The version in the image above indicates the supply is on and normal. A version of this icon without the two vertical lines indicates either disconnected, or if flashing, ready to connect.
T1: This is indicating which tariff is in use (see later). The value could be T2 is you have dual rates.
The “hat” icon without the vertical lines before the £ sign: I don’t know what this represents.
£: Currency unit.
J: If on, the meter is connected to the network. If blinking, the meter is joining the network. If the J is replaced by a blinking S, the meter is searching for the network.
->: This can be pointing in a number of directions. Taking
User Keys K1 and K2:
A short press is pressing the key for less than 2 seconds. A long press is greater than 2 seconds.
K1: Short press: 1st press - activate LCD backlight; 2nd press - change from Scroll mode to Menu mode. Each press after this will move the cursor up one line.
K1: Long press: In Menu mode, selects the item being pointed to by the cursor >. Return back to the previous level when cursor is on “Return” item in menu.
K2: Short press: 1st press - activate LCD backlight; 2nd press - change from Scroll mode to Menu mode. Each press after this will move the cursor down one line.
Taking Total Accumulated Energy Use Meter Readings from the Meter
These are the +A and -A readings discussed earlier and that appear during the automatic scroll through items. To read them from the meter:
- When the CD backlight is on and items are scrolling, short press K1. This will enter the menu system and display a list of items.
- With the cursor (>) next to item >General Display, long press K1 to enter the menu system associated with this item.
- With the cursor next to item >Basic Data, long press K1 to enter this item.
- The +A value is then displayed, i.e. the current accumulated energy imported from the grid (in kWh) since the meter was installed.
- Short press K2 to move down to the -A value, i.e. the energy exported since the meter was installed.
- There are other data items, but not relevant to this section.
- When you wish to exit, long press K1 which will return you to >Basic Data. Scroll down using K2 until you get to the menu item >Return. Long press K1 will activate this item (i.e. return you to the previous level, which was the auto scrolling). Alternatively, the menu system will eventually time out and return to scroll mode.
Taking Economy 7 Energy Use Meter Readings from the Meter
- When the CD backlight is on and items are scrolling, short press K1. This will enter the menu system and display a list of items.
- With the cursor (>) next to item >General Display, long press K1 to enter the menu system associated with this item.
- Press K2 to move the cursor down to item >Tariff Matrix.
- With the cursor next to item >Tariff Matrix, long press K1 to enter this item.
- With the cursor next to item >TOU Register long press K1. You will then see a list of the TOU (Time of Use) registers for each rate. Economy 7 will just use T1 and T2. In my system T01 is Peak usage, T02 is Off-peak usage. The readings show the total accumulated energy use (kWh) for that rate.
- When you wish to exit, long press K1 which will return you to >Tariff Matrix. Scroll down using K2 until you get to the menu item >Return. Long press K1 will activate this item and return you to >Basic Data. Scroll down using K2 until you get to the menu item >Return. Long press K1 will activate this item (i.e. return you to the previous level, which was the auto scrolling). Alternatively, the menu system will eventually time out and return to scroll mode.
The 329B is a 3 phase meter so not a common install.
+9- Super User
Hi
Thanks. I’d seen that thread. It seems a bit surprising that OVO don’t have a manual for this model?
+9- Super User
Thanks. I’d seen that thread. It seems a bit surprising that OVO don’t have a manual for this model?
They probably have an engineering (or installer) version which is likely to be restricted.
I did find this site
Thanks again. Strange that it is only on that site. I’m not keen on having to register and then cancel the subscription fee (to get a “free” download). I wnder why Kaifa don’t make the manual available.
+8- Super User
We might be able to help you here anyway.
Was there anything in particular you wanted to know? We’ve got ways to get tons of info so with a bit more insight into what you’d like, we can dig deeper for you.
I did try Kaifa directly, but they said they don’t have any official guides and Ovo should help!
Thanks
+8- Super User
Gotcha. I might be able to get you something useful, but this may take a while.
You OK to hang in there for a few days?
+4Hey
I’ve also took a look to see if I could locate a manual but had 0 luck! I’ve asked internally to see if I can make any progress on this for you. I’ll come back with an update as soon as I can 😊
Thanks
Kaifa's business model is B2B so we only provide documentation to our business customers (Energy Suppliers). Our documentation is very detailed and holds proprietary technical information which is only shared under NDA, or to our customers who have contracts with us.
It is the Energy Supplier's responsibility to write user manuals for the products they supply, and this way it can be branded with their logo and contain their contact information.
+4- Super User
Kaifa told me today:
It is the Energy Supplier's responsibility to write user manuals for the products they supply, and this way it can be branded with their logo and contain their contact information.
That's an interesting take on things.
Doing it that way means that you will end up with different (but similar) user manuals from each supplier rather than one 'standard' user manual.
You can see why they do it - it costs Kaifa nothing, whereas each supplier then has to pay someone to produce and maintain their own version of a user manual.
(And it looks like no supplier has done that yet for the MA329b).
+4Hey
I agree with
+9- Super User
Just a note that I’ve never seen a manual from any supplier, just sometimes a page on how to take readings
+7- Super User
The repository at SmartMe is incomplete, but often helpful. I see they’ve added the Aclara SGM 1400 series manual at some stage - it wasn’t there when I needed it last year. Their Kaifa collection is pretty sparse.
+9- Super User
The 329B is a 3 phase meter so not a common install.
With Kaifa their software generally allows a regular scrolling of the display to be able to view the various registers required for readings.
im really struggling to find much literature about the Kaifa 3 phase unfortunately…
I did see another question about the ‘J’, the J is for when the meter has joined the HAN, solid J indicates it is connected.
Hi
Thanks for coming back with an update. We appreciate you trying.
Updated on 05/12/25 by Abby_OVO
I managed to get some information from Kaifa about a different meter (MA120) which has a similar display/interface to the MA329B. I hope this description might be of use to others with this meter.
To add some information to the image posted by
The display normally scrolls through a number of items with a 10 second delay between each item. The set of items is configurable by the supplier, but the default set is: Current Time, Current Date, +A value , -A value.
+A is the total accumulated number of units (kWh) used from the grid. If you have Economy 7 (dual rates), +A is the total of the peak and off-peak units used.
-A is the total accumulated number of units exported back to the grid (e.g. if you have solar equipment that can export excess solar).
Icons on the Display
Snipping a part of
L1, L2, L3: show the three phases are active. If you are exporting on one of those phases, the L for that phase will be blinking.
L: This is currently showing Low energy consumption. It could also be M or H for Medium or High consumption. I don’t know what the ranges are for those three bands of consumption.
The “hat” icon: This shows the state of the electricity supply. The version in the image above indicates the supply is on and normal. A version of this icon without the two vertical lines indicates either disconnected, or if flashing, ready to connect.
T1: This is indicating which tariff is in use (see later). The value could be T2 is you have dual rates.
The “hat” icon without the vertical lines before the £ sign: I don’t know what this represents.
£: Currency unit.
J: If on, the meter is connected to the network. If blinking, the meter is joining the network. If the J is replaced by a blinking S, the meter is searching for the network.
->: This can be pointing in a number of directions. Taking
User Keys K1 and K2:
A short press is pressing the key for less than 2 seconds. A long press is greater than 2 seconds.
K1: Short press: 1st press - activate LCD backlight; 2nd press - change from Scroll mode to Menu mode. Each press after this will move the cursor up one line.
K1: Long press: In Menu mode, selects the item being pointed to by the cursor >. Return back to the previous level when cursor is on “Return” item in menu.
K2: Short press: 1st press - activate LCD backlight; 2nd press - change from Scroll mode to Menu mode. Each press after this will move the cursor down one line.
Taking Total Accumulated Energy Use Meter Readings from the Meter
These are the +A and -A readings discussed earlier and that appear during the automatic scroll through items. To read them from the meter:
- When the CD backlight is on and items are scrolling, short press K1. This will enter the menu system and display a list of items.
- With the cursor (>) next to item >General Display, long press K1 to enter the menu system associated with this item.
- With the cursor next to item >Basic Data, long press K1 to enter this item.
- The +A value is then displayed, i.e. the current accumulated energy imported from the grid (in kWh) since the meter was installed.
- Short press K2 to move down to the -A value, i.e. the energy exported since the meter was installed.
- There are other data items, but not relevant to this section.
- When you wish to exit, long press K1 which will return you to >Basic Data. Scroll down using K2 until you get to the menu item >Return. Long press K1 will activate this item (i.e. return you to the previous level, which was the auto scrolling). Alternatively, the menu system will eventually time out and return to scroll mode.
Taking Economy 7 Energy Use Meter Readings from the Meter
- When the CD backlight is on and items are scrolling, short press K1. This will enter the menu system and display a list of items.
- With the cursor (>) next to item >General Display, long press K1 to enter the menu system associated with this item.
- Press K2 to move the cursor down to item >Tariff Matrix.
- With the cursor next to item >Tariff Matrix, long press K1 to enter this item.
- With the cursor next to item >TOU Register long press K1. You will then see a list of the TOU (Time of Use) registers for each rate. Economy 7 will just use T1 and T2. In my system T01 is Peak usage, T02 is Off-peak usage. The readings show the total accumulated energy use (kWh) for that rate.
- When you wish to exit, long press K1 which will return you to >Tariff Matrix. Scroll down using K2 until you get to the menu item >Return. Long press K1 will activate this item and return you to >Basic Data. Scroll down using K2 until you get to the menu item >Return. Long press K1 will activate this item (i.e. return you to the previous level, which was the auto scrolling). Alternatively, the menu system will eventually time out and return to scroll mode.
The 329B is a 3 phase meter so not a common install.
+9- Super User
Many thanks for taking the time on this
We need to find an easy tag to store and be able to recall the detail for other users.
+8- Super User
Easy peasy! Some Say the Forum Moderators have a tool hidden deep in the toybox for this exact thing. :)
+4Hey
This is really helpful!! Thanks for sharing it with us. Would you mind if I created a full article from it and we can share it so that it’s easier to find? Any more information you have you could either post in here or drop me a message and we can build on it.
Hi
Sure, take whatever you need from the post, if that’s the best way to make it available for others. I haven’t got any more information that I can check for correctness (e.g. using the meter in prepayment mode), but post any queries here.
I have just had a KAIFA SMART Meter Type KA329B installed to replace my old RTS Metet and Time Switch.
Engineer said he had no user manuals and could not tell me who would provide them or where I could get them.
He switched the power on and told me it would work in exactly the same way as my old meter
I.e. My dual tariffs remained the same and that in about an hour from switching ON, I would be able to se the meter readings and my energy usage data displayed.
It is now over 24 hours and so far I can only see the display changing with following information only
- Local Date
- Local Time
- +A Value 000005KWh
- -A Value 000000KWh
Towards the bottom of screen there is ‘T1’. With no no other information provided, I guess it represents ‘Tariff-1’
I cannot see any actual meter reading values.
Also the remote display terminal only displays one usage value whilst I should be seeing two values.
Has anyone got any information on workings of this model of SMART meter on a domestic 3 Phase Supply and Economy 7 Tariffs?
I did raise my concerns with OVO in writing well in advance of meter change, but their answers have been conflicting from a fuzzy cloud. In short deflecting the question.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
+8- Super User
The full user manual for that model is unfortunately unavailable - Kaifa refused to release it publicly.
Please bear with us, we’ll do some digging but this may take a little time.
+9- Super User
Hi
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