Why is my Secure Liberty 100 electricity smart meter beeping?

Hi @Jones and thanks for posting here on the Forum.

Where are you seeing the code E1 displayed?

Is it on the left side of the display on the electricity meter?

Yes!

1: OK. So that’s not an error code.

E1 refers to the tariff setting which is currently active. If you had Economy-7 between midnight and 7am, then it would read E2.

The adjacent arrow indicates whether your house is importing electricity or exporting back to the grid (eg with Solar Panels).

2: Yes, I’ve seen messages on a Smart Meter about credit, even though the home-owner was paying by direct debit. It was a Landis & Gyr meter recently installed by SSE, who are now owned by OVO. It’s odd, and I don’t understand why it occurs. But it doesn’t prevent the meter operating correctly. I’d call it a “benign” software bug.

3: And that leaves us with the beeping noise.

Is this continuous or is it a series of 5, 6 or 7 beeps which then repeats, for example?

What’s the interval between each beep?

Is it very long, like those smoke alarms that tell you the battery needs replacing by sending out a beep each 30secs?

Thank you!!’

yes, it has a single beep that lasts a second or so, then it stops for a minute and then goes again.

OK. So let’s check three other things:

a: on the electricity meter (ESME) display, is there a symbol of an envelope at the bottom edge?

b: what flashes are you getting from the LED indicators and in what colour?

c: is the message about credit/cost on the ESME screen all the time or only when you start pressing buttons? (The screen should usually display the usage in kWh)

As a bit of background information, these SMETS1 meters are currently receiving software upgrades “over the air” to upgrade them to SMETS2 capability. They will then be transferred from the proprietory network, under which they were installed, to the National Smart Meter Network.

Nothing you’ve written yet suggests that this work is connected to the faults you’re describing, but it’s at the back of my mind whilst we diagnose what’s happening.

And could you please complete the basic information on your Forum Profile page? That’s where we look for useful background data when answering questions here. Thanks.

Great advice and support in this topic!

@Jones quick check though, are you sure it’s the electricity Secure smart meter that’s beeping?

This topic outlines that a beeping Secure smart gas meter indicates low battery. This meter will need to be replaced. If it’s your your gas meter and it’s is making an electronic beeping sound, reach out to our Support team to confirm this and book in a free meter exchange.  We’re on Facebook, Twitter and our Help Centre has online chat. 

If your smart gas meter is making a strange sound that isn’t beeping, see this topic for what it is and what to do. 

Yes, I am 100% sure

Here’s some follow up questions you might’ve missed, @Jones - we’re here to advise when we know more info 

What’s the latest with this, any change? please complete this SMETS1 smart meter health check so we have allll the info to hand

I can’t find anything in the Secure Liberty electricity meter specification which suggests that it has an audible warning. I think this query has reached the limit of our available knowledge on the Forum. @Tim_OVO - can you please ask the S2 Team?

But this is a Secure Liberty 100 smart meter - pretty sure this will still be SMETS1…?

We’ve got months of this SMETS1 vs SMETS2 coming up haven’t we hahaha

Oh rats!

Sorry. What was on my mind was whether the beeping is possibly related to the manufacturer, Secure, have sent the SMETS2 upgrade code to this meter. You will recall that this came up in the video-dialogue you sent me a couple of months back. Secure have already been sending these upgrades OTA (Over The Air) before OVO starts the migration process.

I’m not even sure that the beep is indicative of a fault. It’s just as likely that it is a manifestation of the firmware upgrade status.

So has OVO got a Liberty S2 specialist who could check this?

Update. 
the beeping is now every 2 seconds 😩

my head is about to explode 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

i was told the meter would be changed today but now been told 23rd!  Not an emergency because we still have power.

Quite frankly, the customer service for your Spark Energy division is shocking!

Oh my goodness!

I’ve now found references to these Liberty meters having an audible alarm… but the only indications I can find for what might trigger it are:

• Low credit on a prepay meter (doesn’t apply in your case)
• Removing one of the covers, but that requires snipping a seal to get to the bolt which holds it
• Excessive magnetic fields in the vicinity

I’m pretty sure that there’s a maintenance code which can be entered on the keypad to stop the alarm sounding. @Tim_OVO - is there a possibility that an in-house S1 Engineer might be able to send such a code to @Jones ?

@Transparent thank you for trying to help. Really appreciate it x

@Transparent do you work for OVO? You should be sent to Spark to teach them customer service skills!!!!

i am waiting for a manager to call me. I have taken the day off work, but can’t go out just in case, although I know it probs won’t happen, there is a chance someone comes to help. Therefore stuck here with the beeping for company 🤯

No, @Jones  I don’t work in the Energy Sector. I’m a self-builder, as you can see from my partially-completed tutorials on underfloor heating!

All OVO staff have Forum Names with the suffix _OVO. That’s why I asked @Tim_OVO to get an answer from an internal engineer for you.

But I am a member of a community group who are part of the Transition Towns movement, and I’m continually seeking out engineers who won’t mind having technical discussions!

As the Government devolves more control over our energy strategy to community groups, it is inevitable that a Forum like this will attract people from an engineering background who would like to take practical steps to make better use of our renewable energy resources.

I don’t think the Customer Services Depts of Spark or OVO make good use of the technical expertise here. It would save them a lot of time if a customer could provide the reference to something we’ve already discussed or diagnosed here. Ultimately that saving gets reflected in our Bills.

Feel free to write to Spark’s Head of Operations and say how you feel. Anything which is a positive suggestion is going to receive a better response than (yet) another complaint. An online search for “Spark Chief Operating Officer” is probably the right level to aim for. (A Director is too high up the chain of command).

@Transparent thank you 🙂

@Tim_OVO please please can you help with a code??? I’m going crazy here 🤪

Hi @Jones I’m still trying to find an answer for this. 

My advice would be to reach out (once again) to Spark Energy. At this point, all OVO can do is give general advice on the meter you have and what this sound indicates (which I’m in the process of getting for you). It’s Spark that will need to understand this themselves, and agree with you a response which should be to replace the meter. 

@Jones please see my reply above, which I got from my S2 expert contact at OVO. 

Please reach out to Spark today to request a same day appointment. 

Thanks @Tim_OVO.

I’m really glad you’ve raised this issue here @Jones. It’s the first time on the Forum that we’ve heard of audible alarms from the Liberty meters. It’s clearly something we’ll be investigating further.

I’ve noted that the alarm changed in character (shorter off-period) from when you first reported it. I’ll be interested to discover if that was due to a second “fault” being detected, or merely that a certain amount of time had elapsed without the initial fault being addressed.

I’ve also found that there are SMETS Commands relating to alerts. This means it’s likely that an alarm response gets sent to your Energy Supplier if they’ve configured it to do so. I wonder if Spark have applied this function in your case, and (if so) what is their procedure for handling such incoming errors.

Feel free to copy any of this to Spark in future correspondence.

Thank @Tim_OVO 

i am still trying to get Spark to understand the urgency required!

i have just read them your comments and now on hold....

@Tim_OVO  Spark are saying not a safety issue. I’m nearly in tears here with frustration. I don’t know what to do.

It may not be a safety issue. But they haven’t provided you with enough information to know what is their diagnosis of the audible alarm… nor the change in periodicity. For that reason I can appreciate your frustration.

Two Spark website pages you may now wish to refer to:

Treating Customers Fairly has a list of aims which are worthwhile considering in light of your current experience

Complaints lists the (Ofgem approved) complaints procedure. Although they specifically request that you telephone, I would recommend using email because it gives you a time/date-stamped copy of what you write.  customerservice@sparkenergy.co.uk