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Helz
Rank 2
December 17, 2024
Solved

Prepayment smart meter stopped communicating! Am I going to go off supply?

  • December 17, 2024
  • 16 replies
  • 704 views

Hi , I'm hoping for any assistance I can get with my pay as you go kaifa smart meter. 

Firstly I noticed the IHD stopped giving electricity info 10 days ago. Contacted ovo by web chat and the assistant said they had "unjoined and rejoined" meanwhile I had to switch the IHD off for 30 mins. This didn't work so Immediately started another chat ,told by another assistant that the IHD should be switched off for 24hrs. Didn't work either. 

Wondered if by any chance I could find out what credit I had or perhaps top up by the meter itself so I had a look (it's outside the property ) and found the display only showing inaccurate local time. Didn't shuffle through any screens only showed me the wrong time. Got no reaction from any of the buttons but the lights were flashing every 5 secs. Started another chat with ovo, established that the electricity meter wasn't communicating with either of us and that I wouldn't see an engineer till end of Feb at the earliest unless I'm out of credit. So just a few insights would be useful whilst I wait for the lights to go out. 

1. Would the none disconnect hrs apply to my situation if the meters showing half past one in the afternoon?

2. Would the emergency credit automatically trigger during the night like my old traditional meter.

3. Is there any way I could restart the meter? Ovo's troubleshooting section shows nothing for the meter I have.

T.I.A

 

Best answer by Emmanuelle_OVO

Updated on 29/07/25 by Ben_OVO

 Thank you so much Blastoise & ​@Lukepeniket_OVO for stepping in here 😊 

I just wanted to add the following for any other community members with similar issues that might find themselves on this topic:

In this short video we'll show you how to top up your electricity credit on your Secure meter. You'll need your Unique Transaction Reference Number (UTRN) which can be found on your receipt or confirmation email. Then just follow the steps in the video.

 

 

 

16 replies

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
December 17, 2024

Hi ​@Helz ,

You should still be able to push top-ups through manually via the UTRN Codes you receive when you buy credit. If you show me photos of the Meter(s), I’ll grab the guides you need - these WILL keep you on-supply.

EmCr will trigger regardless of Meter type.

You can’t restart the Meter yourself - that requires an Engineer visit.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
    H
    Rank 2
    HelzAuthor
    Rank 2
    December 17, 2024

    Thanks for the quick reply. I'll grab a pic.

     

    H
    Rank 2
    HelzAuthor
    Rank 2
    December 17, 2024

    I was sent info about manual top up but if the meter doesn't respond when I press the buttons ??

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    December 17, 2024

    Gotcha! Let me grab ​@Lukepeniket_OVO in that case, just in case he knows any tricks.

    But it seems like this might be a tricky fix. Hang in there for a bit!

    Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
    H
    Rank 2
    HelzAuthor
    Rank 2
    December 17, 2024

    Much appreciated 🙏 

      Blastoise186
      Super User
      Blastoise186Super User
      Super User
      December 17, 2024

      No worries. I get the feeling the entire Meter might be dead and gone into a Failsafe state. If it has, your power should remain on at this time, but you will probably be asked to repay what you use later. Make sure to keep some money available just to be safe!

      Just in case we get any Naysayers or the Anti Smart Meter Brigade coming along, I do want to make one thing clear. This is NOT a fault exclusive to Smart Meters. We’ve seen this happen quite a few times on Traditional Prepayment Meters and in actual fact it happens on more Trad Prepay Meters than it does on Smart Meters. It’s actually only the second or third time we’ve ever seen a fault like this on the Forum affecting a Smart Meter - which is exactly why I asked Luke to swing by. By contrast, IIRC we must have seen a couple of hundred Trad Prepay Meters in Free Vend Mode on the Forum by now...

      Any Meter can fail - Smart or otherwise! DO NOT try to use this as a case against Smart Meters because it doesn’t prove anything!

      Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
        L
        OVO Staff
        Lukepeniket_OVO
        OVO Engineer
        December 17, 2024

        Dm'd you ​@Helz.

         

        I'll organise a maintenance visit. To get the meter fixed. 

         

        OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader
          L
          OVO Staff
          Lukepeniket_OVO
          OVO Engineer
          December 17, 2024

          ​@Helz I'll get someone to contact you tomorrow to organise a visit. 

           

          If in the meantime there is an issue and you go off supply please call the CS number to get it sorted.

           

          Cheers

          OVO Operations Excellence Manager and Former Field Operations Team Leader
            H
            Rank 2
            HelzAuthor
            Rank 2
            December 17, 2024

            No worries. I get the feeling the entire Meter might be dead and gone into a Failsafe state. If it has, your power should remain on at this time, but you will probably be asked to repay what you use later. Make sure to keep some money available just to be safe!

            Just in case we get any Naysayers or the Anti Smart Meter Brigade coming along, I do want to make one thing clear. This is NOT a fault exclusive to Smart Meters. We’ve seen this happen quite a few times on Traditional Prepayment Meters and in actual fact it happens on more Trad Prepay Meters than it does on Smart Meters. It’s actually only the second or third time we’ve ever seen a fault like this on the Forum affecting a Smart Meter - which is exactly why I asked Luke to swing by. By contrast, IIRC we must have seen a couple of hundred Trad Prepay Meters in Free Vend Mode on the Forum by now...

            Any Meter can fail - Smart or otherwise! DO NOT try to use this as a case against Smart Meters because it doesn’t prove anything!

            To be fair I've scoured the internet for 10 days looking for anyone anywhere with the same prob,found nothing.

              H
              Rank 2
              HelzAuthor
              Rank 2
              December 17, 2024

              ​@Helz I'll get someone to contact you tomorrow to organise a visit. 

               

              If in the meantime there is an issue and you go off supply please call the CS number to get it sorted.

               

              Cheers

              Thanks so much! And yes I definitely will.

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