New smart meter installation- Consumer unit now tripping

Hi @Banjoman ,

Bit of a tricky one I’m afraid. It may need another visit by another engineer later. Try letting OVO know this time next week and they might be able to give it another shot.

Hi @Blastoise186  !

Will do ----  it would be nice to know exactly what the fault is.  I would seem that OVO have no responsibility for making the system work as intended and they are too ready to blame and involve others.  When you get to a certain age, you can do without all the hassle !

Hard to say to be honest. The Comms Hub isn’t OVO’s property - it belongs to DCC instead. It might have been a faulty one but I can’t say for sure as I don’t have access to anything myself.

I’d love to know a bit more detail of the issue, @Banjoman. It’s odd to think that a smart meter communicating with another (via a home area network, HAN) could impact your consumer unit when the same meters not communicating wouldn’t. Perhaps @PeterR1947 can suggest something. For example, isn’t it more likely that the power getting shut off and reconnected has caused some devices to turn off and on again and one of them is the cause of the consumer unit tripping?

Disclaimer: we would always recommend you hire a professional electrician for advice on anything related to your consumer unit or the property’s electrics. 

Disclaimer: I’m NOT an electrician!!!

I have known at least one case where the process of swapping an electric meter caused consumer units to trip out and act weirdly. This turned out not to be anything to do with smart meters, but a consumer unit that didn’t like having power shut off and reconnected.

I can’t think of any reason why fitting a Smart meter would cause a CU to trip, unless of course the electrician connected something incorrectly which I think is unlikely.  As @Blastoise186 said, more likely to be a problem in the CU itself

Thanks Jeffus for the links which are very enlightening.   In my case, the RCBOs don’t trip --- only the RCD.  The engineer who installed the SM was from SSE and he knew about RF interfering with the CU.  However, when I talked to OVO they said they had not heard of it before. My RCD has never tripped in 23 years so it is pretty sure that it is because of the SM installation.  I am considering two possible actions :-

1. changing the RCD
2. Shielding the entire CU by an earthed dividing wall or outer earthed casing.

I have also raised a “complaint” with OVO but, considering their response so far, I am not holding my breath.

I am absolutely no expert, but in your situation i would change the RCD and not wait for any complaint to get processed. 

Nothing to loose pursuing the complaint now it has been raised, given the comment by the installer. Even if OVO end up issuing a deadlock letter you can always then leave it with the Energy Ombudsman. I suspect OVO are not liable if something in your home like a RCD needs replacing, but the Ombudsman will know when they rule. 

I was fascinated by this possibility, so I took to Google. It didn’t take long to unearth this: https://www.electriciansforums.net/threads/rcd-tripping-straight-after-smart-meter-install.200818/post-1783565

Interesting that example is SSE as well. 

Sounds like a sensitive device to me although the point about cabling is quite valid, especially with the type of device a meter now becomes