[WizzyWigg]

@JoeSoap @retrotecchie 😂😂😂😂😂

[JoeSoap]

@retrotecchie

That’s as bad, and funny, as my joke 😂

[JoeSoap]

Originally Posted by WizzyWigg

... saying that some indication to what they are thinking would be nice. Plus what they have in mind as a plan B. 🤔

Just to update things... I have held off booking the engineer visit so far. As you know Lee is investigating the issue and I'm expecting to hear in the next day or two as to whether this visit is really necessary or whether it was triggered by the smart team doing something during their investigation. If it's the former then I will have to make a decision. It can be difficult to get an engineer on site so I may have to take them up on the offer whilst it's there on a plate.

[WizzyWigg]

@JoeSoap

I think you are doing the right thing. Just means going back to pre-smart procedures and monitoring for the moment. Sharpen up that pencil 😂. It's interesting that they didn't have a problem updating my old SMETS1 steam powered setup but your more up to date SMETS2 has been a bit of a nightmare. Still I'm sure it's not going to be long before mine fails. 3G is being pulled all around us. Zero minus and counting. 🙃

[retrotecchie]

Originally Posted by WizzyWigg

@JoeSoap

It's interesting that they didn't have a problem updating my old SMETS1 steam powered setup but your more up to date SMETS2 has been a bit of a nightmare. Still I'm sure it's not going to be long before mine fails. 3G is being pulled all around us. Zero minus and counting. 🙃

I may be woofing up completely the wrong tree here, but something in the deeper recesses of my mind is niggling me. I have encountered a related problem myself with certain items of 'supposedly' reprogrammable equipment too and something is triggering little alarm bells in my pea.

I can't recall the exact make or model, but I'm sure there was a story a while ago about a car that needed a recall because there was a design fault in one of the semiconductors in the on-board electronics. The whole dashboard needed replacing because the memory chip that stored certain parameters from the vehicle 'died' after a certain number of writes.

In a normal world, meters should not need their registers reprogramming all that often. But over the last couple of years, price cap changes have moved from six-monthly to three-monthly intervals, deals are starting to reappear on the market again and tariff pushes are becoming far more frequent.

Something in my head is asking the question, is there something inside the electronics of a smart meter that only handles a certain number of data writes before it just 'locks out' and then refuses to take any more updates? Like DVD drives in computers that allow you to change the region up to five times but then stays on whatever the last change was.

It might sound a little 'out there' as a theory but it's not actually that unusual for 'fit and forget' electronics to have a degree of tweakability, but only for a certain number of changes.

I might be completely wrong, but it seems to be a possibility, from a technical viewpoint.

[JoeSoap]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

Something in my head is asking the question, is there something inside the electronics of a smart meter that only handles a certain number of data writes before it just 'locks out' and then refuses to take any more updates? Like DVD drives in computers that allow you to change the region up to five times but then stays on whatever the last change was.

Maybe I should let them change the meters if they want to... just in case 🤔. If the issues persist then it must be something their end (or in the middle). I just think that I have a good IHD in the Chameleon 3 right now and any new one might not be so good.

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by retrotecchie

I may be woofing up completely the wrong tree here, but something in the deeper recesses of my mind is niggling me. I have encountered a related problem myself with certain items of 'supposedly' reprogrammable equipment too and something is triggering little alarm bells in my pea.

I can't recall the exact make or model, but I'm sure there was a story a while ago about a car that needed a recall because there was a design fault in one of the semiconductors in the on-board electronics. The whole dashboard needed replacing because the memory chip that stored certain parameters from the vehicle 'died' after a certain number of writes.

In a normal world, meters should not need their registers reprogramming all that often. But over the last couple of years, price cap changes have moved from six-monthly to three-monthly intervals, deals are starting to reappear on the market again and tariff pushes are becoming far more frequent.

Something in my head is asking the question, is there something inside the electronics of a smart meter that only handles a certain number of data writes before it just 'locks out' and then refuses to take any more updates? Like DVD drives in computers that allow you to change the region up to five times but then stays on whatever the last change was.

It might sound a little 'out there' as a theory but it's not actually that unusual for 'fit and forget' electronics to have a degree of tweakability, but only for a certain number of changes.

I might be completely wrong, but it seems to be a possibility, from a technical viewpoint.

Do you know @retrotecchie that sounds like the most realistic explanation to date. 👍 Sort of inbuilt obsolescence come tamper proof-ish . Suppose it keeps the employment figures up. 👴

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by JoeSoap

Maybe I should let them change the meters if they want to... just in case 🤔. If the issues persist then it must be something their end (or in the middle). I just think that I have a good IHD in the Chameleon 3 right now and any new one might not be so good.

Interesting word "New"! 😯 Don't forget the IHD is free. 🤔 My cynical mind says the only way to get what you want might involve buying it yourself. 👴

[JoeSoap]

Originally Posted by WizzyWigg

Interesting word "New"! 😯 Don't forget the IHD is free. 🤔 My cynical mind says the only way to get what you want might involve buying it yourself. 👴

I don't fancy forking out fifty quid for an Ivie Bud 🤔. I bet I won't be able to resist it though 😂

[WizzyWigg]

Originally Posted by JoeSoap

I don't fancy forking out fifty quid for an Ivie Bud 🤔. I bet I won't be able to resist it though 😂

It's something you can put on your Christmas list. 🎅 😂 135 days to go!