[Johnn635]

Meter certification is exactly like the ‘Use By’ date. Our obsession with risk and possible legal repercussions. Anyone with a basic scientific education - a rare thing these days - will realise a spinning disc meter is just an electric motor. It is more likely to stop than run fast as it gets older. That’s the real worry for the energy supplier.

[Johnn635]

Much though retrotechie is regarded as an oracle the meter is an electric motor. Its rotation speed is determined by the phase and amplitude of the voltage and current through the windings. To suggest that if it had zero friction it would rotate at some arbitrarily high speed is incorrect. Like a clock, worn bearings are more likely to make it stop, but it would take a lot of wear over a long time. Typical clock wear is a lot more than the certification period being quoted.