Ripley1313

Thank you Moffat, after several emails send between all parties, it looks like the Landlord wants to evict us, or give us notice - even though our rent is paid up to date and on time every month, This is in lieu of the fact that we are probably the first tenant to questions this shady practice and made it clear that we are not prepared to provide free electricity to another tenant that is paying rent to the landlord. Looks like we in for a battle and attorneys will be involved. Thank you for your input. Regards and Merry Christmas!

Good day, Thank you all for your responses. Ok, so to clarify here are the following facts: We were never told of the electrical setup when we viewed the property. After the deposit was paid and lease signed, we were then told on the day we collected the keys. Kinda eleventh hour if you ask me. Agreed that I can into trouble for installing loggers for the house and the flat. Have spoken to the Dept of Labor and two electrical companies and they all said the same - this is not an alteration to the DB board. I did however, remove the loggers this morning, as we are now faced with getting an attorney. This "special" way of electricity provision is not stated anywhere in our lease agreement. The Mains of the flat is on my DB board in the house and according to the Electrical Competency Board this means that the tenant of the flat MUST have full access to my DB board at all times, in the event of an emergency. What if my wife and I are away on vacation? Leave my house keys with the other tenant? I think not!! I really appreciate all your input and am still stuck with a dispute with the landlord, as the report he is getting from the City meter in the flat show a total different unit consumption that what the data loggers show that are connected at the Main Breaker. There is about 10m travel from the Main Breaker to the Earth Leakage on the DB board in the flat and this is connected with a 2,5mm twin and earth wire. Seems that we will have to get a lawyer today. Couple of thousand rand gone - a few days before Christmas! Regards everyone!

The Landlord does know, have spoken to another electrician this morning and he states that a CoC is not required. I informed the Agent on the day the loggers were installed.

Hi everyone, I need urgent help please!! My wife and I moved into a house in the Northern suburbs of Cape Town. The single garage in front of the house is rented out separately to another tenant. On the day I collected the keys, I was told that I HAVE to ensure that there is always units on the prepaid meter, as the flat is drawing from the house and the Landlord will pay us back after the fact for the consumption of the flat. So I have to buy electricity in advance and get paid back a month later. This sparked a few questions: Is this legal in the sense that surely the flat should have it's own direct source and prepaid meter. How are we to know what the consumption of the house is and what the flat is using? I then looked at the db inside the flat and saw that there is only an Earth-leakage and breakers for the stove, geyser, plugs and lights. I then looked at our DB in the house and saw that the Mains for the flat is on our DB board! I spoke with the ECB (Electrical Competency Board) and they said that if the Mains is in our house, the tenant of the flat MUST have free access to our Db in the event of an emergency. That is BS to start with as I will never give a set of keys to a stranger! I then had a look at the DB and noticed that there was a 2.5mm Twin&earth and a 1,5mm twin&earth feeding from my db to the flat. Distance approximately 10m between DB boards. No wire is tagged or labelled. I installed 2 x data loggers shortly after we moved in to log the consumption. Needless to say, the landlord still owes us money for the flat's consumption. We moved in 14 August 2024 and from that day till the 1st of October 2024, when the flat tenant moved out I bought nearly R 3000.00 in electricity!! The loggers showed that we were using the same amount of units. The landlord paid me R409.00 to date. When we started asking for the money, we were told by the agent's Maintenance Manager that I was not allowed to install the loggers and that I have tampered with the DB board. I did not make any alterations to the DB board, merely added the loggers and a surge arrestor to protect our smart devices. Sorry for this lengthy story, but my question is two-fold: Is this type of electrical installation even legal? Do I require a CoC for installing the data loggers and surge arrestor? I will greatly appreciate any advice, as this matter is now getting out of hand. A new tenant moved in tonight and we are again supplying free electricity to the flat. When I told the agent that I refuse to provide free electricity and that I will not switch on the Mains for the flat, she threatened me with criminal charges in reference to Section 26 and 27 of the Electrical Act?? I need urgent advice please!!

Hi everyone, I am renting a house here in Cape Town. When I moved in, I installed a surge arrestor, (single pole), timer for my geyser and a data logger to the DB board. My question is - do I need a CoC for this? I did not alter or change any wiring on the DB, merely added to it? I have been Googling all the Electrical Laws and as always they are very vague and my interpretation of the sections to the next person will differ for sure. Your insights will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Hi Christiaan, You should not have made a payment, before someone could do a physical drive-by. Everyone on this forum that I spoke to feels that Atom are scammers. I have had no response from them, from the day I posted my question on this forum. I truly hope they are legit and just VERY bad at communicating....... for your sake! Best of luck!

Hi all, not sure if this is the correct topic, but I am busy with a "pay forward", with an institution called PAWS here in Cape Town. They has a 3Kw inverter, with some Gel batteries and solar. Apparently from the date of installation, there was a "pop" sound and smoke. The installer offerted a mumbled excuse and disappeared. Now they left in the dark during every loadshedding period. My wife and I love dogs and respect what they doing. I had to draw the line after my wife's third adoption. What am I planning for them: 5kw Hybrid or similar Lithium 5.12kw at least Solar - Nothing out of this world, but enough to produce charging. Do not have to go off grid, merely keep the lights on during loadshedding and battery optimum. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all in advance. Ray

Hi there, I am truly sorry this happened to you. I really hope you get your money back. Since I asked the question right in the beginning, I bought Google Earth Pro and use that to actually look at every "potential" supplier. If anything looks out of whack, I pass and move to next supplier. All the best to you!

Hi there, I have a SRNE 8Kw ASF series, with 10.24Kw Esener battery. Been spending days on trying get the 2 to communicate, even though SRNE manual states that Esener is compatible. Only to find out that I have to program for Pylontech battery through CAN and not RS485. The inverter itself, I have found no bad reviews. They do have an extensive programming feature for start and stop charging and discharging. Have not seen this on other Hybrids.

Hi Mark, How did you setup your Solar on the inverter? Did you change the option to PV first then grid. Also what time in the morning? The strain on utility grid has peak and off peak. 10Kwh battery to a 5Kw inverter is a big boy, I usually combine a 5.12kw battery to a 5kw inverter. If you can maybe share a bit more re the programming and setup, we could find the root of mystery for you. lol

Hi everyone, So I have an idea - this results from an apartment block that we are busy taking off the grid. This includes 2 x elevators and 3 x heatpumps. Being in Cape Town myself, Winter is a killer on solar. Have you at any chance considered wind generation. I have been researching the 7Kw wind turbine from Tesup, but the after sale and technical support has received as bad reviews as you can imagine! Thing is - being in Cape Town, we have wind for about 350 weeks out of 352. I am currently researching wind combined with magnet drives. Maybe something you would want to consider and look into as well? Just a thought. Same property I have a 3Kw hybrid with 2 x 120Ah deepcycle gel batteries that are purely for the parking basement lights. Installed a Canadian solar panel 540W, just to constantly trickle charge the batteries and use spare energy before utility. The past week, the "trickle"charge did not do much good, even though the panel is on the highest part of the apartment block's roof, with absolute no shadows or interference. An alternative that I used on another project was to install a Smart charging system over and above the Hybrid. This shortened the charge cycle and actually saved on utility costs. Just a thought.

I have 4 x 3Kw Synerjy inverters. Each have 2 x 120Ah Gel batteries. The inverters are installed in 4 separate locations. One of these are used to power led tube lights. There are 10 x tube lights connected. For some odd reason there is a soft or low level buzzing sound on this inverter. The other 3 are dead quiet. This sound is only when on utility. Switching to battery, the inverter is quiet. Any ideas please?

Thanks Scorp007, appreciate the info.

Good evening all, So I like to venture into new fields and build up some knowledge and experience. I have a 3Kw Synerji Hybrid inverter. It has a PWM for solar. I like this inverter, because all three that I am using around my property, have never given any issues. To each of them are 2 x Deepcycle gel batteries connected. 12V in serie for 24V with 120Ah. One section of my property, we have LED 20W tubes, (20 of them), that are constantly burning. I call it my primary line, as there is no switch between the DB and the end user. During loadshedding, however I am worried that the batteries might run out of juice, so I am thinking of installing a solar panel 560W, just as a backup. I have done some reading and a bunch of people reckons that with a Hybrid and my small setup, a PV regulator is not needed, as the Inverter does have menu options for Solar first, then grid and batteries. My question: With 1 x 560W panel linked to the PV connection of the Hybrid inverter, is a charge controller or regulator really needed? I appreciate your assistance and input.

Thank you, will do some more research.

Thanks for the replies. If someone is in the Ethikweni area, maybe do a drive by? Would be interesting, as their prices are borderline "magical" LOL

Have submitted your survey. Good luck with your thesis.

Have submitted your survey. Good luck with your thesis.

Hi everyone, So here is my next challenge at home - underfloor heating. I know that the sq/m panel takes about 180w, but what I would like to know is: I have 2 bathrooms and a passage of approximately 55sq/m of tiled floors. I have a 3Kw inverter with a 2.76Kw lithium 100Ah battery. Currently I have only essentials connected. Do I need to go solar if I want to use my underfloor heating during loadshedding, cause this Winter in Cape Town is a freezer!!! I know... Winter..... minimal sun = minimal charge. What will my solutions be please? Bigger batteries? Looking forward to your input. Regards

Thanks Kevin for your response

Hi everyone, Not sure if this is the correct forum to ask this question, but has anyone dealt with the above supplier? I tried researching them and even had a look at Google maps and Google Earth, with no success. They are based in Ethekweni, KZN. Appreciate your feedback.

Good day everyone, I am looking at the above inverter for an upgrade. Currently running just the basics with an Ecco 3.5Kw hybrid. (Truth be told, I was sceptical of the Ecco, but am seriously impressed with it. Have 4 x 120Ah Gel connected and the Ecco has given no problems.) Just for more info - where I stay, we are not allowed to install solar. I have 3 Daikin AC's and Summer is coming, so I am looking at this SRNE with maybe an Esener 10+Kw 200Ah battery. I would appreciate more info on the SRNE, as I cannot find much info on it, also thoughts on my idea as a combination. Thanks in advance to everyone, that may share some info.

Hi everyone, Firstly my wishes of many blessings for 2023 to everyone. Now this question I do not think falls with inverters, as it also flows over to the electrical Main Db board - So I installed a 3Kw Sinerjy Hibrid with 2 100Ah batteries. I split my DB boards as expected. The plugs that I want on essential and the lights all works perfectly, except one section of the upstairs area. I am pretty happy with this installation, as during loadshedding I found that when the contractors installed my new kitchen island with induction plates, they tapped into my deck pool line, resulting in my pool pump running of the batteries during LS!! This said, I made a quick change to that, but the grid handled the pool pump with ease!! Any way, this my mistery...... The upstairs circuit of lights works perfectly on the Eskom grid, but the moment I connect it to the Essential sub Db, the earth leakage trips on the sub DB. I have isolated the correct neutral wire and connected this before the Sub DB's E/L, yet it trips when I switch the breaker on. Again, when connected to the Main DB, it works perfectly. I am seriously puzzled and hope someone can help me solve this mistery please. Thanks everyone.

This is my installation at my house that does the trick. My requirements.... Or rather the wife, was lights, TV in bedroom and lounge, wifi, the induction plate, (used sparingly during LS) and the blinds or screens that can be dropped when the sun hits. 3Kw Sinyrji Hybrid with 2 deep cycle batteries... So far, all works perfectly during loadshedding.

So I found the problem, someone had connected a wall plug circuit to a light circuit... Hence everytime the plug was used, it tripped the E/L