Bernardf Posted February 2, 2021 Posted February 2, 2021 I bought a house and I need some advice on getting the electricity connected. The previous owner had tenants renting, and the tenants vacated the premises about 2 weeks ago. I got access today, but there is no power. There seems to be a prepaid meter installed. I haven't seen the actual meter and I have no idea where it is situated, but there is a prepaid meter control unit lying on the kitchen counter. The prepaid meter control unit is off, I am assuming because the power is off. I have never before seen or worked with a prepaid meter so I don't know what to do. I see the meter has a battery compartment, but the lid is missing so the batteries would not make contact. Would it work if I put batteries in and jumped the poles with some wire? Or is there some sort of process I have to follow at the municipality to get the power connected? Any guidance will be appreciated. Quote
Bernardf Posted February 2, 2021 Author Posted February 2, 2021 7 minutes ago, Vassen said: Doesn’t it have a plug that you can plug in to a socket. Yes it is plugged in. But seeing as though the power is off, it doesn't seem to help. When the prepaid credit runs out on one of these and the power is cut off as a result, how is it then possible to reload credit if the unit needs power to operate? Quote
Speedster Posted February 2, 2021 Posted February 2, 2021 Yes, you can bridge the battery connection to get it to work. I have an identical unit and the battery cover broke too so it seems that might be a weak spot on these. Anyway, I hope you come right. Quote
Bobster. Posted February 3, 2021 Posted February 3, 2021 12 hours ago, Bernardf said: I bought a house and I need some advice on getting the electricity connected. The previous owner had tenants renting, and the tenants vacated the premises about 2 weeks ago. I got access today, but there is no power. There seems to be a prepaid meter installed. I haven't seen the actual meter and I have no idea where it is situated, but there is a prepaid meter control unit lying on the kitchen counter. Somewhere, on your property or close to the boundary, there will be a municipal box with the main breaker for your property. Look for that. The meter will almost certainly be in there. If you're on good terms with a neighbour then ask to see their box so you know what you're looking for. Or ask an electrician, they will find it quickly enough. Quote
hoohloc Posted February 3, 2021 Posted February 3, 2021 How far are you from your next door neighbor? If you are not too far, ask them if you could plug the meter in their house and recharge your units. It will be much quicker than going to the shops to buy batteries and bridging them to recharge Quote
Bernardf Posted February 3, 2021 Author Posted February 3, 2021 14 hours ago, Speedster said: Yes, you can bridge the battery connection to get it to work. I have an identical unit and the battery cover broke too so it seems that might be a weak spot on these. Anyway, I hope you come right. I managed to load the units by bridging the batteries. Blowdart18 1 Quote
Speedster Posted February 3, 2021 Posted February 3, 2021 4 minutes ago, Bernardf said: I managed to load the units by bridging the batteries. Well done. I've used a some forks a couple of times Quote
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