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#124928 01/13/07 09:32 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
pauluk Offline OP
Member
Here we have a typical older style coin meter from the U.K.

[Linked Image]

After the coin box has been removed, the ring which holds the coin mechanism in place can be unscrewed:

[Linked Image]

There is an internal broad A/B rate setting, but then smaller adjustments to the rate can be made by simply re-inserting the coin mechanism with the index mark aligned to the required number. This just determines how far the handle must be turned for the coin to drop into the box, and thus how far the cog is turned for each coin deposit:

[Linked Image]

Don't be fooled by the 1985 calibration sticker or the "50p. coins" markings. The coin mechanisms were changed over the years to allow for higher value coins. Peeling off the sticker from the coin box reveals this meter's true vintage:

[Linked Image]

#124929 01/13/07 09:35 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
pauluk Offline OP
Member
Connections are the usual arrangement for British meters, line on the left, load on the right, neutrals in the middle:

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


Some shots with the main cover removed (which would normally be secured with the usual wire/lead seals through the fixings when in service, as would the terminal cover:
[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

The connections visible to the left of this shot are to the contacts on the coin mechanism:
[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 01-13-2007).]

#124930 01/13/07 10:38 PM
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 806
Member
Paul, thanks for posting these pics!! I find this meter facinating!!

Looking very closly at the terminal cover, I take it that to use this meter in "Coin operated" mode, you would need to bring the load connection to the coin mechanism contacts in pic# 9? Or is there a lever or internal jumper set-up?

I would love to get a hold of one of these here to play around with. [Linked Image]


Stupid should be painful.
#124931 01/13/07 11:43 PM
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 65
J
Member
So you would put coins in this to pay for your electric?

#124932 01/14/07 05:40 AM
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 869
Likes: 4
R
Member
Thanks pauluk for posting those piccies.
I have exactly the same Smiths meter in my collection as well as some other ones too.

Did you take it of a demolition job?


The product of rotation, excitation and flux produces electricty.
#124933 01/14/07 06:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,391
I
Moderator
Great Pics Paul, interesting to see.

What is the meters rating?


Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts
#124934 01/14/07 09:28 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
pauluk Offline OP
Member
Quote
So you would put coins in this to pay for your electric?
Yep, these meters were once fairly common in rented accommodation which had a quick turnaround of tenants, or where a person was not considered creditworthy enough to have a normal quarterly payment account, and similar situations. These days, you find the PoCo using a card meter -- Same principle of prepayment, but the person buys electricity cards from various local agents (grocery store, newspaper shop, etc.) and inserting the card adds the appropriate amount to the "units remaining." The modern card meters are all LCD readouts, of course.

Some of these old coin meters were in private ownership, typically where a landlord paid the whole electricity bill for a block (and thus had a single PoCo-owned meter for his bill) but wanted his tenants to pay for power individually.

Quote
Did you take it of a demolition job?
I actually removed this from what used to be a holiday cottage. It's now just used as a vacation home by the owners (with normal PoCo credit meter at the service entrance), and it seems that they had just been putting the same coin through the meter for several years. (It takes the original size 50-pence coin; we changed to a smaller one a few years ago.)

I got asked to look at it (via a neighbor) when they got worried that it was getting warm on load. If you look closely in one of the photos you might be able to see a little discoloration on the conductor running from the switch contacts from the heat. I haven't actually gotten right inside yet to see if it's the contacts themselves worn or just a loose connection.


Quote
Looking very closly at the terminal cover, I take it that to use this meter in "Coin operated" mode, you would need to bring the load connection to the coin mechanism contacts in pic# 9? Or is there a lever or internal jumper set-up?
The whole combination is designed to be used as a pre-payment coin meter only. However, the standard meter section on the left is identical to that used by the equivalent Smith credit meter, so the terminal cover (which is also identical) has both credit and prepay diagrams shown.

Quote
I would love to get a hold of one of these here to play around with.
It's up for grabs for the cost of the postage, but that would probably be quite expensive overseas due to the weight!

Quote
What is the meters rating?
240 volts, 40 amps max.

#124935 01/15/07 12:16 AM
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 806
Member
Quote
It's up for grabs for the cost of the postage, but that would probably be quite expensive overseas due to the weight!

Paul, PM me with the info on weight, and maybe we can work a deal.. [Linked Image]


Stupid should be painful.
#124936 01/15/07 06:31 AM
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 65
J
Member
Warm beer, and now this! [Linked Image] Just kidding! Actually that's pretty neat. One thing I enjoy about this site is seeing how things are done (and not supposed to be done) other places beside the US.

#124937 01/15/07 08:15 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
P
pauluk Offline OP
Member
Quote
Paul, PM me with the info on weight, and maybe we can work a deal..

Will do. I'll see what it comes to with suitable packing tomorrow.

Quote
Warm beer,
But now you know why we have warm beer. It's where people forgot to feed enough coins into the meter to keep the fridge running! [Linked Image]

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