Effects of a Neodymium Magnet on a Single-Phase Electricity Meter: User Experience

Hello, I am writing at the request of a friend. Today, while he was changing a light bulb in the stairwell, he noticed that his electricity meter had a neodymium magnet, which is used at the head of a hard drive. When he took it off, he felt that he was stuck to something, that is, that he had grabbed some element. He doesn't know how long he was there, but definitely no longer than about a month.
It is an ordinary single-phase meter, the magnet was on the meter, on the glass pane. What results might this bring? As he mentioned, the counter was spinning, but after removing the magnet it was quieter.

Now it will spin much faster than normal. Filing a complaint will result in its removal for an expert opinion, and then the owner will pay for the theft of energy in accordance with the ZE tariffs, which is several to several thousand zlotys.
Unfortunately, you have a problem.

As above. the neodymium magnet has affected the brake of the counter disc and now it will rotate much faster, the error will be in the order of 100-400%. Filing a complaint and facing a fine for electricity theft.

Tomek331 wrote:

Hello, I am writing at the request of a friend. Today, as he was changing a light bulb in the stairwell, he noticed that he had a neodymium magnet on his electricity meter,

It seems to me that your friend listened to someone very "wise" and started experimenting, and now he got into serious trouble. Unfortunately, there is a price for stupidity.

It depends on how the magnet was arranged, perhaps the counter will now count less energy. Either way, if such behavior is detected, your colleague will have very serious problems.

Maybe you should talk to the association of those harmed by the monopolist and find out what can be done there.

http://forum.cire.pl/index.php?d_id=16395&d_typ=&kn=41470

I'm surprised at my forum friends who think that everyone steals (I wonder why?).
Let's not forget that it is enough to put a magnet on the meter and call the inspection and someone is in trouble (this is called DEMOCRACY)

Stary1952 wrote:

It seems to me that your friend listened to someone very "wise" and started experimenting, and now he got into serious trouble. Unfortunately, there is a price for stupidity.

I honestly doubt he would do it, the bills he receives are approximately PLN 50, so he has nothing to save. Someone played a prank. The magnet was located with this + pole, which means it attracted elements.

I created this post to help him in some way, at home he has a fridge, TV and a computer that he turns on once a week, so maybe he will be able to get away with it. I called him and he said that he was watching the meter, it seems to him, or he's just panicking, but that the meter's plate turns louder (previously supposedly quieter) than at his neighbor's where it turns faster. He didn't notice the acceleration.

If I put the magnet back, will the counter run normally? I read that after removing it, the counter only speeds up.

Trebuh wrote:

I'm surprised at my forum friends who think that everyone steals (I wonder why?).

You're drawing the wrong conclusions, buddy. It's not me (and I suspect others too) who think everyone steals. It is our law that requires us to prove to people that they are not camels. Just because a few teenagers once played with neodymium magnets.
I simply know stories of customers' fights with ZE in similar cases, when the customer has to prove his innocence and has no way of doing it because he doesn't know anything about electricity and has no clue about it.
I know the story of a fight with the owner of a store where the meter was on a board in the corridor and everyone had access to it. Well, someone was having fun, and the owner was leasing the premises and she didn't even think about it, she had a lot of commercial matters on her mind and didn't have time to even think about something like that. In many cases, during a simple replacement, i.e. removing the meter without proper protection (the meter was at ZE's disposal for some time), after some time people received lawsuits from ZE for payment of the accrued penalties. Therefore, without a good lawyer, the courts decide as they do.
Hence, for example, my post about future problems.
And I'm not saying that anyone was stealing electricity.

The magnets from the disk have poles quite close to each other, so it is possible that this did not affect the remagnetization of the meter, but ZE can detect it.

Connect devices of known power, preferably 1 kW. The meter shows the number of revolutions per 1 kW and you will know if the meter is cheating, but it seems to me that it is too weak a magnet to significantly affect its readings.

Hello. I came back from my friend's place, we checked this issue with the meter and after a few minutes of observation and combination, we noticed that after removing the magnet, the whole wheel was running like crazy, spinning faster, the device that was turned on was a TV, which consumes 46W according to the manufacturer. When you put the magnet back on, it's as if the counter returns to normal. When reporting, no matter how you look at it, it will be his fault, maybe it would be better to leave the magnet lying around? Out of fear, my friend even unplugged the fridge...

In this situation, your friend will not avoid punishment . If the magnet has already affected the meter's operation, any delay in detecting this illegal practice has serious consequences! Time is against you. Just think about whether it is better for you to have this illegal practice detected, or whether you will report this fact yourself...
Unfortunately, this is how playing with magnets ends - either on your own or with someone "friendly"... (I'm not saying that it was your friend who acted to his own detriment).

I warn against attempts to steal electricity using e.g. neodymium magnets - this always ends badly for the meter owner and the expert opinion will certainly confirm this.