C&RT Smart Electric System

[StephenA]

So we got all our details for the new metering system they've put in at Market Drayton.

It all looks very clever - I was wondering how well it works in practicality?

[StephenA]

I assume that no-one else has any experience of them.....

[MtB]

***Bemused***

[john6767]

I would have thought anyone on a CRT long term mooring that has electricity will have experience of them.

[StephenA]

Well that's why I was asking .... it all looks so very clever but......

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, john6767 said:

I would have thought anyone on a CRT long term mooring that has electricity will have experience of them.

 

Ah, electricity!

I was imagining some sort of water usage metering through the locks...

I'd have thought 99.99% of CRT moorings had no services at all. 

[john6767]

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah, electricity!

I was imagining some sort of water usage metering through the locks...

That's just the special system they are bringing in for you 

[Psycloud]

Getting ahead of the game for 2040, all electric narrowboats

Edited July 27, 2017 by Psycloud
comma

[StephenA]

12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah, electricity!

I was imagining some sort of water usage metering through the locks...

I'd have thought 99.99% of CRT moorings had no services at all. 

Well we've got a power point and there is 1 water tap per 2 moorings.. and a small car park. Rubbish and elsan is a 3 minute cruise away.

[pearley]

It seems to work very well but a bit intolerant of anything a bit 'iffy' on the boat. We've plugged in all over the system, both on CRT card operated pillars and in marinas but when we took a mooring at Sneed it would trip out a random times, for no apparent reason. Might have just been that trip as we've plugged in since to other Smart Metered bollard with no problems but they've only been for a day or two.

[Robbo]

On 24/07/2017 at 19:30, StephenA said:

So we got all our details for the new metering system they've put in at Market Drayton.

It all looks very clever - I was wondering how well it works in practicality?

Think they have this in Clarence Dock, no direct experience, but if you get unplugged you can't just plug back in and have the electrons flowing again.  You need to turn it back on via what ever method.   I think it does notify you tho when it happens.    Looks to be much better than shoving a bit of card in every so often to put money on the meter as no one can nick your electric and you can top of remotely.

[pearley]

43 minutes ago, Robbo said:

Think they have this in Clarence Dock, no direct experience, but if you get unplugged you can't just plug back in and have the electrons flowing again.  You need to turn it back on via what ever method.   I think it does notify you tho when it happens.    Looks to be much better than shoving a bit of card in every so often to put money on the meter as no one can nick your electric and you can top of remotely.

Yes but a little odd. If you unplug your shoreline from the pillar the power automatically shuts off then, after plugging back in, you have to go to the master pillar, the one with the keypad, and input your customer number, pin and socket number for the power to come back on.

However, if you unplug it from the boat end it doesn't shut off. So if you don't want a long trek to the master pillar when you move your boat for a pompous or to empty your cassettes, unplug at the boat and leave your cable behind.

[DaveP]

2 hours ago, pearley said:

Yes but a little odd. If you unplug your shoreline from the pillar the power automatically shuts off then, after plugging back in, you have to go to the master pillar, the one with the keypad, and input your customer number, pin and socket number for the power to come back on.

However, if you unplug it from the boat end it doesn't shut off. So if you don't want a long trek to the master pillar when you move your boat for a pompous or to empty your cassettes, unplug at the boat and leave your cable behind.

But also, if you unplug the boat end to pop upriver to another place for a weekend, it won't allow you to plug in there until you unplug at the original meter...

[SimonRNABO]

Been on this system for nearly two years - no problems. Just make sure you are clear about the procedure and account codes to reconnect as that has baffled a couple of people at our site. We got a good handout and a demonstation from the installers so no problems personally.

 

[Sea Dog]

4 hours ago, pearley said:

 

However, if you unplug it from the boat end it doesn't shut off. So if you don't want a long trek to the master pillar when you move your boat for a pompous or to empty your cassettes, unplug at the boat and leave your cable behind.

Please don't do that (and if you gave that post the greenie, you should think again too). Here's why:

Cabling should always be connected to the source last and disconnected from source first. The source in this case being the socket at your meter. That way, the lead you have in your hand is always dead. Nowhere is this more important than around water, so never plug in and carry the live cable to your boat; always connect at your boat and carry the dead cable to the shore.

If you move, however temporarily, leaving a live cable behind on your pontoon whilst you're elsewhere is not a good thing.

Be safe

 

[stegra]

21 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah, electricity!

I was imagining some sort of water usage metering through the locks...

I'd have thought 99.99% of CRT moorings had no services at all. 

Unless it's been edited, there was a bit of a clue in the title.

[MtB]

1 minute ago, stegra said:

Unless it's been edited, there was a bit of a clue in the title.

 

It HAS been edited. 

The original title was "C&RT smart metering system", or something like that.

[Alway Swilby]

Although these smart bollards are installed at various visitor moorings around the system you need an account number and pin to make them work. You can only get an account if you have a home mooring that has this system. So continuous cruisers, boaters that moor in marinas or at sites without this system can never use the electric posts at these sites.

[pearley]

25 minutes ago, Alway Swilby said:

Although these smart bollards are installed at various visitor moorings around the system you need an account number and pin to make them work. You can only get an account if you have a home mooring that has this system. So continuous cruisers, boaters that moor in marinas or at sites without this system can never use the electric posts at these sites.

Correct. There are many mooring sites around the country where visitor moorings are mixed in with permanent moorings with an excess of power outlets. So you could plug in, insert your card and enjoy the benefits. Then they changed to Smart Metering. Same number of electricity outlets except that they are denied to the majority of boaters.

When this was done, I wrote to the then Head of Boating to put the case for allowing all to use them. He agreed to look into it but was then replaced by another Head of Boating so I had to start from scratch. He then resigned and was replaced but I got a CRT mooring, albeit only for the winter, and got an account with MeterMacs. Still got the account even though I don't have the mooring.

There are electricity bollard at some moorings that have never or rarely been used. At Boston, there are 10 power sockets with 4 permanent moorers! The most sensible thing, to my mind, is to give everyone who wishes an account. It wouldn't be unreasonable for CRT to charge a registration fee for this. It could be expanded to cover all the self pumpouts as well plus, for the few that still exist, washers and dryers.

[StephenA]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

It HAS been edited. 

The original title was "C&RT smart metering system", or something like that.

I've not edited the topic....

[pearley]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Please don't do that (and if you gave that post the greenie, you should think again too). Here's why:

Cabling should always be connected to the source last and disconnected from source first. The source in this case being the socket at your meter. That way, the lead you have in your hand is always dead. Nowhere is this more important than around water, so never plug in and carry the live cable to your boat; always connect at your boat and carry the dead cable to the shore.

If you move, however temporarily, leaving a live cable behind on your pontoon whilst you're elsewhere is not a good thing.

Be safe

 

I do know this and do this to stay safe. But, when I was connected I was interested to find out how things worked. And I wasn't on a pontoon but a linear mooring.

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, StephenA said:

I've not edited the topic....

Nope, that would have been done by a mod. 

[StephenA]

Well apart from it having communication problems which meant it took about 40 minutes to get the thing to sign me in and turn the socket on it all seemed to work quite well - and it even sent me an email when I unplugged the line this morning. Nice to be able to see how much power you've used too - pity the third party website seems to be run on something with almost no resources so it takes ages to actually do anything once you've logged in.

[Horace42]

At first sight I thought this was a post about meters to charge for mooring boats - like parking meters for cars.

No it wasn't -  but it won't be long coming......