The use of magnets for meters and state control

Neodymium magnet originates in Japan. At that time, it was coined and manufactured for industrial purposes. The most powerful magnet, consisting of an alloy of boron, iron and neodymium, was used in the manufacture of various engines. Due to its good resistance to demagnetization, the neodymium magnet was an indispensable element in computer systems and transformers.

And after the moment when this magnet became widely available, it was widely and openly manufactured and sold. And folk craftsmen used a magnet to stop the counter mechanism. Of course, such alloy is extremely unsafe for human health, but thanks to its nickel-copper coating, the health threat does not represent. In addition, the coating makes the magnet resistant to corrosion and various deformations. In everyday life, instead of its direct purpose, the neodymium magnet has found its application in stopping electric meters, water and gas meters.

There are a lot of different devices that control the consumption of electricity, water or gas. Manufacturers of these devices in every way try to design such a counter, which will not be impossible to stop. But the fact is that most counters work at the expense of mechanical metal parts of the counting mechanism, which are stopped by a magnet.

Stopping the counters

Before you start stopping any counter, you need to understand the principle of its operation. Virtually all counters operate on the principle of "mechanical counting element - reader of readings - output of readings( scoreboard)".And if you deactivate at least one element from this chain, the account will stop. Neodymium magnets help to disable the mechanical counting element.

Caution when using strong unequal magnets, your meter may become unusable and the use of a magnet can be fixed. Now about this in more detail.

If we talk about electricity meters, the neodymium magnet stops the induction disk. With its powerful magnetic field, neodymium simply holds the disc, not allowing it to spin and rewind Watts. This is the case with induction electric meters. If the counter is electric, then the probability of stopping it is very small. In rare cases, using a neodymium magnet of large dimensions, you can slow down the counter with a liquid crystal display by 10-15%.

Speaking about water meters, their principle of operation is that there is a device similar to a turbine in the counter chamber. The diameter of the blades of the turbine coincides with the diameter of this chamber, to which the pipe is connected. Through this pipe there is water. And in the process of using water, it, passing through the turbine blades, makes them spin. The flow of water and the speed of its arrival directly affect the speed of rotation of the turbine. A magnet is attached to the turbine blade, and a second magnet is installed in the counter chamber. This second magnet is coupled by a magnetic field to that which is on the blade. And when the first magnet rotates, it makes the second magnet rotate in the counter chamber. Due to the rotation of the second magnet, the monitoring device can take readings and display them on the scoreboard.

In the very last phase of the counting mechanism of the water counter, a neodymium magnet causes it to stop counting. With its powerful magnetic field, the neodymium magnet holds that second magnet that is in the counter chamber. That is, the meter device as a whole works, as it worked: water passes through the device, the blades spin together with the first magnet, but the second, key for data output, is disabled.

Legislative part of

In 2016, the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services concentrated its activities on those who decided to save by stopping the counters. There were also punitive measures: now, having caught the attempt to save, an offender will be fined tenfold from the amount on which he managed to deceive the state.

The fact is that when there is a large inconsistency meter meter from all over the house with the amount of individual indicators of residents, everyone living in this house is billed for common house needs. The general housing needs include payments for electricity, gas, water and other costs, which go to make it as comfortable as possible to live in an apartment building. It can be supply of electricity to the entrance door to the entrance and intercom, staircases and stuff.

From this it is possible to draw a conclusion that a conscientious citizen, on time and fully paying all bills, will pay the debts of those who stopped or twisted the meter readings at the expense of common house needs. This is a direct infringement of the rights and freedoms of bona fide tenants. The opinion of the Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Housing and Communal Services, Andrei Chibis, is clear and concise: "Pay for yourself, without forcing neighbors to do it."Similarly, according to Andrei, those who are engaged in stopping and unscrewing the meter's indicators, in fact, are engaged in the theft of state resources. Therefore, in an attempt to protect the disadvantaged, the state introduces such punitive measures and toughens the process of bringing offenders to justice.

Detection of stopping the counter

State services have a specific procedure for checking residents for the fact of stopping the counter.

1. Visual confirmation. The easiest way to make sure of stopping the counter is to see the magnet on the counter. But this aspect in practice can not be confirmed in any way, because those who try to cheat will be cunning until the end. Recalling their right to the inviolability of housing, offenders will not let public servants into the apartment. And the law, in this situation, will be on their side.
2. Teslameter. In the event that an unconscionable citizen, having admitted to the apartment of his employees, managed to remove the magnet, the fact of the stop is easily checked by a special device. The principle of the tesla meter is based on the remanent magnetization of the meter, the indices of which will be very different from those of the counter that has not been stopped. But this method of detecting a magnet has its drawbacks. The first is the cost of the tesla meter, which fluctuates within 30 thousand rubles. Not every ZhEK can afford such equipment. Second - again, the verification procedure will take place only if the examiner gets into the apartment with the consent of the resident.
3. Antimagnetic sealing. If suspected, the public service authorities may install an antimagnetic seal on the meter. It signals an attempt to stop the counter by a magnet changing its color. There are a huge number of ways to deceive a seal. One of the simplest: the removal of the seal by freezing. In addition, such seals in the public domain are sold on the Internet.
   

   Symptoms of magnet installation

4. Built-in radio module. Recently, manufacturers of meters often make changes in the design of the meter, adding a sensor. Works offline. Sends alerts to the attendant as a result of trying to stop the meter or to disable the sensor.

Widget from SocialMart

Water meter "Aqua-1"

Using the example of the meter "Aqua-1" you can understand the principle of operation of counters with built-in radio modules.

The first, made in Russia, a water meter with an integrated sensor for sending data. The convenience in the application of this meter is that the procedure for taking readings and sending them to the appropriate public service authorities is automated and autonomous. To send readings, the radio module "Strizh" is used, which, unlike all other data transmission modules, is the most budgetary. It is for this reason that the meter "Aqua-1" is considered one of the most popular among the automated and easy-to-use counters. The sensor itself operates from an internal power source, the power capacity of which is calculated for a long period of time( about 10 years).Radio signal "Swift" is able to reach the receiver at a distance of 10 kilometers in the city. In the event that the radio module and the receiver are located in an open area without any obstacles, the range indicator can reach 50 kilometers.

The reverse side of comfort in use is the impossibility of stopping the counter by a magnet. To be precise, the possibility to stop Aqua-1 by a neodymium magnet is available, but this attempt to save will be fixed and sent to the duty officer. This report will record the apartment and the time it takes to stop the meter. Therefore, among fans to stop counters and save money, this model of water meter is absolutely not in demand. More details on the methods of stopping electricity meters and what stops are being given.

Please note that not all meter models have the ability to stop

Application of dissimilar

magnets Today, neodymium magnets are used frequently and not for industrial purposes. Interested in finding any information about the possibility of stopping the counter by the magnet will find the necessary information in excess. Millions of articles and thousands of videos about this.

There are even offices selling neodymium magnets with their hot lines. In order to buy a magnet, you do not even need to know what counter should be stopped. It is enough to call a line and answer a couple of questions, the consultant will explain what counter you describe and what kind of magnet you need to purchase. If this is an electricity meter SO-5U, the consultant will explain that it is necessary to buy a magnet worth 1 thousand rubles. In addition, stop the counter does not work, it may be possible to slow it down by 70%.The most interesting is that after all this, the consultant will give recommendations: you need to change the counter to an older model and buy a magnet worth 1 thousand rubles, which will significantly save costs. That is, stopping electric meters with magnets is already a whole business.

It is estimated that about one in ten cunning and stops the electricity meter. And about half use neodymium magnets. And if we talk about those who use magnets to stop the counters, then it should be noted that not only residents of houses and apartments use this cunning. In the car repair service of the employee, counters are also stopped before energy-intensive work. And on the question of the basis of this procedure, they respond that the employer requires them to fulfill this condition as an obligatory aspect of work at the auto repair shop.

Interesting ways to stop the counter

In addition to the option with a magnet, there are other ways to stop the meter, folk.

1. Casserole with boiling water. This method can be implemented only in the cold season, or, more precisely, at minus temperature. The principle of this method is that if you substitute a container with boiling water directly under the counter, the steam, gathering on the internal elements of the counting mechanism, crystallizes and turns into ice. Thus, ice stops the counting mechanism until it melts.
2. Rust. A simple folk method that works on water meters. Its essence lies in the fact that it is necessary to fill rust into the turbine, under the blades. Top with a magnet, make the particles of this rust rise and stop the blades. This method does not require a powerful neodymium magnet. It will be enough to have a simple magnet that can attract rust. The beauty of this method is that when possible to check the counter by public service employees, simply remove the magnet, rust will go away with the flow of water.
3. Application of stubtsyny.

Residual magnetization

There is a concept that when using a magnet when trying to stop the counter, the counter appears residual magnetization. The magnitude of this remanent magnetization can be measured with a device such as a teslameter. And the representatives of housing and communal services confidently declare that

teslameter detection of this residual magnetization indicates that a magnet was applied to the device in order to distort the meter readings. But the fact is that today there are no norms established by the legislature that would regulate the issue with remanent magnetization.

There is no formally fixed and documented procedure for measuring this residual magnetization. If you do not talk about fixed boundary values ​​of acceptable indicators and not allowed. That is, most executive bodies of public services, relying on their own speculation and guesses about the magnitude of the permissible residual magnetization, write out fines and penalties, in their opinion, offenders.

How traces of magnetization of the counter

are hidden. And in order for the utilities to have no claims to you and your

to the counter in general, there are demagnetizers. The principle of operation of these devices is very simple: they minimize the magnetic field of the object to the state of demagnetization. Previously, this device was used to demagnetize the heads of cassette tape recorders and cassettes.

The demagnetizer is similar to a coil connected to the mains. All you need to do is rotate the included demagnetizer near the object, which needs to be demagnetized for 2-3 minutes. As a result of these actions, the magnetization of the counter goes away.

Video about antimagnetic seals