What does the anti-magnetic seal on the meter look like and can it be “deceived”?
Anti-magnetic seals on water began to be installed in 2011. However, many are encountering them for the first time. It is up to the utility companies to decide whether or not to use such seals. They refer to additional means of protection against manipulation of meter readings in apartments. In other words, they help stop the theft of unaccounted for resources. Not only water, but also electricity and gas.
What does an antimagnetic filling look like?
Externally, an antimagnetic seal resembles a regular sticker in blue, red, pink or light blue. Typically, a blue tape is installed on the water meter, and a red tape on the electric meter. But this gradation is conditional.
This is what an antimagnetic seal looks like:
As you can see in the photo, the stickers look different: they have different placement of inscriptions, color, and type of indicator.
The sticker contains the following elements:
- Ultra-sensitive indicator.
- Control inscription.
- Tear-off element with seal number.
- Slots to enhance the sensitivity of the sticker.
- Company `s logo.
- Serial number (duplicates the numbers on the tear-off element).
The numbers on each sticker are unique. After taping the meter, the utility representative records the serial number of the seal in a log.
How does an anti-magnetic filling work?
Before the introduction of anti-magnetic seals, many people tricked the meter by installing a magnet on it, which slowed down the speed of the disk.As a result, the readings were several times less than the actual amount of resources used. To stop attempts at theft, they came up with a simple device - a sticker with an ultra-sensitive indicator. It works like this:
Iron oxide particles move when exposed to a magnetic field. As soon as you bring a magnet to the counter, the image becomes distorted:
- the black dot spreads;
- the lines shift.
In addition, the sticker has additional slots that eliminate the possibility of peeling off. When you try to remove it, traces remain on the counter:
Some stickers are additionally protected from heat (change color). Having seen changes on the seal during the next reading of the meter, the utility worker draws up a corresponding report. Magnetic theft of water is a punishable crime.
From what distance does an antimagnetic seal work?
This question is often asked by people who want to bypass antimagnetic protection. Previously, it was actually possible to install a magnet at a distance of 5–6 cm. The counter wheel slowed down, but the seal remained intact. But since 2014, the sensitivity of the indicators has been increased. A modern seal works already at a distance of 10 cm. There is no point in placing a magnet at such a distance. It will not have any effect on the measuring device.
Fine for a tripped anti-magnetic seal
Deformation of the sticker is considered strong evidence of magnetic theft. If any damage is detected, the apartment residents will be subject to fines. The amount of the fine is regulated by clause 52 of the “Rules for the provision of utility services to owners and users of utility services.” In each case it is calculated individually.First, the date of the last check of the condition of the seal is set. Then, for this entire period (but not more than 3 months), recalculation is made at the general tariff. And then the total amount is multiplied by another 10. It turns out to be approximately 40 thousand rubles.
An anti-magnetic seal is an effective measure of protection against magnetic theft.Law-abiding citizens should not worry about its installation: the indicator does not work accidentally. Before installation, you can bring your phone to the tape and request a certificate. And if you are not satisfied with the quality, do not sign the document. But keep in mind that if you refuse to install seals on the meters, the apartment may be transferred to the general tariff.
You can cheat by heating it well with a hairdryer and pressing the black dot with your finger
Magnetic seal is illegal. No certificate.
It worked when, as we didn’t notice, the indicator was on the seal itself. The inspectors came, the device was installed 10 months ago, we did not sign for the certificate, someone signed for us, the device did not lose its function, the diamond was not opened.
We thought, wondered, read the Internet and everything was against us. The device is brass and plastic, some kind of magnet, only mechanical influence can occur. Criminal Procedure Code scammers led by officials. Maybe the inspector or when they sealed it themselves brought a magnet.
As a result, we paid (2 people registered) 5400 min fine. We twitched at first, but everything against the consumer, including the courts, is useless.
As a result, look carefully when sealing and further checking the device, do not allow inspectors to touch the cellophane-covered device.
In court, they do not have a counterclaim to the resource supplier “for fraud”; they do not have a certificate of state testing of the seal (on the influence of external factors in the conditions of placement of the metering device in your apartment - high humidity); according to the Soviet physics textbook, current is the directed movement of charged particles (water molecules consist of positively charged particles of protons and negative electrons), and where there is a current, a magnetic field is formed perpendicular to it, the magnitude of which is more intense, the higher the speed of movement of charged particles, that is, the current. The resulting magnetic field affects the anti-magnetic seal - which resource suppliers are trying to shift onto the consumer and fraudulently rip off! Remember that the evidence base in court lies entirely with the plaintiff and the defendant!
And recently, metering devices with antimagnetic protection have been on sale, which is a ring magnet inside the metering device, and so suppliers, completely thoughtlessly, also mold antimagnetic seals, roughly speaking, directly onto these ring magnets, and then accuse them of breaking the seal consumers. And yet, mostly suppliers go to the magistrate's court, upon receipt of a notification from which, the consumer only needs, no later than 10 days from the date of receipt, to write to the magistrate his disagreement, a sample on the stand at the judge's office, and the court order will be canceled, without any evidence.And suppliers rarely go to courts of GENERAL jurisdiction - there you need to prove all the facts!
There is an anti-magnetic device inside the meter that even the most powerful magnet cannot overcome.
In addition, the meter materials are made of antimagnetic materials.
But the transmission of rotation from the meter spinner in the cavity where water flows to the card that drives the odometer is installed with a magnetic coupling. This is what is protected by this device, consisting of two steel rings nested one in an arc.
So this article is nonsense based on vegetable oil.
No magnet acts on the water meter; all parts in the water meter are made of antimagnetic materials. The connection between the impeller and the counting device is made in the form of two round washers, one of which is metal and the other magnetic. Installing a magnetic seal on a water meter is illiteracy or a scam. Over time, the filling will definitely show a magnetic effect on it.
You can deceive everyone and everything! Any counter can be stopped without using any different magnets.
By law, antimagnetic seals are not subject to mandatory certification, and their production is not subject to licensing, which means that their technical characteristics and properties remain at the discretion of the manufacturer. Therefore, the law allows their use NOT to FIX the fact of interference in the operation of the meter, but to ESTABLISH it in the future by examining the meter. No examination means no proven fact, and accordingly there is no fine.
In addition, the meter manufacturer does not guarantee the normal operation of the product if someone makes any changes to the design that are not agreed upon with him.
In our apartment in a new building, meters with such anti-magnetic seals were immediately installed. At first I didn’t even understand what it was for.