In this article, we are going to take a look at the major reasons why your prepaid meter may be displaying failed on its screen. A prepaid meter, like other electronic devices, may display a ’failed’ message on its screen due to many conventional and unconventional reasons.
There are many reasons why a prepaid meter may display failed messages, like when the credit units finish, attempted meter bypass, communication issues, etc. However, no matter what the reason may be, we are going to discuss them in detail in the subsequent sections and at the same time proffer reliable solutions to them.
To this end, if your prepaid meter is showing failed and you don’t know the cause and how to fix it, there is no need to be worried because we are here to guide you.
Reasons Why your Prepaid Meter is Showing Failed
There are many reasons why your meter is showing a failed message on its screen. However, to ensure that you understand the concept clearly, we are going to discuss the reasons one after the other. Let’s get started!
1. You have Finished your Prepaid Electricity Credit Units
One of the most common reasons why your prepaid meter may display a failed message is when you exhaust your prepaid electricity units. Your prepaid meter needs credit units to be functional, and if the credit units in your prepaid meter finish, your meter may display failed and in some instances, it will even stop supplying power automatically.
2. The serial Number of the Token you Bought didn’t Match with your Meter Number
If the prepaid electricity token that you bought didn’t match with your meter number, your prepaid meter may display a failed message if you try to load it into the meter. Prepaid electricity tokens are designed such that they can only work in the prepaid meter for which they were recharged. So, if there is a mismatch between the meter serial number of the token and the actual meter number, your meter may likely display a failed message.
3. The prepaid meter key is wrong
Another common reason why your prepaid meter may display a failed message is if the key you are using to operate the meter is wrong or if the key that is linked to the meter is faulty. Once there is a problem with the prepaid meter key, there is a high chance that your meter may show a failed message on its screen whenever you want to use it.
4. There is Suspicious Activities between your Electrical Wiring and Home Appliances
If your prepaid meter detects any illegal activities, it may display a failed message because it contains inbuilt tamper detection technology to protect itself against any tampering. The meter may display a failed message as a form of self-protection against any illegal access.
5. Communication Issues between the CIU and the Meter
When your meter CIU is finding it difficult to communicate with the meter itself, it may also display a failed message on its screen. This normally occurs when you want to load prepaid electricity tokens into your prepaid meter.
6. Used or Expired Tokens
If the prepaid electricity tokens that you want to load into your prepaid meter have been used or expired, your meter will also display a failed message on its screen. Prepaid meter tokens have a validity period of about 3 months. So, if you purchase a prepaid meter token and don’t load it within the validity period, you may receive a failed message when you want to load it to your meter. The same thing is applicable if you have loaded your token before into your meter and you try reloading it.
At this point, I am convinced that you have seen some of the reasons that may cause your prepaid meter to display a failed message on its screen. If so, let’s proceed to the next section of your discussion, where we will be looking at the solutions.
How to Solve the Problems of Prepaid Meter Showing Failed
As the saying goes, a problem known is half solved. Now that you have known the possible reasons why your prepaid meter may show a failed message on its screen, let’s look at how to fix the issues so that they won’t occur again.
The truth is that you may need to try different solutions before the failed message may disappear on your prepaid meter, especially when you don’t know the exact reason that led to the failed message. However, if you know the exact problem that led to the failed message, the issue will be easy for you to fix. Nevertheless, no matter what the issue is, the solutions that we are going to detail below will definitely help you fix your prepaid meter.
1. Check your Prepaid electricity token properly
Since one of the major problems that lead to failed messages on prepaid meters is electricity tokens, you should ensure that you buy your tokens from reliable vendors and enter the tokens carefully to avoid omitting or misplacing tokens when loading them. Also, ensure that you load your tokens into your prepaid within the validity period, mostly within three months of purchase.
2. Avoid Accessing Your Prepaid Meter Illegally
Never try to play smart by tampering, bypassing or accessing your prepaid meter illegally because it will backfire; hence, it may lead to your meter displaying failed. However, if you tried bypassing your meter and it started showing a failed message, you should contact your electricity provider for them to help you fix it.
3. Restart Your Prepaid Meter
Another method that you can use to stop your prepaid meter from displaying a failed message on its surface is by restarting it. You can restart your meter by switching it off for some minutes and turning it on again.
4. Reach out to your Electricity Provider
If you tried all the measures above and the failed message is still displaying on your prepaid meter, you can contact your electricity provider and explain to them. They will definitely help you to fix the problem and your meter will start working properly again.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why is my prepaid meter showing failed after recharging?
Your prepaid meter may show a failed message after recharging if there is a communication error between the keypad and the meter, if the meter is faulty, if there is a surge in power supply, etc.
Why is my prepaid meter saying failed?
There are many reasons why your prepaid meter may be saying failed, some of which is when you enter expired tokens to the meter, incorrect token entry, faulty meter, communication issues between the CIU and the meter, etc.