Electricity and Gas Inspection Act
R.S.C., 1985, c. E-4
Offences and Punishment
Marginal note: Falsification and meter frauds
30 Every person who
(a) except as authorized by or under this Act, makes, causes or procures to be made, or assists in making any certificate required under this Act or purporting to be a certificate so required or any stamp, seal, label, tag or mark prescribed for the purposes of this Act or purporting to be a stamp, seal, label, tag or mark so prescribed,
(b) knowingly sells, utters or disposes of, lets, uses, lends or exposes for sale any meter with any stamp, seal, label, tag or mark thereon made or obtained by means of the commission of an offence under paragraph (a) or section 32 or made or affixed by way of the use of anything so obtained,
(c) in relation to the administration of this Act, knowingly
(i) makes any false representation,
(ii) makes or causes to be made any false entry in any register or record,
(iii) makes or causes to be made any false document or makes any alteration, false in a material respect, to the form of a copy of any document, or
(iv) produces or tenders any document containing false information,
(d) for a fraudulent purpose,
(i) repairs or alters, or causes to be repaired or altered, or tampers with or does any other act in relation to a meter, or any wires or pipes leading to a meter, so as to cause the meter to register with an error, or
(ii) replaces any meter with a meter calculated to mislead, or
(e) with intent to defraud, obtains, consumes, uses, supplies or sells electricity or gas in relation to which any meter
(i) registers with an error caused by an offence under paragraph (d), or
(ii) in the case of commission therewith of an offence under subparagraph (d)(ii), is calculated to mislead,
is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.
1980-81-82-83, c. 87, s. 30
Hope you get the scans you need, and that it's worth 5 years for whatever you're trying to do.
A esp32 board is a micro-board with a camera on it, it along with the proper software will allow to see and read the digits on a dial and send them to home assistant.
Think of it like holding a camera with your hands and taking a picture of your meter readings.
So to clarify you're only trying to attach something to the outside of the meter? Because from the post it comes off as you wanting to change out part of the casing for something custom. Either way, I think this project is not worth the trouble unless you get permission from the owners of the meter, this is not the sort of waters we want to test.
It's difficult to conclude he meant anything but that. You are more worried about the opinion of your gas company than the rest of us are, and that's fine.
You've made your point, now please hush while the rest of us live more exciting lives.
I don't give a fuck what the gas company thinks, but the laws are very clear about this. Why would I be happy watching one of our own commit self harm? Also, they still haven't clarified that, so it's easy to conclude he meant something completely different than what YOU are assuming.
A esp32 board is a micro-board with a camera on it, it along with the proper software will allow to see and read the digits on a dial and send them to home assistant.
Think of it like holding a camera with your hands and taking a picture of your meter readings.
Lollll dude what do you think OP is doing here exactly? "Hacking" the meter? He's just trying to get an accurate reading remotely, don't be so dramatic.
I'm being helpful to OP. When he disassembles and adds or replaces parts to the meter the company will inevitably find out, they will schedule repairs to the meter (even if it isn't really "broken"), and OP will face consequences for messing with their property.
Fuck corporate, sure, but I don't think OP is going to get much value out of this.
You're not really helpful because you misunderstood what they're trying to do. Look at the Thingiverse link. They want to place a camera in front of the meter. Not disassemble it or touch the meter at all, except for attaching a mount that holds that camera. Not touching a meter (just barely touching the casing) and pointing a camera at it should be allowed in most countries.
But you're right, you shouldn't mess with your meters. Or rewind the mileage on your car, or swap price-tags in the store. That's all fraud and not allowed.
Btw, we have meters that have a magnet inside of the dial, so you can read it with a reed-switch.
When he disassembles and adds or replaces parts to the meter
TIL a fridge magnet is “disassembling, adding or replacing parts” to a refrigerator.
The fix would be lightly grasping the 3D printed part, and giving it a slight pull. There’s no disassembly, no part replacement, and no adding parts. It’s essentially a clip on camera mount.
A clearly-labeled plastic box smaller than the actual metal meter is not likely to cause this law to be invoked, since there is no way in hell that a reasonable person could mistake it for the real thing. It would be like mistaking a Tonka toy for actual construction equipment.