awww help, everythings broken...

Kiya

Hi guys,
doesnt it always seem like everything breaks at once?
well its all happened in the last week while the o/h is away.. :rolleyes:

the timer on my central heating has died.
so has the pump on my shower (well im assuming its the pump)
and my house seems to be wired funny cos when i changed a lightswitch with a dimmer, the lights go off in the kitchen if the upstairs light is on!

so i need help! (understatement u might say)

1) the heating control. (in my kitchen)
the on & off switch is still working, but the timer part of its broke, it turns on if you slide the switch to the timer.
so now im in the market for a digital version.

Problem is ive only seen plastic ones & theyre huge, much bigger than my current (round, non digital, pull out a segment) controller.
Is there such a thing as a stainless steel version or something like that?

(ive seen this but im not sure if it would work here? http://www.thermsaver.co.uk/heating_controls/thermsave_digital_programmer.html )

if theres no such thing as a "stainless steel/brushed chrome look" finish, then could someone please recommend one of the plastic ones?

2) the electric shower.
im assuming its the internal pump.
the shower is working, except theres no real pressure.
the indicator light on the unit is no longer on (where it says low, med, high).

question is... is the shower dead? have i to buy a complete replacement?
or can the pump be fixed (if thats what it is)

is this a job for a plumber or a sparky?

3) bathroom - the pull cord for powering off the shower, has been stuck on the "on" setting for ages.. cant pull the cord & change it... maybe this is whats killed the shower?

4) funny wiring.
right, replaced a 3way light switch with 3way dimmer...
now when the upstairs light is on, the kitchen lights are off.
and if you turn the upstairs light on via the dimmer downstairs, you cant turn it off on the upstairs switch!


id appreciate any advice, or alternatively if you know a sparky that would be free to help & do a few other jobs for me this week?
before the o/h comes home & thinks ive destroyed the house.

Damsel in distress

eoghan.geraghty

1) All the digital ones I've installed have been the size of a twin socket, never seen a chrome one. That doesn't mean they don't exist though.
2)What type of shower is it? Some have good service backup, triton/mira.How old is it? If more than 5/6 years it might be better to replace.
3) This wouldn't have killed the shower, but it's an easy job to replace.
4)You probably mixed up wires here, again should be simple enough to resolve, for a sparks that is.

With the exception of 2, you're looking at paying for a sparks for 1 to 2 hours plus about 60 euro in parts, and get him to look at 2 while there.

northdublin

on the dimmer issue it sounds like l1 and l2 are mixed up on one of the circuts.
with regards to the shower i dont think the 45amp pull switch would cause a failure but should have been replaced as soon as the fault was detected. when you have that ammount of ampage and water mixed it should allways be 100% safe with no exceptions.
ive not seen a chrome or stainless steel timer, there are many brands out there and usually the sparks has a preferance which they fit.flash and apt seem to be popular.