Electric Shower

suitseir

During the cold weather I have been using the gravity fed shower. I just tried the electric shower this morning as my friend rang me to say her water is gone. Now I flushed loos this morning and had a wash on and my water at the sink is fine

I tried the electric shower and no water? Presuming the pipe leading into it is frozen?

What should I do?

suitseir

Anybody? Need advice...

Bruthal

It could be frozen, but also sounds possible the tank in the attic has run low, the shower may be connected to the attic tank at a higher point than the feed to the taps etc, so it would be the first to go. Is the mains pressure at your cold tap at kitchen sink lower than usual? We had that here last week in the estate and the pressure was to low to refill the attic tank as water was being used, and some houses ran their attic tanks dry.

It could be frozen though, especially if it the shower has not been used in a while so the water has not flowed at all in its feed pipe, i would get up and look at attic tank water level first anyway. The mains feed into the tank could also be frozen and so leaving the tank running low. Is it a pumped electric shower?

suitseir

It is not a pumped shower just a Triton T90. The cold water at the sink is flowing fine. Just talking in town to a guy in the County Council and he says that pressure is low around the town as resevoirs are frozen and people are letting main taps running...well so am I at the moment.

I have water in the loos, well they filled this morning and I had a rinse and spin on washing machine and that worked fine. This guy reckons that perhaps the pressure isn't good enough to get water to higher level in the tank.

I will have the tanks checked today. I opened the attic door and have a plugged in heater on the landing and the heat is going into attic now.

Bruthal

suitseir wrote: »

It is not a pumped shower just a Triton T90. The cold water at the sink is flowing fine. Just talking in town to a guy in the County Council and he says that pressure is low around the town as resevoirs are frozen and people are letting main taps running...well so am I at the moment.

I have water in the loos, well they filled this morning and I had a rinse and spin on washing machine and that worked fine. This guy reckons that perhaps the pressure isn't good enough to get water to higher level in the tank.

I will have the tanks checked today. I opened the attic door and have a plugged in heater on the landing and the heat is going into attic now.

yes i mentioned the low pressure possibility in my post, it happeened here and i was up in next doors attic as they had no water to the taps, attic tank was empty, cold tap in kitchen sink was working, thats the only usual mains fed tap in a house, but pressure was too low to re fill attic tank as its level dropped.

What i meant by pumped shower was does it have a pump in it, you can clearly hear if it has as you hear the motor running in it. Pump fed showers take water from attic tank. But if its not pumped it will be near silent, and then maybe the pressure is too low for the shower also, as non pumped ones use mains water feed to them. If its not frozen then this is likely the problem

Stoner

suitseir wrote: »

It is not a pumped shower just a Triton T90.

A triton T90 is a shower has a built in pump, they are usually fed from the same tank as the toilet but with a direct feed to the tank, sometimes people link them to the toilet supply so when the toilet is flushed the shower will not operate properly until the toilet has been filled again.

there should be an LED on the shower showing that it has power, the T90 model would be old enough now, i think that model has power and water on via the same twist of the dial so water will run without power and ice might be an issue, are you sure that the pullcord or wall shower switch is turned on? maybe the RCBO in the fuseboard has tripped.

When you turn the shower on and or turn the dial do you hear the pump running dry? that would at least let us know if there was power to the shower.

suitseir

Ok so it has a pump. I really wouldn't be too familiar with the details. Yes, it has power going through it but I hadn't used it for a while so I have taken off the shower head and soaked it in OUST!

A neighbour has been in the attic and says that the tank is full and he tipped the ballcock and water is coming in, albeit the pressure is down. I have since found out that some businesses in town are without water and the storage tanks, at least the top of them, at county council treatment plant, are frozen on top and I was told that the pressure is down because people are letting taps drip!

Stoner

well if it has power going to it and the tank that feeds is full it then this is not a water pressure issue, as the tank in the attic being full means that your shower has the same head of water that it had when it was installed and is not subject to low mains pressure.

Nothing else springs to mind, if the shower head was an issue you can just screw it off and see if the water comes out the hose on it's own, if it does then it's not a shower head issue, anyway it's not a shower head issue some water would still flow.

When you install a shower for the first time it can take some time before the water flows, but it is not good for the electric motor to run light.

If this was my shower I'd take the shower head off and turn the shower on and try to suck water through the system, but it's not my shower and I'm not recommending that anyone do this, I've just used in on an air locked electric hand washer before and it worked.

I think I'll move this to the plumbing forum since there seems to be power at the shower and it might be more likely to be a plumbing issue now.

pegasus1

i think you have ice in the pipe leading from the tank to the shower....it may be plugged with ice at the isolation tap that should be located in the attic..

or you could have ice plugging the pipe as it goes into the shower/filter in the shower unit....as the pump is turned on the ice would get lodged and trapped hence plugging the supply........try turning off the electrical power to the shower by the pullcord and turning the unit on by the dial just to the cold setting... leave the door open to the bathroom to get warth to the shower area....let the shower head dangle and as it thaws a drip should start and that would help the process by getting rid of the ice...

for the tap in the attic run a hairdryer on it to warm it up...

hope this sorts you out!!

foxinsox

pegasus1 wrote: »

i think you have ice in the pipe leading from the tank to the shower....it may be plugged with ice at the isolation tap that should be located in the attic..

or you could have ice plugging the pipe as it goes into the shower/filter in the shower unit....as the pump is turned on the ice would get lodged and trapped hence plugging the supply........try turning off the electrical power to the shower by the pullcord and turning the unit on by the dial just to the cold setting... leave the door open to the bathroom to get warth to the shower area....let the shower head dangle and as it thaws a drip should start and that would help the process by getting rid of the ice...

for the tap in the attic run a hairdryer on it to warm it up...

hope this sorts you out!!

Thanks.. I think I may have the same problem..
Sorry for jumping on OP's thread..

DETAILS:

Triton T90i shower 6 months old
really hard water area
mains water is on no problems
yesterday i went to turn on shower
just got noise of motor (2 secs and turned it off)
took off shower head tried again (2 secs)
nothing but noise like stuggling

tried tonight again
same thing
shower head always dangles

MY Q's:

I've been having baths and am going away anyway..

It is currently -10.2 here.. it has been -4 or -5 last week or so.

Do you think it is just ice somewhere?

If I just leave it will it sort itself out?

It's under warranty so I can call plumber early jan if needed.


Any advice appreciated, I can't get into attic as I'm on my own and it's way too scary and technical..

Thank you smelly fox in Carlow

Bruthal

OP the first thing i would do is check the water level in the attic tank. The electric shower could be connected to the tank at a higher point than the taps and so this can cause it to lose water before the taps in the event of low water mains pressure not keeping the attic tank full, so here are some possibilities.

1. Low mains pressure has caused attic tank to run low, this can also cause air to go into shower feed pipe, so when it re fills there may be air in the shower water pipe feed.

2. Shower water pipe is frozen.

3. Mains feed into attic tank is frozen, a little less likely as it is flowing more throughout the day than the shower which was out of use for a while.

The shower has a water bleed screw to allow water and air to be bled out of it without running the shower because its not good running the pump while there is no water flow. If you open this screw and see if any water flows.

But check the attic tank level if your mains water pressure at your kitchen sink cold tap is lower than normal.

Bruthal

foxinsox wrote: »

Thanks.. I think I may have the same problem..
Sorry for jumping on OP's thread..

DETAILS:

Triton T90i shower 6 months old
really hard water area
mains water is on no problems
yesterday i went to turn on shower
just got noise of motor (2 secs and turned it off)
took off shower head tried again (2 secs)
nothing but noise like stuggling

tried tonight again
same thing
shower head always dangles

MY Q's:

I've been having baths and am going away anyway..

It is currently -10.2 here.. it has been -4 or -5 last week or so.

Do you think it is just ice somewhere?

If I just leave it will it sort itself out?

It's under warranty so I can call plumber early jan if needed.


Any advice appreciated, I can't get into attic as I'm on my own and it's way too scary and technical..

Thank you smelly fox in Carlow

Sounds frozen alright, but again have a look at attic tank level in case the mains pipe to that is frozen. You could leave attic door open and the heat from house should thaw out the pipes if any are frozen.

pegasus1

leave the attic door/hatch ajar as in sitting the hatch on the joists a little bit off square to the hole..mind not too little..just enough to let heat into the attic..

then leave the door to the shower room open and hopefully there will be a thaw on by the time you get back from christmas festivitys later in the week

have the heating timed to come on say twice a day for an hour or so...enough to keep the chill from freezing!

i don't think it could cause a leak..

don't leave the shower dial on when you head off...it might thaw ages before ye get back and it would be wasteful.

hope it sorts out for you!

Bruthal

pegasus1 wrote: »

leave the attic door/hatch ajar

Thats mad, the exact same time and all:D

pegasus1

robbie7730 wrote: »

Sounds frozen alright, but again have a look at attic tank level in case the mains pipe to that is frozen. You could leave attic door open and the heat from house should thaw out the pipes if any are frozen.

the op has said in an earlier post that there is water in the tank and also the mains feed into the tank is ok...

the isolation tap being brass would be more suspect to freezing!

pegasus1

robbie7730 wrote: »

Thats mad, the exact same time and all:D

Snap!:D

foxinsox

Thanks lads

I'll try the attic hatch thing..

It's too cold to go up there, I'd be scared and the fibreglass would attack me..

and then I wouldn't know what pipe was what anyway..

I'll leave the heating on timer as advised..

Thanks again..

Happy Christmas

Bruthal

pegasus1 wrote: »

the op has said in an earlier post that there is water in the tank and also the mains feed into the tank is ok...

the isolation tap being brass would be more suspect to freezing!

yes just noticed that now, probably frozen alright, although if the tank ran low at any stage there could be air in the shower water feed. But lookin like frozen alright.

The isolaton tap is usualy in the house though under the sink and usually warmer than the attic, unless its the isolation one in the street you mean

pegasus1

robbie7730 wrote: »

yes just noticed that now, probably frozen alright, although if the tank ran low at any stage there could be air in the shower water feed. But lookin like frozen alright.

The isolaton tap is usualy in the house though under the sink and usually warmer than the attic, unless its the isolation one in the street you mean

every electric shower should have an isolation tap just for the water feed for the shower...not a plumber but a sparks..electons instead of wet stuff;)

it will be located in the feed pipe for the shower

Bruthal

pegasus1 wrote: »

every electric shower should have an isolation tap just for the water feed for the shower...not a plumber but a sparks..electons instead of wet stuff;)

O yea the shower water gate valve you meant haha, im losing the plot these days with the reading,,, a sparks myself, but have put in a few of them h2o isolators down the years:)

cubix

Do the T90s and the likes not have bleed valves in them to purge air locks?

Bruthal

cubix wrote: »

Do the T90s and the likes not have bleed valves in them to purge air locks?

They do, i mentioned that in post #11. they allow the shower to be primed at installation before running the pump, or to clear air at any other time it may have been introduced, through servicing or running attic tank low etc.

suitseir

The tank in the attic is full and while pressure is down, as in it is filling slower than usual. Most of the folk in this wee town have water problems, some from the outside as previously discussed.

When my neighbour tapped the ballcock there was water coming into the tank in the attic. It may be that the shower is knackered in any case as it is 15 years old and I would presume that it has to work extra hard in this weather.

I have taken the head off and soaked it. I have left the tap dripping at sink (bad thing to do) but at least I have water coming in. The heating is on and the attic door is open.

I spoke to a gal last night in the pub who said she had the same problem with her electric shower so she did similar, left attic door open, light on, went to work and when she came home the shower worked!

Bruthal

suitseir wrote: »

The tank in the attic is full and while pressure is down, as in it is filling slower than usual. Most of the folk in this wee town have water problems, some from the outside as previously discussed.

When my neighbour tapped the ballcock there was water coming into the tank in the attic. It may be that the shower is knackered in any case as it is 15 years old and I would presume that it has to work extra hard in this weather.

I have taken the head off and soaked it. I have left the tap dripping at sink (bad thing to do) but at least I have water coming in. The heating is on and the attic door is open.

I spoke to a gal last night in the pub who said she had the same problem with her electric shower so she did similar, left attic door open, light on, went to work and when she came home the shower worked!

Looks like frozen so, although as i was saying about low pressure here last week, next door called in last week because shower was not working and it was the attic tank had almost emptied because it was so slow filling from very low mains pressure, so later on it was working again,
The better insulated the attic is with layers of fibre glass etc, the more prone the attic pipes are to freezing in this type of weather.

The electric showers dont really work any harder in colder weather, the heating element output is the same, we are just reducing the water flow to get them hotter in colder weather. They can be used lighter in hot weather alright if heat 1 is selected with only one of the 2 elements in them on.

A 15 year old one is fairly old alright:)

Bruthal

My own shower now out of action. Just got into attic. Water tank 3/4 empty. Sheet of ice on whats left in it. Mains feed frozen going into the tank. Dont think i ever seen the like of it. Whole tank full of bits of ice.

Its attic door left open time.

Bruthal

No patients for waiting now so i blocked off the kitchen sink mixing tap, and turned on hot tap then cold tap. This forces water up from the hot water cylinder into the attic tank. that has now thaw`d the attic tank and filled it up a bit. Should speed up thawing of the cold water mains feed into it i`d say.

cynder

robbie7730 wrote: »

My own shower now out of action. Just got into attic. Water tank 3/4 empty. Sheet of ice on whats left in it. Mains feed frozen going into the tank. Dont think i ever seen the like of it. Whole tank full of bits of ice.

Its attic door left open time.

Our tank is empty, but we have mains water. So recon pipe from mains to cold water tank is frozen, where though?


We have hot water, but if we use it ans the tank is emptied what happens to the gas boiler heating the water, will it still be safe to use if there is not water to heat?

Its a closed system but heats the hot water.

Bruthal

grindelwald wrote: »

Our tank it empty, but we have mains water. so recon pipe from mains to cold water tank is frozen, where though?

More than likely close to the tank itself, somewhere in the attic anyway.

You could do what i did in last post, if your handy with that type of stuff.
I used to do that mostly to clear airlocks, but it will fill the tank up if need be, as long as you keep an eye on the level as it will keep filling to the overflow.