Mira shower broke - worth fixing?

Barr

Hi All

I have a Mira Zest that is about 6 years old.

Its been giving trouble the last few weeks in that sometime when you try and turn the dial it was not working at all. It could take 5 or 6 attempts before any water would come out.

Now its not coming on at all.

Mira are looking for €80 plus parts. Is it worth the money given the age?

Should I just get an electrician to replace it with a whole new unit and bypass Mira altogether?

What ye think.

Thanks

Bruthal

Not familiar with that shower, does it have an indicator neon to show the power is on?

Anyway, look at your pullchord ceiling switch if you have one of them, does it have an indicator light (neon)? If so, is it staying lit when you try to turn on the shower itself?

Barr

robbie7730 wrote: »

Not familiar with that shower, does it have an indicator neon to show the power is on?

Anyway, look at your pullchord ceiling switch if you have one of them, does it have an indicator light (neon)? If so, is it staying lit when you try to turn on the shower itself?

The shower itself has no light on it.

The pull chord switch has the neon light and it stays on when turning on the shower.

Whats the significance of this has I'm a bit clueless about electrics ?

Bruthal

Barr wrote: »

The shower itself has no light on it.

The pull chord switch has the neon light and it stays on when turning on the shower.

Whats the significance of this has I'm a bit clueless about electrics ?

If there was a bad connection at the feed side of the switch or the switch contacts, or back at the MCB board, the pullchord light would go off when you attempt to start the shower. As the indicator is staying on, it means its either the load side connections of the pullchord, or a problem in the shower itself. If nothing is happening at all then it could be various things, connection gone, solenoid valve not working, selector switch problem, bad connection at pullchord on the load side, water problem such as airlock, although if its a mains connected shower this shouldnt be a problem. A simple thing for electricians to diagnose anyway if you know one thats close by.

Might be worth having a visual inspection of the pull chord switch connections to see any sign of burning. Power off to shower circuit of course.

Hartel

I have a similar situation with a Mira Shower. I have power to the Shower terminals and this power will make and break using the pull chord switch.
I don't have any power on "led" at the shower, but if I disconnect the neutral wire the power "led" comes on??
Any help please.
Thanks

Sleeper12

Hartel wrote: »

I have a similar situation with a Mira Shower. I have power to the Shower terminals and this power will make and break using the pull chord switch.
I don't have any power on "led" at the shower, but if I disconnect the neutral wire the power "led" comes on??
Any help please.
Thanks

Have you tested for power at the shower with a phase tester? Or have you proved that you have 230v with a multi meter?

Hartel

I used a phase tester, I'm baffled as to why with power to the shower and disconnecting the blue neutral terminal the power on "led" comes on?
Where is it getting its path to light?

Sleeper12

Hartel wrote: »

I used a phase tester, I'm baffled as to why with power to the shower and disconnecting the blue neutral terminal the power on "led" comes on?
Where is it getting its path to light?

The phase tester is indicating that you have power. Phase testers are very unreliable & can't be trusted. If tested properly with a multi meter you'd possibly find that you don't have 230v at the shower.
I'd suggest that you get an electrician or a shower repair company to test it properly.

Hartel

Good man thanks for advice.
I'm fairly certain though that the correct power is at the unit. It's malfunctioning for some reason, so I'll replace it I think.

Sleeper12

Hartel wrote: »

Good man thanks for advice.
I'm fairly certain though that the correct power is at the unit. It's malfunctioning for some reason, so I'll replace it I think.

Trust me you'll be cheaper getting someone that knows what they are doing. You'll end up buying a new shower & it probably won't work. It doesn't sound like you have power to the shower.
A phase tester will light up if there is even 1 volt. They have been known to light up on a neutral too. We never use phase testers. If you have a dodgy neutral the phase tester will light up on the live but you won't have 230v needed to power the shower. You won't know if you have 230v without testing it with a multi meter.

Bruthal

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The phase tester is indicating that you have power. Phase testers are very unreliable & can't be trusted. If tested properly with a multi meter you'd possibly find that you don't have 230v at the shower.
I'd suggest that you get an electrician or a shower repair company to test it properly.

If someone knows what they are at, a phase tester can tell more than simply indicating a point may be live. Apprentices are taught that they are unreliable, and so it is ingrained, often without thought or analysis as to why.

Still though, not a great item for proper testing, and for the layman they are more misleading than anything. But a multimeter is not always the perfect instrument either. They do faithfully and correctly display readings according to their state in a circuit.

But if a digital meter displayed 210v and an analogue one displayed 20 volts in the same test position, which is correct?

Sleeper12

Bruthal wrote: »

If someone knows what they are at, a phase tester can tell more than simply indicating a point may be live. Apprentices are taught that they are unreliable, and so it is ingrained, often without thought or analysis as to why.

Still though, not a great item for proper testing. But a multimeter is not always the perfect instrument either. They do faithfully and correctly display readings according to their state in a circuit.

But if a digital meter displayed 210v and an analogue one displayed 20 volts in the same test position, which is correct?

I hear what you are saying. I was over simplifying for the benefit of the poster. In this case he is testing the live, the phase tester is lighting up, he is happy that he has power at the shower and is now ready to buy a new shower. I'm suggesting that he might not have 230v at the shower and it would be a waste of money buying a new shower.
Would you suggest that he get it tested first?

Hartel

Electrician calling tomorrow to check shower. Will keep you posted as to what he'll find.

Bruthal

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I hear what you are saying. I was over simplifying for the benefit of the poster. In this case he is testing the live, the phase tester is lighting up, he is happy that he has power at the shower and is now ready to buy a new shower. I'm suggesting that he might not have 230v at the shower and it would be a waste of money buying a new shower.
Would you suggest that he get it tested first?

Yea I agree with your posts. Phase tester won't show open circuit neutral when testing the phase. Although it will if someone using it knows how to find it. But I also don't recommend that method to the op.

If loose connection is at the shower itself, replacing it will fix it as the connection will be remade, making the op think the shower was indeed faulty.

If the problem is at pullchord etc, then replacing the shower won't solve the problem.

A few tests with multimeter and someone who knows what they are at would find the problem very quickly.

Sleeper12

Bruthal wrote: »

Yea I agree with your posts. Phase tester won't show open circuit neutral when testing the phase. Although it will if someone using it knows how to find it. But I also don't recommend that method to the op.

If loose connection is at the shower itself, replacing it will fix it as the connection will be remade, making the op think the shower was indeed faulty.

If the problem is at pullchord etc, then replacing the shower won't solve the problem.

A few tests with multimeter and someone who knows what they are at would find the problem very quickly.

I'm putting my money on the pull cord. :-)

Bruthal

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I hear what you are saying. I was over simplifying for the benefit of the poster. In this case he is testing the live, the phase tester is lighting up, he is happy that he has power at the shower and is now ready to buy a new shower. I'm suggesting that he might not have 230v at the shower and it would be a waste of money buying a new shower.
Would you suggest that he get it tested first?

Yea I agree with your posts. Phase tester won't show open circuit neutral when testing the phase. Although it will if someone using it knows how to find it. But I also don't recommend that method to the op.

If loose connection is at the shower itself, replacing it will fix it as the connection will be remade, making the op think the shower was indeed faulty.

If the problem is at pullchord etc, then replacing the shower won't solve the problem.

A few tests with multimeter and someone who knows what they are at would find the problem very quickly.

Could be connection problem in the shower internal wiring too.

Bruthal

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I'm putting my money on the pull cord. :-)

Probably. Again, multimeter and 60 seconds will show that.

Bruthal

If is the pull chord, they usually show signs of burnt terminals anyway. As possibly would any other connection that might be the cause.

Hartel

Well done to ye clever guys out there.
Electrician sorted my problem today.
The double pole isolator for the shower was only switching the phase and not the neutral, he replaced same and saved me from purchasing a new shower.
Thanks for sound advise.
Hartel.

greasepalm

at what cost curious as what the going rate is?

Hartel

40 euro switch and labour. I gave him 50!

Sleeper12

Hartel wrote: »

40 euro switch and labour. I gave him 50!

Not quite the going rate
A good quality switch is €15 so the going rate from someone not on the dole, pays taxes & has insurance is €75 / €85 Inc the switch :-)

Hartel

I did very well so. Yippee.