Another Triton T90 thread...

curiousb

UP to recently our shower has been working perfectly, but I fitted a new showerhose from Lidl which had a narrow washer you could fit to restrict the water flow and therefore use less water.

However I noticed water flowing out of the overflow pipe, just behind where the showerhose connected in to the unit, and water also seemed to be coming down the wall from behind the unit.

I removed the narrow washer and replaced it with the standard one but water was still leaking out the overflow and from behind the unit.

I replaced the showerhose with our old one and it was still happening.

But yesterday, the shower tripped the breaker, and has done so each time I have turned it on, after less then a minute each time.

THis afternoon I removed the shower unit cover and, very carefully, turned on the shower and noticed water collecting at the top of the pump(?) and spilling over. See the red circle in the top of the photo for where I mean. Lots of wires there! So shower is not being used until fixed. I am assuming this was very dangerous.



So is this fixable? I imagine that due to the narrow washer I used, it backed up the pressure and has blown a seal or washer in the pump. I'm handy enough so would like to do the fix myself, but as it's electrics and water, I'll only do it if I am sure I can do it properly!

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for reading!

Bruthal

An instant electric shower has to have a certain flow rate to maintain the temperature selected by the user. Restricting the flow would make the temperature too hot, which is all you are doing when you turn up the temperature dial on an electric shower.

You have probably popped the showers pressure relief device by restricting the water flow at that restricting washer you fitted.

No such washers should be used on these showers. This is the first time i have seem someone wanting to reduce the shower flow rate:D

curiousb

robbie7730 wrote: »

An instant electric shower has to have a certain flow rate to maintain the temperature selected by the user. Restricting the flow would make the temperature too hot, which is all you are doing when you turn up the temperature dial on an electric shower.

You have probably popped the showers pressure relief device by restricting the water flow at that restricting washer you fitted.

No such washers should be used on these showers. This is the first time i have seem someone wanting to reduce the shower flow rate:D

This Pressure Relief device, is it replaceable?

When the water charges come in, we might all be wanting to reduce our flow rates

Bruthal

curiousb wrote: »

This Pressure Relief device, is it replaceable?

It is replacable. This is the item to type into google, Triton 82800450.

Easy enough to replace. Can order it online or call triton ireland.
http://www.tritonshowers.ie/contact-triton.aspx

They are sold on ebay also.

Make sure you turn off the isolating switch before opening shower unit.

When the water charges come in, we might all be wanting to reduce our flow rates

Not by physically blocking shower outlets though.

If you want to try reducing the shower flow rate while maintaining the usual temperature you use, turn the heat selector switch (the one with cold, heat 1, and heat 2) down to heat 1 position. Now turn up the temperature dial until the water is hot enough. This is turning off one of the elements, and so you are reducing the flow rate with the temperature dial to get the same heat as with both elements on. This will reduce your electricity usage also, if you can get it to work adequately with the reduced flow.

This is unlikely to work in the cold winter months though, as the water in the storage tank will be so cold, that both elements will be needed to heat the water adequately, as the flow rate will be too low to get it heated with just one element, and would probably cause the pressure switch to cut the element out anyway.

curiousb

Robbie, thanks very much for the info. I'll get the part asap.

What you say about the flow rate makes perfect sense!

Barry

Bruthal

Yea thats all your doing when you turn up the temperature dial on an instant electric shower, your reducing the flow rate over the elements, and the same for turning the temp down, with the dial, you increase the flow. The element always puts the same amount of heat into the water, more litres per minute = less temperature increase to the supplied water, less litres per minute = higher temperature, so the heat put into the water is constant, the user just varies the flow rate with the temperature dial. Thats why there will be a lot less water flow from the shower in the winter, as the water to the shower is much colder, so the user will have the temp dial higher, which reduces flow rate to give a bigger temperature increase to a smaller amount of water.

You can switch each half of the element on or off as mentioned before, as sometimes in very hot weather when the attic tank is very warm, both elements would have the water too hot even with the temp dial at its coolest/highest flow rate position.

If the restricting rubber ring had not popped the pressure relief device/valve, the shower would of been too hot to use anyway.

If you turn the temp dial too high and so reduce the water flow severely, a low-pressure switch which is at the heating tank well after the temperature dial, will cut out the elements to prevent heating the with too little water flow, but because you would of been blocking the shower after the pressure switch, it would not of detected low pressure, but there would still have been too little flow, and the water would of raidly boiled. Showers have an overheat cutout for this reason, but its still not great to interfere with the showers flow rate.

Power mixer showers use pre heated water from the hot water cylinder mixed with cold water to set the desired temperature, so their flow rate is independent of temperature. Thats why they would have much higher flow rates possible, but again, no fitting of restricting rings should be done there either, reduced flow rates can be obtained using the flow controls.

I know its a long post there, but you might be interested in understanding the workings.

Robbie.

curiousb

That's a great explanation. i never really understood how they worked. Now I've no excuse

curiousb

UPDATE: I got the pressure relief device yesterday and have just fitted it. it solves one problem, in that water is no longer leaking out of the valve.

But, water is leaking, big time, out of the top of the unit (can and element assembly according to the manual). This is the top area marked in red on my first post.

There's a lot of water coming out, so is there another option open to me to repair?

Thanks!

Bruthal

There might be damage done if thats the case, you would need to see can you see where its leaking from. Sometimes it might not be leaking from where it appears.

curiousb

Yep. It's hard to see where the water is coming from, but as well as dripping down the side of the can, it is collecting in the recess at the top where the wiring is.

I will try to remove the can itself later and see if anything is obviously broken.

curiousb

SUCCESS (so far).

I removed the can, taking loads of photos of the wiring in the top, and as I examined the workings of the shower unit, I came to the conclusion that the only place water could be leaking from was the seal at the top of the can as the water was collecting in the top of the unit where the wiring was.

I dismantled the can and took out the element and all looked ok, so I reassembled it using silicone sealant all around the top seal. I put it all back together and left it overnight. Tried it this morning and no more leaks.

I have tried it at all settings and so far so good. I know the sealant is good for high temperature so I am hoping it will last.

Anyway, even if it lasts for another 6 months, it's a good result!

Bruthal

Might be fine, just ensure you have a working RCD on the shower circuit anyway, especially in case of any leaks. Test it with the test button.

curiousb

Thanks for the tip. I have done that and tested it and the RCD is working fine.

I will remove the cover again later in the week and recheck for leaks to be sure.

Thanks for the advice over the last week or so Robbie, it's much appreciated!