Mira Event installation from rear with gap

carveone

I'm hoping someone knows about these pumped shower units. I have a Mira Event in this apartment where the pipes/power come in from the back. It seems to work ok but there's a small gap 2mm to the left of the unit - I can see where the tile ends and another is cut, I guess when someone was installing it. (sorry, I should really have gotten a photo but it's this one).

I'm just wondering is this safe? After all it would appear that water could get in on that side and trickle behind the tiled wall of the shower. I'd like to take it apart and look but I need a tool (push-fit release tool) to lever the front control off - there's a screw behind it. Anyone know if I can use something else (not a screwdriver!) as a lever?

I'm assuming there's just a half tile cut-out and the pipe/electrics come through the plasterboard into the back of the Mira. Is there any way of sealing the plasterboard against water ingress? Siliconing the Mira itself would be a bad plan (it would likely overheat)!

Sleeper12

That is the old model event. It's over 15 years old and probably will need to be replaced in a few years. If there is a gap it can't be that bad if there's been no problem yet. I would think it's ok to leave it alone till the shower needs replacing. You can also fill the gap with silicon if it bothers you.

carveone

Ok, I didn't know it was that old! It's a second hand flat... Explains the state of the shower which has been siliconed over paint over silicone over grunge.

I was concerned about overheating but a small line of silicone up the side should put my mind at ease. That and an Rcd! Thanks.

agusta

are you saying you dont have a 30 mA residual current device fitted!

Kevin McCloud

Sleeper12 wrote: »

You can also fill the gap with silicon if it bothers you.

Do not do this anyway, the op already knows siliconing around a shower, whether partial or whole is the incorrect thing to do.

Sleeper12

Kevin sometimes you have to silicon around a shower. Ideally no silicon is best but as shower engineers we're often left with no choice due to bad tilers. Water getting into the wall causes much more damage than silicon around the shower. In this case it would be a small amount of silicon in a small area, just where the gap is.

Kevin McCloud

As a shower engineer what you should be doing is to refuse to fit the shower if there is bad tiling. Get the tiler to make it good. Siliconing around a shower is not the solution. Show the home owner the installation manual and the section where it says this.

DO NOT to block the ventilation gaps around the sides of the unit, either by tiling up around the sides of the unit or by using a sealant around the case.

This is from a mira elite installation manual, page 9 http://www.mirashowers.co.uk/onlinecatalog/pdf/1056830_w2_h_mira_elite_st.pdf

carveone

agusta wrote: »

are you saying you dont have a 30 mA residual current device fitted!

No no I'm saying the fuse and the RCD helps with putting my mind at ease. Not that it helped my sister - similar setup and the unit shorted out with bangs and sparks flying into the bath. Didn't help her tachycardia any...

Here's a belated piccy just for interest:

carveone

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

Show the home owner the installation manual and the section where it says this.

The first thing I did was download the shower manual and read it. Which is why I mentioned the siliconing. The manual also mentions making the tiling good as regards sealing the supplies/electrics but leaves any details as your/your tilers problem. It also says not to put the supplies from the hot press up into the attic and down again - guess what; they've done that too. Looking forward to airlocks...

For a small area (half of one side) it's probably ok until I rip this whole POS out and replace it

Sleeper12

Kevin McCloud wrote: »

As a shower engineer what you should be doing is to refuse to fit the shower if there is bad tiling. Get the tiler to make it good. Siliconing around a shower is not the solution. Show the home owner the installation manual and the section where it says this.



This is from a mira elite installation manual, page 9 http://www.mirashowers.co.uk/onlinecatalog/pdf/1056830_w2_h_mira_elite_st.pdf

Kevin there's a huge difference between a Mira elite st ELECTRIC shower and a Mira event POWER shower. Please show me where it says not to use silicon on a POWER shower. A power shower doesn't have an element and doesn't heat up like an electric shower. A power shower needs a 3 amp fuse and 1mm cable is overkill. An electric shower needs 40amp / 45 amp rcbo and 6mm to 10mm cable.