Replacement Shower

kf1

An old shower in my house recently ceased working and was tripping the electricity each time that I attempted to use it. It was an old Aqualiser Quartz which has been discontinued many years ago.

The plumber who initially looked at the problem suggested that I contact the manufacturer. The manufacturer thought that the tripping the board would either be a seized mixer valve in the processor or the PCB on the power supply in the processor so suggested that I buy a new processor (€400) which might not even solve the problem.

So my other alternative is to simply replace the shower which I plan on doing but on a limited budget. I priced up the fitting and parts for a new electric shower and working way too expensive for me.
So can anyone recommend a shower or set up that might suit. I presume that I would also need a shower pump to go with it for water pressure ? (have a 100l cylinder and one other shower with electric pump in the house, standard 3 bed semi house).

any advice welcome as I seem to be getting conflicting information on most cost effective way for me to fix this problem.

Sleeper12

From what you are saying it sounds like you have an electric shower? The quartz comes in a digital shower too

The Aqualisa quartz electric shower is a mains fed shower. I would usually replace this with a triton t80z. You are most likely looking at 300/350 supplied & fitted depending on what part of the country you live in.

It's definitely not worth repairing the old shower.

kf1

From what I understand, there is an electric processor in the attic (https://www.aqualisa.co.uk/parts-accessories/digital-processors-accessories/digital-processor-parts) but the unit itself is not an electric shower.

My preference was to go with an electric shower but the electrician suggested getting one of the heavy duty cables through the tiles and into a new unit would be a big/costly job.

If I installed a new unit that just feeds off the mains, I presume that the water pressure would be an issue? In that case, could I get a basic shower pump with the new shower to compensate for this?

Sleeper12

What is your budget?

Electric shower can be supplied & fitted from 700. With or without a pump you'll only get around 3 litres in the winter & 4.5 litres per minute on the hottest day of the year because it has to heat the water.

Another digital shower would be from 800 euro. This will put out 14 to 18 litres per minute all year round.

I'd be concerned that you wouldn't be happy with 3 litres per minute after being used to the 14/18 litres you've been getting for years.

kf1

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What is your budget?

Electric shower can be supplied & fitted from 700. With or without a pump you'll only get around 3 litres in the winter & 4.5 litres per minute on the hottest day of the year because it has to heat the water.

Another digital shower would be from 800 euro. This will put out 14 to 18 litres per minute all year round.

I'd be concerned that you wouldn't be happy with 3 litres per minute after being used to the 14/18 litres you've been getting for years.

I would be happy to pay 700 for an electric shower supplied and fitted. The electrician that I spoke to said that his portion of the work would have been upwards of 1,000 (so probably over 2,000 all in) - he said that fitting a heavy duty cable was a big job, along with having to remove tiles and re-tile the shower after the work was complete.

When you mention 3 litres per minute, I assume that this would be a standard shower feeding from mains without any pump? if so, are there any specific makes/models that you might recommend?

Sleeper12

kf1 wrote: »

I would be happy to pay 700 for an electric shower supplied and fitted. The electrician that I spoke to said that his portion of the work would have been upwards of 1,000 (so probably over 2,000 all in) - he said that fitting a heavy duty cable was a big job, along with having to remove tiles and re-tile the shower after the work was complete.

When you mention 3 litres per minute, I assume that this would be a standard shower feeding from mains without any pump? if so, are there any specific makes/models that you might recommend?

An electric shower can put out up to 10 litres per minute but it'll be cold water. You have to slow the flow on all electric showers to heat the water. This leaves about 3 litres per minute on a cold day. All electric showers are like this. Your power shower can pump out as much water as you like because you've spent the last hour heating it up in the cylinder.

If you want an electric shower get another one or two prices. That quote sounds high. Having said that I haven't seen your home & he has. There could be extra work involved like upgrading the meter tails or the fusebox itself.