Electric shower

torrevieja

Hi we got an electric shower put in new bathroom a year ago it's operated on a pull Cord the guy at the time said it's best to leave it on all the time as the cord can break and the unit will have to be replaced, is this correct or should I turn it off thanks in advance

Sleeper12

torrevieja wrote:

Hi we got an electric shower put in new bathroom a year ago it's operated on a pull Cord the guy at the time said it's best to leave it on all the time as the cord can break and the unit will have to be replaced, is this correct or should I turn it off thanks in advance

The isolation switch is there by law so the engineer can repair the shower. If he turns off the fuse downstairs you could turn it on while he works on the shower possibly killing him. There is nothing stopping you turning in on & off if you want but you'll find that you are replacing switch every year or two.

Having said that Dublin Fire Officers recommend that you turn it off. There was a house fire last week in Kilbarrack that the fire officer said could have been prevented if the switch was off. I have seen many old showers burst into flames over the years sometimes when someone is using the shower and sometimes not. The cause of the shower going on fire was age. In this case the shower was close to 30 years old. As a shower ages the heat from the element slowly drys out the rubber fire proofing on the cables inside the shower. The become dry and brittle and eventually will offer little or no fire protection.

Ten years is the average life span of an electric shower. Anything over 15 years I would recommend replacing or having it checked every year by an engineer. The cheaper option in the long run is replace the shower

torrevieja

Hi Sleeper thanks for that very detailed answer i appreciate it,

can i ask what do u do leave it on or off?

Sleeper12

torrevieja wrote:

can i ask what do u do leave it on or off?

We have a power shower that gets most of the use. Our electric shower can go weeks without use. Advise from electricians would alw be to turn off if we going away for a few weeks. Mine would be off most of the time.

After reading the advice from the fire officer I'm not sure I can advise to leave on anymore. I feel that it might leave me open to a lawsuit giving contrary advice to the fire officer

Tuco88

If its a good quality Isolator like MK or Crabtree it should be fine.

I find its people switching on and off the shower from the Isolator(Not a great quality makes) is a common cause. As apposed to the button on the unit itself.

Sleeper12

The Kilbarrack fire

I can't figure out the make. It's definitely not Triton or Mira. It looks like it might have been a Redring Expressions 570.

Any shower with a copper heating can/element is too old. The copper puts the age of the shower over 20 years

Lockheed

Sleeper12 wrote: »

The Kilbarrack fire

I can't figure out the make. It's definitely not Triton or Mira. It looks like it might have been a Redring Expressions 570.

Any shower with a copper heating can/element is too old. The copper puts the age of the shower over 20 years

Confirming it was actually a redrings expression 570-

I know I'm bumping an old thread but this is an excellent video detailing the exact model of electric shower and how this fire most likely happened, 2 years before the fire.
If you don't want to watch it, essentially the switch to turn off the flow to the boiler does not turn off the heating element until it is completely turned (even after water ceases to flow), which left alone overheats the boiler after a while and triggers a safety switch. My guess is that the safety switch just stopped working and as it was left on at the insulator it just got too hot and combusted.

Sleeper12

Lockheed wrote: »

Confirming it was actually a redrings expression 570-

I know I'm bumping an old thread but this is an excellent video detailing the exact model of electric shower and how this fire most likely happened, 2 years before the fire.
If you don't want to watch it, essentially the switch to turn off the flow to the boiler does not turn off the heating element until it is completely turned (even after water ceases to flow), which left alone overheats the boiler after a while and triggers a safety switch. My guess is that the safety switch just stopped working and as it was left on at the insulator it just got too hot and combusted.

The guy in the video is a bit of a donkey.Not only does he not know the difference between an electric shower & a power shower but he has actually repaired several times a safety device (TCO) that should never be repaired. These should always be replaced. Once tampered with the shower is no longer BEAB or EU approved.

The Mira Elite ST & QT had the exact same fault. I get a lot of call outs to replace the TCO. Maybe one of these on average will have this issue after the new TCO has been installed. Water literally comes to a boil in the heating can. Haven't seen it in the Mira Elite SE yet but then again it's only six or seven months on the market. Hopefully they have solved the issue