Triton T80 problem

Muahahaha

One of the electric showers has been playing up recently, cycling from scalding hot to cold back to hot again. The mechanism inside it sounds laboured. Area suffers from limescale in the water. So I googled and most said the first thing to do is take off the shower head and braided tube and soak them in vinegar which I did. Put it all back together and now when it is switched on all that is coming out is a trickle of cold water, it seems more blocked than ever. All connections are as tight as I can get them. Anything else I can try before calling a plumber?

John.G

Muahahaha wrote: »

One of the electric showers has been playing up recently, cycling from scalding hot to cold back to hot again. The mechanism inside it sounds laboured. Area suffers from limescale in the water. So I googled and most said the first thing to do is take off the shower head and braided tube and soak them in vinegar which I did. Put it all back together and now when it is switched on all that is coming out is a trickle of cold water, it seems more blocked than ever. All connections are as tight as I can get them. Anything else I can try before calling a plumber?

Can you just remove the shower head but leave the braided hose in place and see what kind of flow its giving, it might narrow down where the problem lies.

Nekarsulm

Did you check the filter is clear?
You need to take the face plate off to do this.

Muahahaha

John.G wrote: »

Can you just remove the shower head but leave the braided hose in place and see what kind of flow its giving, it might narrow down where the problem lies.

I just did that there and there is not much water coming through the braided hose either. Not only that but the unit itself is now not making any noise, its completely silent whereas it was making noise before I took the shower head and hose off to soak them in vinegar

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Did you check the filter is clear?
You need to take the face plate off to do this.

No, I suppose that is the next step. If I turn of the electricity to the entire house from the fuseboard is it safe to then open it up? And how to clean, just hot water or vinegar too?

Nekarsulm

Muahahaha wrote: »

No, I suppose that is the next step. If I turn of the electricity to the entire house from the fuseboard is it safe to then open it up? And how to clean, just hot water or vinegar too?

Just have the power off at the isolator switch.
Its 4 star screws, two top and two bottom, and the entire face comes off.
Filter is behind a plastic hex headed plug, on the lower left side.
If you haven't a way to cut the water off between the attic tank and the shower, you might as well wear a pair of shorts and crocs, as you will get wet screwing it back in again.
Quick rinse under a tap should clean it.
( unless its limestone, in which case vinegar or some limescale remover)

Muahahaha

Thanks Nekerslum, will give that a go tomorrow. Do I need to remove the hex headed plug to be able to get in at the filter to take it out?

Nekarsulm

Muahahaha wrote: »

Thanks Nekerslum, will give that a go tomorrow. Do I need to remove the hex headed plug to be able to get in at the filter to take it out?

Its all the one part, a plastic filter with the hex head moulded onto it.( if its the sane as our 18year old model)

Sleeper12

If it is a t80 then it's a mains fed shower. You definitely don't want to remove the filter without turning the water off on a mains fed shower.

What model t80 is it?

It's unlikely that the filter got so blocked while you descaled the head. It's very possible that the hose is kinked inside. Try running it without the hose attached.

There is no motor in a mains fed shower so I wouldn't expect to hear much noise from it

Muahahaha

Sleeper it is a T80 SI. I just ran it there without the hose attached and the water flowed much better than it was before as well as heating up. I re-attached the hose and the water flows fine now so maybe there was a kink in the inner tube that has sorted itself out. However the water is still going scalding hot before going back to cold again. I'll open it up tomorrow and see if cleaning the filter makes a difference. If it doesn't what would be the next step, replace the thermostat?

Regards the turning the mains off, am I right to say this is the stopcock beneath the kitchen sink?

Sleeper12

Muahahaha wrote:

Regards the turning the mains off, am I right to say this is the stopcock beneath the kitchen sink?

That's usually the spot.

Shower cycling scalding hot and freezing is a restriction of water going through the shower. It could be a blocked filter, kink in the hose or a blocked shower head. A spurious head can cause this.
If it's none of the above then the flow rate going into the shower has dropped. It's scalding because the water is moving slower through the heating can /element. Obviously the slower it passes the heating can the hotter it will be coming out of the shower head. You need to be able to get 8.5 litres of water per minute through the shower for it to function correctly. You can do the "it's a knockout" test by seeing how many times you can fill a litre jug in 60 seconds. You would do this with the bottom dial all the way to blue. This will have the valve fully open allowing the most amount of water to flow through.

One other possibility is as your shower is so old & if you live in a high limescale area then the heating can may be chocked with limescale. They no longer make parts for the triton T80SI so if this is the issue then you will need to replace the shower

cordangan

I had this same issue a few times. Solution is not simple and if unsure of electricity can be very dangerous. Get electrician to remove heating chamber. Fill with vinegar. Leave overnight Next day I used a small air compressor to blow out lime that the vinegar had turned to loosened lime flakes. You may have to repeat process depending on severity of lime content. Works every time.

Muahahaha

That makes a lot of sense Sleeper, thanks for the info. When I have the front panel off is there anyway to visually inspect the heating element for limescale or is it hidden inside the element itself? As said I do live in a high limescale area so this is likely my problem here.
Will do the flow test too but am already doubting it could push through 8.5lts in 60 seconds. Though switched down to cold it might so will see.

If I did have to replace the entire unit what tends to be good on the market these days that won't break the bank, say aroubd €150. This isn't the first time I've had problems with a Triton, are there any better brands out there in the same price category?

Muahahaha

cordangan wrote: »

I had this same issue a few times. Solution is not simple and if unsure of electricity can be very dangerous. Get electrician to remove heating chamber. Fill with vinegar. Leave overnight Next day I used a small air compressor to blow out lime that the vinegar had turned to loosened lime flakes. You may have to repeat process depending on severity of lime content. Works every time.

I don't mind doing a bit of DIY but the combination of water and electricty freaks me out a bit However assuming I turn off the mains water and all trip switches at the fuse board am I safe enough? Or is there something further I should be doing to make absolutely sure its safe to proceed.

Sleeper12

Muahahaha wrote:

If I did have to replace the entire unit what tends to be good on the market these days that won't break the bank, say aroubd €150. This isn't the first time I've had problems with a Triton, are there any better brands out there in the same price category?

The average life span of an electric shower is 10 years. Yours is 15 to 20 years old. You have done well. I'd stick with the triton. Mira quality & aftercare has gone to the dogs last few years.

I'd replace it with a triton t80z. €190 in Woodies or €182 in heatmerchants. I'd keep away from British companies like B&Q, argos, homebase, screwfix etc. They sell UK triton showers & they have no Irish warranty.

Muahahaha

ah right, looks like it is a lot older than I had thought. Sadly I've only got six months use out of it after moving in but these things happen. Thanks again for the pointers, much appreciated.

cordangan

I cannot advise you to have a go if you are unsure of electricity. What I did was disable the power going to the unit. i double checked the unit had no power before removing the heater. I turned off the tap in the attic supplying water to the shower. I photographed the wiring and removed the heater. Vinegar and air compressor sorted the problem as lime acts as an insulator on the elements and prevents water from being heated consistently. My lime git so bad it tripped the thermostat in the shower unit as the element was so covered in lime that it prevented the water cooling effect as it passes over the element. Long term you need to invest in water softener cause no matter what shower you buy, if you heat water with lime content you will get calcium carbonate deposits on your heating element. If unsure do not attempt as this is not a level 1 DIY task. Shower unit €299 and loss of life = More than €299

Sleeper12

cordangan wrote:

I cannot advise you to have a go if you are unsure of electricity. What I did was disable the power going to the unit. i double checked the unit had no power before removing the heater. I turned off the tap in the attic supplying water to the shower. I photographed the wiring and removed the heater. Vinegar and air compressor sorted the problem as lime acts as an insulator on the elements and prevents water from being heated consistently. My lime git so bad it tripped the thermostat in the shower unit as the element was so covered in lime that it prevented the water cooling effect as it passes over the element. Long term you need to invest in water softener cause no matter what shower you buy, if you heat water with lime content you will get calcium carbonate deposits on your heating element. If unsure do not attempt as this is not a level 1 DIY task. Shower unit €299 and loss of life = More than €299

Let's not forget that it's illegal for the homeowner to replace or repair electric showers, pull cord switches and trip switchs.

Browndoff

There is one element worrying me - ANY Power-Shower should have an isolating-switch OUTSIDE the bathroom - it's a basic safety requirement. If it DOESN'T have one now then that should be your FIRST job.
Once the isolating-switch is tripped, the power-shower is totally separated from the electrical system and it's fully safe to unscrew the faceplate for any internal maintenance.

Sleeper12

Browndoff wrote:

There is one element worrying me - ANY Power-Shower should have an isolating-switch OUTSIDE the bathroom - it's a basic safety requirement. If it DOESN'T have one now then that should be your FIRST job. Once the isolating-switch is tripped, the power-shower is totally separated from the electrical system and it's fully safe to unscrew the faceplate for any internal maintenance.

The isolation switch can be a pull cord switch inside the bathroom. It doesn't have to be outside. In fact outside would be in the minority of cases. The isolation switch is there by law so the engineer can work on the shower however in recent times the fire officer recommends that it isolation switch is turned off after each shower to reduce the risk of fire.

Muahahaha

Just an update on this, I opened it up and cleaned the filter and it solved the hot/cold problem. The unit is still sounding a bit laboured at times so it will have to be replaced soon, as sleeper said its 15 years old so it has served its time.
Thanks all for the very helpful replies.

John.G

Browndoff wrote: »

There is one element worrying me - ANY Power-Shower should have an isolating-switch OUTSIDE the bathroom - it's a basic safety requirement. If it DOESN'T have one now then that should be your FIRST job.
Once the isolating-switch is tripped, the power-shower is totally separated from the electrical system and it's fully safe to unscrew the faceplate for any internal maintenance.

I wouldn't recommend doing any sort of maintenance on a shower relying solely on the pull cord, when I occasionally clean the filter on mine I trip the RCBO as well.