Triton Topaz shower not working

philgee

Hi, I have a Triton Topaz shower which has virtually stopped working.

I replaced the showerhead a few weeks ago with a non OEM one as the tool for dismantling the original for cleaning had broken.

Shortly afterwards the shower started cycling hot and cold with variable flow, so I replaced the head again with a Triton one.

However, the unit then started making some unusual noises (like air in the unit) and continued its cycling hot and cold etc.

I have cleaned out the scale trap as per the manufacturers instructions and reassembled, but the shower will only now put out a small trickle on cold if the hose is hanging straight down. Nothing on heated setting or with the head attached to the riser rail.

Any suggestions on what to try next please? Triton suggest cleaning the inline filter in the cold feed - would it be worthwhile removing the unit and using a household descaler on the heat unit as well?

I'm confident/competant in disconnecting and reconnecting water and electric connections (shower is protected by RCD anyway and mains will of course be off at the consumer unit and water supply isolated as well).

Other possible causes are apparently a stuck solenoid or faulty control unit.

I'm thinking a complete replacement would be more economic than part replacement, especially as part replacement could be trial an error until the fault is found?

If complete replacement is needed, would a hot water system gravity fed shower be more economic? I have gas CH with a hot water cylinder and there are 2 adults and teenager at home - electric shower costs about £1 an hour according to my Owl device!

Thanks

philgee

Hi, I have taken shower off the wall, cleaned the inline filter and put some descaler in the heat can for 10 or so mins. Put everything back together, lovely flow of COLD water, but unable to get any HOT water at all!

Is there anyway of checking to see if the thermostatic cut out has activated or the heat can is dead please?

Thanks

27col

If you have got a test meter you can test to see if the heating coil is open circuit. If it was cycling hot and cold it would indicate a faulty solenoid. If it is now not heating then it sounds as if the solenoid has finally given up the ghost. If the element was faulty it is not likely that it would have given cycles of hot and cold.
Certainly I would think that a boiler fed shower would be cheaper to run. You are probably right about the cost and availability of spares. Replacement or conversion to a gravity feed system seems well worth considering.
I think that first I would enquire about the availability and cost of spares, just in case a repair is feasible.