Help with ? broken Electric Shower / circuit breaker tripping

tollanarama

Hi, hope you can help with a problem I have with my 10 year old Triton Bermuda electric shower.

I live in a house with a combi-boiler / low pressure and so have an Electric Shower. This has worked well for the 2 years we have lived in the house!

Now to the problem: Saturday night my wife switched on the isolator switch (you know, the pull cord that "switches on" the power to the shower - in our case it looks like a large light switch with a red "on" light) and then switched on the shower.
BANG! the circuit breaker in the cupboard below the stairs tripped.
So I switched off the shower & isolator switch and reset the circuit breaker. I then switched on the isolator switch (shower off) and the circuit breaker tripped again!!

I switched the isolator switch off and reset the circuit breaker. This time I left it overnight before trying it again. This time i could turn on the isolator switch, but when turning on the shower - POP! off goes the circuit breaker!!!

Now, I'm 95% sure that a new shower is needed, but before I spend £200 or so, i would like to make sure this is the culprit!!

Anyone have any ideas?
Do you think I need to call an electrician to check if there is a problem with the wiring or isolator switch??

If I need a new shower - any ideas on a similar model to the Triton Bermuda? (I would like to go for the most "like-for-like" installation but the bermuda's discontinued!!)

Thanks and apologies for the long post!

BobProperty

tollanarama wrote: »

......I live in a house with a combi-boiler / low pressure and so have an Electric Shower......

Wonder why you have a combi then?

Anyway, it could be either the switch or the shower. If you have no idea what you are doing then get an electrician in. If you do need a new shower then get one rated the same power as the existing one, if possible. I think the Bermuda has only recently been discontinued but may be wrong. It is also 9.5kw isn't it?

tollanarama

Many thanks for the reply!

I don't really want to call a sparky out if not necessary - just wondered if anyone else had experienced the same thing?

BobProperty wrote: »

Wonder why you have a combi then?

Um... not sure what you mean?

tollanarama

*BUMP*

Anyone have any suggestions please???

24_hour_sparks

why dont you disconect the shower after
turning off the electricial supply then turn the elctric back on and in lamens terms if it blows again u know the fault is not the shower but most likely the cable?,
for about 40 quid i would get a local registered electrician to look at it though, always remember that water and electrics dont mix and as the end of the day you are standing in a puddle of water !!!

tollanarama

24_hour_sparks wrote: »

why dont you disconect the shower after
turning off the electricial supply then turn the elctric back on and in lamens terms if it blows again u know the fault is not the shower but most likely the cable?

Thanks, never thought of that!!

24_hour_sparks wrote: »

for about 40 quid i would get a local registered electrician to look at it though, always remember that water and electrics dont mix and as the end of the day you are standing in a puddle of water !!!

I agree - I've bitten the bullet and getting sparky round tonight

thescouselander

I dont think a replacement shower will be as expensive as you think. I had to replace ours a few months ago and I picked up a 10 Kw shower for around £60 in a sale. I see similar sales all the time in wickes and homebase so it shouldn't be too hard to find a replacement for a similar price.