How safe are electric showers that have not been serviced?

Ectophile

LolitaLove wrote: »

Thank you, there is a line of on/off fuse things which says below 'RCCB protected', then to the right theres a line of red on/off fuse's which I think are the lights and stuff, I know one is for an outside light, and it says below 'NOT RCCB protected'. There is no RCD switch. Does this mean it's really dangerous to use the shower?

Thanks again for your help and thank you to everyone that has replied your advice is much appreciated.

RCCB (residual current circuit breaker) is just another name for an RCD (residual current device). See http://www.theiet.org/forums/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=205&threadid=9258. The circuit breaker for the shower should be on the side marked "RCCB protected". If it is, that's good.

The RCCB (RCD, whatever) should be a switch on one end of the consumer unit, with a "Test" button, usually marked "T". You're supposed to test it every 6 months, but nobody ever does.

As for the shower being sealed at the bottom, mine isn't and clearly never has been. The hole in the case at the bottom is bigger than the shower hose. As others have said, if you don't have a hole at the bottom, then if any water did get in, it would be trapped and the shower would fill with water.

southcoastrgi

sometimes i really dispare with the so called correct advice given on this forum

maybe some of you should read here page 5 last paragraph

If any of the following conditions occur, isolate the electricity and water supplies and refer to “To contact us”, on the back page of this guide.

• If the cover is not correctly fitted and water has entered the shower case
• If the case is damaged
• If the shower begins to make an odd noise, smell or smoke
• If the shower shows signs of a distinct change in performance indicating a need for maintenance
• If the shower is frozen

macman

Electric showers are generally very safe, yes, but anything that combines around 40A of current with water at mains pressure should be treated with respect.
It appears that the shower has RCD protection, but it is not clear that it is on a dedicated circuit.

Fire_Fox

If you are concerned the landlord is not fulfilling his responsibilities for your safety you can contact Environmental Health at the local council and they can inspect the place. If needs be they can enforce repairs on the landlord.

Do you definitely 'only' have anxiety or might you have obsessive compulsive traits? If possibly the latter do keep your GP informed of what you are getting anxious/ obsessive about so they can judge. It's easier to nip these things in the bud than wait until they escalate to full blown OCD.

diywhynot

Some shocking advice on this thread (and yet another tightwad landlord).