Electric Shower help

Toaster10

My husband is not an electrician so perhaps he mismeasured. Either way, the electrician said that the way the shower had been installed when we bought the house was not safe - something was not suitable for the shower and it was working but unsafe. When they installed the new fuse box the shower no longer worked and they just told us that and left us with it not working.

I’m not sure what to think now.

Toaster10

.....on re-reading your post I am guessing it is a 6mm cable but it is run through the loft, probably with insulation

Carrot007

Toaster10 wrote: »

My husband is not an electrician so perhaps he mismeasured. Either way, the electrician said that the way the shower had been installed when we bought the house was not safe - something was not suitable for the shower and it was working but unsafe. When they installed the new fuse box the shower no longer worked and they just told us that and left us with it not working.

I’m not sure what to think now.

Indeed all an undersized wire would od is get hot and be a potential fire hazard.


Whoever installed the new consumer unit should not have connected such a circuit after testing. However maybe the did it on the quiet! Maybe they have had people complain in the past.

Toaster10

I don’t think they did Carrot, as it wasn’t working. I think they had stopped power going to it.

Either way, it left us without a shower though and they didn’t attempt to fix it or explain the situation properly.

Toaster10

Ok, having checked with husband he says he’s pretty sure the shower is connected up to the fuse box. So it suggests that the reason it is not working is a fault within the shower itself?

In that case I think our only option is to replace the shower with the 7.5kw one. Is this safe to do or does anyone see any issues with this?

I don’t want to be in the position where I replace the cable and then find that I have to replace the shower as well.

coffeehound

What is the current value of the circuit breaker that the shower is connected to in the new consumer unit? If that is too low then it will have tripped off when you switched on the shower.

FreeBear

Toaster10 wrote: »

My husband is not an electrician so perhaps he mismeasured. Either way, the electrician said that the way the shower had been installed when we bought the house was not safe - something was not suitable for the shower and it was working but unsafe. When they installed the new fuse box the shower no longer worked and they just told us that and left us with it not working.

I’m not sure what to think now.

Normally, I would suggest that minor electrical work can be carried out by a competent DIYer. BUT, as this is a a Zone 1 area (bath or shower) where any mistakes could be fatal, please get a qualified electrician in to do the work. Upgrading the cabling to 10mm² would allow your electrician to install a bigger shower unit, sign off the work, and ensure it is safe to use.

Building control approval is usually required for installation of an electric shower (and any other electrical work in Zone 1). An approved electrician will be able to deal with the paperwork and save you the trouble.

markin

If its connected it will be a rating for the current wire, So you will need a new 40A breaker, And that should defiantly be done by an electrician.

Unless the is an isolater to turn off the power to the fuse box and you have a tester to make sure its not live, it won't be safe to install a new breaker, its got lots of deadly parts inside just waiting to kill you.

googler

Toaster10 wrote: »

It comes from the fusebox, which is above our front door and runs through the loft about 6m and then comes straight down into the bathroom, behind the tiled bathroom wall.

Are you in a bungalow?

googler

Toaster10 wrote: »

So it suggests that the reason it is not working is a fault within the shower itself?

...which just happened to manifest itself at EXACTLY the time your electrician was doing the rewiring? Yeah, right....

It's something the electrician has done. Whether he has installed a lower-rated breaker, or whatever; the shower has not coincidentally developed a fault within itself at the same time your electrician was there....