Plumber or electrician?

Bigphil1474

We've always had our electric shower changed by the gas engineer we use for our heating work. Always a like for like swap. 

badmemory

Bigphil1474 said:

We've always had our electric shower changed by the gas engineer we use for our heating work. Always a like for like swap. 

That is who I would have used but I haven't been able to get hold of him unfortunately & last time I tried his answering machine was full.  There is only so long we can manage without a properly working shower!

CliveOfIndia

How are your DIY skills?  A straight like-for-like swap is not difficult to do, and as long as the new shower is the same power (or lower) than the old one then no problem.

Hopefully it goes without saying, but do make sure you turn of the water supply and switch off the appropriate circuit before you start - double-checking that it really is isolated, not just relying on the label on the CU that says "Shower" or whatever.

badmemory

Thanks for that Clive & 30 years ago I would have had a go.  But having passed my mid 70s & even holding a screwdriver is only a thing for a good arthritis day, I think the world would be safer if I didn't try.  You have no idea how much I wish I could DIY.  At least, unlike my young neighbours, I do know how & where to turn off the water & the power (& that I would need to).

FFHillbilly

diystarter7 said:

danrv said:

Usually a plumber for an electric shower. Good ones will have electrical knowledge for fitting these.

Hi

Sorry, I disagree. My understanding is if you are to do it by the book, then either an electrician (qualified) with plumbing knowledge ie like for like etc or new - or a plumber but  then a qualified electrician has to check the electrics.


Thanks

HI

sorry to disagree but you're wrong in this case . like for like replacement of an electric shower is normally a plumbers job.

reasons for this are; cables are flexible and it's possible to move a cable a few 100mm easily with the confines of a shower enclosure , and even a plumber can operate a screwdriver and correctly replace 3 wires,

yet not all electricians have the tools/materials to move pipes correctly

Thanks

diystarter7

Keep_pedalling said:

diystarter7 said:

danrv said:

Usually a plumber for an electric shower. Good ones will have electrical knowledge for fitting these.

Hi

Sorry, I disagree. My understanding is if you are to do it by the book, then either an electrician (qualified) with plumbing knowledge ie like for like etc or new - or a plumber but  then a qualified electrician has to check the electrics.


Thanks

An electrician is not required for a simple swap out of one shower for another, this is not notifiable work. 

OP never indicated it was a "straight swap" when I posted, therefore I'm not sure if you are advocating a plumber should try to fix an electrical fault?
I posted o the safe side as there was no indication of what the fault was other than it was an electric shower and it was not working and who would be best to sort it.



Thanks

diystarter7

molerat said:

For a swap out it depends if you are replacing like for like.  If the new shower needs 10mm cable and you only have old 6mm then a whole different issue.

Hi

That is true, like for like a plumber can do where there are no alterations to the elcectrics

Thnaks

diystarter7

ThisIsWeird said:

BM, are you hoping to have it replaced or repaired? These are quite different things.

But, to answer your Q, you'll need a mix of the two skills! Call up a couple of each trade, and ask them - some will be perfectly happy to do both tasks, others will say a categoric 'non'. If it's a like-fir-like swap, then it's one of the simplest jobs for each one to also do the 'other'. 

I'd suggest to initially focus on a sparky, certainly for the diagnosis, as it's more likely to be electrical than plumbing.

Hi

You dont need a sparky for a like-for-like changeover but you like me you too was only responding to what the OP had posted.
Looked t it like that, you were spot on just as I posted

Thnnaks

Section62

diystarter7 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

diystarter7 said:

danrv said:

Usually a plumber for an electric shower. Good ones will have electrical knowledge for fitting these.

Hi

Sorry, I disagree. My understanding is if you are to do it by the book, then either an electrician (qualified) with plumbing knowledge ie like for like etc or new - or a plumber but  then a qualified electrician has to check the electrics.


Thanks

An electrician is not required for a simple swap out of one shower for another, this is not notifiable work. 

OP never indicated it was a "straight swap" when I posted, therefore I'm not sure if you are advocating a plumber should try to fix an electrical fault?

If the plumber diagnoses an electrical fault and doesn't feel competent/qualified to resolve it then they should inform the client an electrician is needed.

Otherwise, are you advocating I should call an electrician the next time my boiler goes wrong?  If so, what would be the best way of finding a gas safe electrician?

There are benefits and disbenefits of starting with either trade when it comes to electric showers, to a degree it is pot luck whether you guess the fault is electrical or water.

badmemory

Right you can decide for me whether I have found a good one or one of those that always tells you how bad the previous one was.  Bearing in mind that this was originally part of a bathroom installation.  A year ago the pull cord stopped working & the electrician who came told me the wires inside it were not connected properly so they had burnt out.  So now I have a plumber who exchanged the actual shower.  He called me up to show me the inside of the shower he had removed.  There were signs of water having been collecting inside.  He said he was surprised that it had lasted 7 years, in fact even one day.  He also said we were lucky not to have been electrocuted.  So feeling a bit OMGish at the moment - any thoughts please people?