Triton electric shower cuts off mid shower

ThisIsWeird

Have you checked the neon light on the isolator switch yet?

Starrygem

ThisIsWeird said:

Vortigern said:

Starrygem said:

Hi, my Triton Enrich is 3yrs old. Its been working perfectly but now cuts out after a few mins, then comes back on again after a few seconds.
The length of time it runs for is random, guessing abt 4 - 6 mins. I rarely get through a whole shower.
After its come back on it runs another couple of minutes then cuts off again.
Suggestions I've read are to replace the solenoid. Also to check the pull cord  connections, but I'm no electrician. It scares me 😔
I dont know if I need a plumber, an electrician or if I can change the solenoid myself. Is there anything else it could be? 
If it was the solenoid...would it go off and on, or would it just stop completely?

I had a similar issue and it was the connections at the pull cord switch. A loose connection can get hot and break the circuit. As it cools it reconnects. 

Switch off at the consumer unit before attempting to examine this switch. You may find burned, pitted, blackened contacts with charred insulation and plastics.

The switches are relatively cheap but you'll need an electrician to fit one.

Ooh, good call - worth checking.
Starry, is it a flick switch or a pull cord? Does it have a neon light on it? If so, observe that light during operation.
Neons can sometimes 'shimmer', but it shouldn't flicker. Any change as the shower goes off and on?

Its a pull cord. Both lights go off when it stops, neither flicker and there's no sound. 

ThisIsWeird

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Vortigern said:

Starrygem said:

Hi, my Triton Enrich is 3yrs old. Its been working perfectly but now cuts out after a few mins, then comes back on again after a few seconds.
The length of time it runs for is random, guessing abt 4 - 6 mins. I rarely get through a whole shower.
After its come back on it runs another couple of minutes then cuts off again.
Suggestions I've read are to replace the solenoid. Also to check the pull cord  connections, but I'm no electrician. It scares me 😔
I dont know if I need a plumber, an electrician or if I can change the solenoid myself. Is there anything else it could be? 
If it was the solenoid...would it go off and on, or would it just stop completely?

I had a similar issue and it was the connections at the pull cord switch. A loose connection can get hot and break the circuit. As it cools it reconnects. 

Switch off at the consumer unit before attempting to examine this switch. You may find burned, pitted, blackened contacts with charred insulation and plastics.

The switches are relatively cheap but you'll need an electrician to fit one.

Ooh, good call - worth checking.
Starry, is it a flick switch or a pull cord? Does it have a neon light on it? If so, observe that light during operation.
Neons can sometimes 'shimmer', but it shouldn't flicker. Any change as the shower goes off and on?

Its a pull cord. Both lights go off when it stops, neither flicker and there's no sound. 

Explain fully, please.
'Both' lights? And they go off when?

Starrygem

grumpy_codger said:

The main suspect is the heating element. It has "thermal safety cut-out" built in. If the turbular heating element gets covered with thick layer of scale, the heat transfer to water drops. The element overheats while water remains not too hot. Theoretically, it can be descaled, but IMO this is too aukward job to do to save £100.
Some other showers have low pressure protection and indicator, but I'm not sure about this one. And the fact that it switches off after working for some time points to overheating as the most likely fault.

It hasn't got a low pressure indicator. There's no change in the water flow, or the temperature, it just stops, then a couple of seconds later comes on again...but not for long. 
It hasn't cut out on the cold setting in ten minutes nor on the low setting. 

ThisIsWeird

If you are saying that the pull cord light goes off during a shower, then that's a classic symptom. And if the p-c light goes off, any light on the shower is bound to too.
It's almost certainly a poor electrical connection inside your pull cord.
How DIYish are you with electrics? How safe are you...?
Cut the power at the CU, undo the pull cord switch - two screws - and you'll almost certainly find signs of overheating in there.

grumpy_codger

ThisIsWeird said:

How DIYish are you with electrics?

He She seems not to be . TWO neon lights go off - and it took two pages of this thread to get to this simple fact!

BTW, the MCB in the consumer unit is worth checking too. In my house I had to replace it - the wire connection was poor, not tight enough. The contact kept getting worse because of heating and oxidisation to the point that the MCB started melting when I noticed this. Yes, the same can happen in the pull-cord switch.

FreeBear

grumpy_codger said: BTW, the MCB in the consumer unit is worth checking too. In my house I had to replace it - the wire connection was poor, not tight enough. The contact kept getting worse because of heating and oxidisation to the point that the MCB started melting when I noticed this. Yes, the same can happen in the pull-cord switch.

Had to replace the pull switch for Sis' electric shower.. They don't seem to be particularly well designed to handle constant high currents.

QrizB

Ok, we've established that the problem is with the electrical supply to the shower, rather than a problem with the shower itself.

And it only manifests when the shower is on HIGH power, not low. So I'd agree that it's a loose or overheating connection in the pull switch, or in the consumer unit, or potentially in-between the two of them (although there shouldn't really be any joins or junction boxes in that cable).

Starrygem

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Vortigern said:

Starrygem said:

Hi, my Triton Enrich is 3yrs old. Its been working perfectly but now cuts out after a few mins, then comes back on again after a few seconds.
The length of time it runs for is random, guessing abt 4 - 6 mins. I rarely get through a whole shower.
After its come back on it runs another couple of minutes then cuts off again.
Suggestions I've read are to replace the solenoid. Also to check the pull cord  connections, but I'm no electrician. It scares me 😔
I dont know if I need a plumber, an electrician or if I can change the solenoid myself. Is there anything else it could be? 
If it was the solenoid...would it go off and on, or would it just stop completely?

I had a similar issue and it was the connections at the pull cord switch. A loose connection can get hot and break the circuit. As it cools it reconnects. 

Switch off at the consumer unit before attempting to examine this switch. You may find burned, pitted, blackened contacts with charred insulation and plastics.

The switches are relatively cheap but you'll need an electrician to fit one.

Ooh, good call - worth checking.
Starry, is it a flick switch or a pull cord? Does it have a neon light on it? If so, observe that light during operation.
Neons can sometimes 'shimmer', but it shouldn't flicker. Any change as the shower goes off and on?

Its a pull cord. Both lights go off when it stops, neither flicker and there's no sound. 

The light on the shower and the light on the pull cord switch both go off...which I would expect anyway since the shower won't come on if the pull cord is off, but the electrician who put the shower in said to leave it on as keep pulling it on and off puts stress on it.

Starrygem

grumpy_codger said:

ThisIsWeird said:

How DIYish are you with electrics?

He seems not to be . TWO neon lights go off - and it took two pages of this thread to get to this simple fact!

BTW, the MCB in the consumer unit is worth checking too. In my house I had to replace it - the wire connection was poor, not tight enough. The contact kept getting worse because of heating and oxidisation to the point that the MCB started melting when I noticed this. Yes, the same can happen in the pull-cord switch.

I'm sorry its taken 2 pages to sort out but I had to try the suggestions made here to be able to give you more information as requested. I'm not ok with electrics, I'm a 69yo female and was asking if I need a plumber or electrician because of whats happening...and if it was likely to be the shower unit or the pull cord switch. This now appears to have been answered. The housing association fitted a new fuse board in 18mths ago when they did the electrical safety checks. That should all be ok.