Triton electric shower cuts off mid shower

ThisIsWeird

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

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.

These little neon lights consume next to zero power, so even a poor electrical connection is often enough to keep them lit.

Your shower, on the other hand, consumes kilowatts of power, 30+ amps - a heck of a lot. A dodgy connection then will tend to heat up or even arc, rendering it high resistance - so the power effectively stops flowing.

Are you competent enough to undo the switch to look at the wires? Obvs without killing yourself in the process, or else we'll never know.

If the power to it is off I can undo the screws to look, but wouldn't know what to do about it other than 'look' for signs of overheating. I wouldn't fancy touching anything inside but I need to know before calling an electrician.

You can do that, no problem. Only a 10 minute task, so you may wish to simply turn off the whole CU instead of just the one marked 'shower', tho' bear in mind that this will likely require some devices to be reset.
Nice stable chair, undo the two screws, and gently-but-firmly pull the switch body away enough to slightly tilt it to see the switch part inside.
The cables are thick and stiff, so may struggle to move, but you should be able to pull it away enough - after all, that's how it was fitted.
Examine all 4 switch wires; you should see 'load' and 'mains' (I think - or 'supply'?) embossed near the terminals. The most suspect one will be on the 'mains' side. Look for signs of the end of the plastic sleeve having melted, for example. 
Take some clear close up pics, and post on here, please.
There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

It is possible the fault is at the other end of the cable inside the consumer unit. A possibility seeing as the OP had theirs replaced ~18 months ago.

Starrygem

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

It is possible the fault is at the other end of the cable inside the consumer unit. A possibility seeing as the OP had theirs replaced ~18 months ago.

But its only been cutting out since December. 

Starrygem

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

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.

These little neon lights consume next to zero power, so even a poor electrical connection is often enough to keep them lit.

Your shower, on the other hand, consumes kilowatts of power, 30+ amps - a heck of a lot. A dodgy connection then will tend to heat up or even arc, rendering it high resistance - so the power effectively stops flowing.

Are you competent enough to undo the switch to look at the wires? Obvs without killing yourself in the process, or else we'll never know.

If the power to it is off I can undo the screws to look, but wouldn't know what to do about it other than 'look' for signs of overheating. I wouldn't fancy touching anything inside but I need to know before calling an electrician.

You can do that, no problem. Only a 10 minute task, so you may wish to simply turn off the whole CU instead of just the one marked 'shower', tho' bear in mind that this will likely require some devices to be reset.
Nice stable chair, undo the two screws, and gently-but-firmly pull the switch body away enough to slightly tilt it to see the switch part inside.
The cables are thick and stiff, so may struggle to move, but you should be able to pull it away enough - after all, that's how it was fitted.
Examine all 4 switch wires; you should see 'load' and 'mains' (I think - or 'supply'?) embossed near the terminals. The most suspect one will be on the 'mains' side. Look for signs of the end of the plastic sleeve having melted, for example. 
Take some clear close up pics, and post on here, please.
There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

I'm sorry. I got as far as turning the power off, but when it came to unscrewing it I was just too scared 😔 It seems I dont have the confidence I had when I was younger. I'll have to ask someone to come and have a look, a neighbour perhaps. Or just bite the bullet and get an electrician. 

FreeBear

Starrygem said:

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

It is possible the fault is at the other end of the cable inside the consumer unit. A possibility seeing as the OP had theirs replaced ~18 months ago.

But its only been cutting out since December.

It takes time for a fault to develop. If the cable clamps hadn't been adequately tightened, over time, things could loosen up and start causing trouble.

Once in a while, I'll open up my consumer unit and check that everything is tight and there are no scorch marks (with the power off of course).

Vortigern

Starrygem said:

I'm sorry. I got as far as turning the power off, but when it came to unscrewing it I was just too scared 😔 It seems I dont have the confidence I had when I was younger. I'll have to ask someone to come and have a look, a neighbour perhaps. Or just bite the bullet and get an electrician. 

@Starrygem Never mind the neighbour, just get an electrician in.  You don't need to do any further diagnosis. We've established that the fault is in the electricity supply to the shower, most likely at the pull switch, but possibly at the consumer unit. Either way you'll need an electrician. You can say that you suspect the switch is faulty. 

You could take a photo of the switch after the sparky has replaced it - just to satisfy the curiosity of all who have posted here.

PS If you Google "burnt shower switch" you'll see that it's a common fault.

grumpy_codger

Vortigern said:

Starrygem said:

I'm sorry. I got as far as turning the power off, but when it came to unscrewing it I was just too scared 😔 It seems I dont have the confidence I had when I was younger. I'll have to ask someone to come and have a look, a neighbour perhaps. Or just bite the bullet and get an electrician. 

@Starrygem Never mind the neighbour,...

I disagree. This depends. A good and knowledgeable neighbour can easily save you £100.

ThisIsWeird

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

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.

These little neon lights consume next to zero power, so even a poor electrical connection is often enough to keep them lit.

Your shower, on the other hand, consumes kilowatts of power, 30+ amps - a heck of a lot. A dodgy connection then will tend to heat up or even arc, rendering it high resistance - so the power effectively stops flowing.

Are you competent enough to undo the switch to look at the wires? Obvs without killing yourself in the process, or else we'll never know.

If the power to it is off I can undo the screws to look, but wouldn't know what to do about it other than 'look' for signs of overheating. I wouldn't fancy touching anything inside but I need to know before calling an electrician.

You can do that, no problem. Only a 10 minute task, so you may wish to simply turn off the whole CU instead of just the one marked 'shower', tho' bear in mind that this will likely require some devices to be reset.
Nice stable chair, undo the two screws, and gently-but-firmly pull the switch body away enough to slightly tilt it to see the switch part inside.
The cables are thick and stiff, so may struggle to move, but you should be able to pull it away enough - after all, that's how it was fitted.
Examine all 4 switch wires; you should see 'load' and 'mains' (I think - or 'supply'?) embossed near the terminals. The most suspect one will be on the 'mains' side. Look for signs of the end of the plastic sleeve having melted, for example. 
Take some clear close up pics, and post on here, please.
There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

I'm sorry. I got as far as turning the power off, but when it came to unscrewing it I was just too scared 😔 It seems I dont have the confidence I had when I was younger. I'll have to ask someone to come and have a look, a neighbour perhaps. Or just bite the bullet and get an electrician. 

Scared of leccy? What's the worst that can...oh, yes, I see. Fair do's. :-)
I'd go straight for a sparky in this situation. For them, this is an easy job. And, they will ensure the cables are ok. 
For a slightly-less-than-fully-competent DIYer - or neighbour - they might compromise over things like cleaning up the tarnished/blackened wire, checking for cracked insulation from the overheating - it might look ok, but be ready to break up - and details like that. And, if they need to cut away some of the damaged cable end, they'll be able to draw through, or even safely extend, the cable to suit.
Don't forget, you have almost certainly saved the cost of a new shower unit :-)
Yes, we'd love to hear how this is resolved, and burnt-cable-pron always goes down well (missus!).

grumpy_codger

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

ThisIsWeird said:

Starrygem said:

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.

These little neon lights consume next to zero power, so even a poor electrical connection is often enough to keep them lit.

Your shower, on the other hand, consumes kilowatts of power, 30+ amps - a heck of a lot. A dodgy connection then will tend to heat up or even arc, rendering it high resistance - so the power effectively stops flowing.

Are you competent enough to undo the switch to look at the wires? Obvs without killing yourself in the process, or else we'll never know.

If the power to it is off I can undo the screws to look, but wouldn't know what to do about it other than 'look' for signs of overheating. I wouldn't fancy touching anything inside but I need to know before calling an electrician.

You can do that, no problem. Only a 10 minute task, so you may wish to simply turn off the whole CU instead of just the one marked 'shower', tho' bear in mind that this will likely require some devices to be reset.
Nice stable chair, undo the two screws, and gently-but-firmly pull the switch body away enough to slightly tilt it to see the switch part inside.
The cables are thick and stiff, so may struggle to move, but you should be able to pull it away enough - after all, that's how it was fitted.
Examine all 4 switch wires; you should see 'load' and 'mains' (I think - or 'supply'?) embossed near the terminals. The most suspect one will be on the 'mains' side. Look for signs of the end of the plastic sleeve having melted, for example. 
Take some clear close up pics, and post on here, please.
There's a remote chance that a screw has come so loose that there has been little arcing and resulting damage, so a retighten could sort it, but any blackening really needs cleaning up, and a new switch would make sense.

I'm sorry. I got as far as turning the power off, but when it came to unscrewing it I was just too scared 😔 It seems I dont have the confidence I had when I was younger. I'll have to ask someone to come and have a look, a neighbour perhaps. Or just bite the bullet and get an electrician. 

Don't forget, you have almost certainly saved the cost of a new shower unit :-)

Only if the cost includes installation. You can buy a new unit for £60.

Myci85

We've been having similar with our shower, will randomly turn itself off mid shower, then after a moment if you press the start button it will turn back on again. Has been happening periodically for a few weeks. Then last weekend it did it, and the pull cord completely jammed so you can't turn it on. Thinking about it, the pull cord has been getting harder to engage recently. 
I've got our electrician coming to check it next week, we're hopeful it just needs new pull cord and that's it sorted, in which case he reckons £50 will do it. I will then be heeding advice I've now read about not using the pull cord! First time owning an electric shower (I hate it, awful pressure and uses electric like anything) and I've been nagging everyone to remember to pull the cord after a shower thinking it would save electric!
Looking forward to getting a mains shower installed like in our old house so I can get back to enjoying my showers!