Our shower has stopped working: did switching our thermostat off while away affect it?

WIAWSNB

MothballsWallet said:

WIAWSNB said:

MothballsWallet said:

There was a water company man in our street today so I went and asked him whether there are any water pressure issues in our area - turns out another one of our neighbours is also having problems with their electric shower so we'll be talking to them today too so he was there checking their water pressure.

Apparently, our area gets 1.6 bar pressure (which is above the required 1.0 bar), so there are no issues with the water pressure here - any work they're doing in our area is for the fire hydrant supply.

I did ask him about the shower working in the daytime but not working at night time, and he suggested that the inner workings could be affected by debris build up: we're in a hard water area and 30+ years of use will have seen a lot of water and debris coming through the pipes and into the unit itself. His answer doesn't provide an answer to your Q; why only at night?

He also told me that when he moved into his house, he changed the electric shower for a mains-fed one as that doesn't lose pressure (or is less likely to). Oxyishmoron. Electric showers are mains-fed. If he means he fitted an unvented hot cylinder which is also mains-fed, then that too will be affected by fluctuations in mains pressure in the same way.  

I just thought of something else: is it possible that there's some issue with the cold water tank that's only affecting the shower feed at night as it's a separate pipe from the tank that feeds the shower (I need to measure the diameter of the pipe as well). Your electric should be, and almost certain is, being fed directly from the mains, so has nothing to do with your cold tank. 

My wife is the one with the most doubts over whether replacing the shower will fix the issue since the slow feed issue is only occurring at night time. Sensible woman

Bits in BOLD above.

How DIYish are you? Can you wield general hand tools with some aplomb? Do you understand that leccy and water are not good bedfellows? Cool.

The next obvious check for you is to fully cut the power and water to the shower, and remove the front cover. Where the inlet water pipe connects, there should be an unscrewable filter. Any debris from the supply pipe - and there's pretty much bound to be some after all this time - should be caught in there.

Once you take the cover off, we can guide you. And if you don't know how to take the cover off, post a photo so we know the model. 

As to DIY, I can use stuff like a screwdriver and I do know that leccy + water = bad times all round.

So these photos show the set up in our airing cupboard at the wall between the cupboard and the bathroom (the shower unit is on the other side of this wall):


This next photo shows the pipes above that - I think the 2 pipes at the back are the ones that go to floor level and then into the bathroom for the bath taps and sink taps (those are on the opposite of the bathroom when you go in):



Both of those pipes go through the ceiling into the attic where a (or the) cold water storage tank should be located.

That stop tap is the one for the shower and the consumer unit has a dedicated RCD for the shower on it, so I should be able to isolate the shower's leccy and water without stopping everything else in the house (unlike in my mum's house as we found out while we were up there).

It would make sense that the horizontal pipe with the red 'gate' valve is supplying the shower, as it appears to be 15mm pipe, which is typical for internal mains supplies. The vertical corner pipe is also 15mm, by the looks, so that would suggest the mains supply to the CWS tank.
Anyhoo, these gate valves are prone to not shutting off completely, so don't be surprised if the filter in the shower keeps dripping when you open it, but that shouldn't be an issue.
Have you tried turning it yet - see if it's fully open? 
A wee note about such valves; when you've finished with the job and open it up again, open it fully, and then close it a half-turn. This helps prevent it seizing, but doesn't affect the flow.
So, wheel closed, and check the shower does indeed stop flowing. Then power OFF! Remove the cover from the shower. ID the inlet filter, and undo. 
Please report back.
Take a photo once the cover is off if you are uncertain about anything.