Shower Burn Out

[Carlnorwich]

Untitled

• Carlnorwich
• 7 Apr 2010
• 1

Untitled

• Carlnorwich
• 7 Apr 2010
• 1

Untitled

• Carlnorwich
• 7 Apr 2010
• 1

You can see by the pictures that a couple of wires have burnt out inside my electric shower.

I'm not sure I fancy taking this on myself and will need to get someone in. Can anyone help me with the following;

1/. Why has it suddenly done this?
2/. Is there a simple way (electricians speak) that I can explain the fault to a local electrician over the phone so he can give me a price?
3/. I hope I'm just looking at 1 hours work to fix it and there's no major problem?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Taylortwocities]

It has done this because whoever installed it did not make the connections properly

Tell him/her that the connection block where the cables connect has melted and it needs a new one

IF you can find somebody to do the work it should not take too long to fix. Couldn't say if thats an hour or more.
Just think that its going to be about the same cost as a meal out. Then you'll be on the right side.

 

[Johnmelad502]

Possibly a loose connection.

What size cable is this connected to?

 

[Carlnorwich]

The shower was installed about 3 years ago, never had a problem. Has the wire worked itself loose somehow?

I don't know what you mean 'what size cable is this connected to?'

Thanks.

 

[1john]

more than likely the cable was not sufficiently tightened upon installation, worth getting your sparky to checdk the pullcord too while he is there.

 

[wingcoax]

Fairly straight forward job looking at the pics, as said this is down to loose connections which are a lot more common than you would think. Even if you think the terminal is tight after a few months they can loosen due to the warming efect of high current through them.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Why is it (usually) the neutral that fries though?

I've seen lots of fried neutrals in shower & immersion circuits. Not so many fried lives.

Anybody got views on that - I bet you have!

 

[Chri5]

As others have said it's likely to have been a lose connection on the neutral cables, hence the burning around the blues to black connection (blue is neutral and black is old cable neutral).

The burnt wires will need to be stripped back and showing clean bright wire. It will be easier to change the blues than crimp on to the black which is from the shower isolator / mains side.

The lower blue can be rerouted following the grn / yellow earth and the top one will need replacing.

Most sparks have email, send a picture and ask for a quote.

Reason someone asked about the cable size is because some numpties add high power showers to older small mains feeds. 10 or 16mm gets used quite a bit on high load units, your looks like it's 6mm so it would be worth asking the repairer for an opinion on the suitability of your shower v cable size.
Something that is required now, and is an important retro fit is having the circuit on an RCD trip or RCBO (which is an RCD / MCB combo).

 

[ColJack]

Why is it (usually) the neutral that fries though?

in this instance I recon it's down to the fact that there are 3 neutral wires into the one terminal, the mismatch in sies probably created a false tightness of the screw, then movement during shipping and installation has shifted the wires under the screw a little and it's loosened it's grip..

moral of the story? always check factory connections for tightness..

 

[kai]

It's a wise idea to check and if required, re-tighten terminals every year on shower circuits, from inside the shower unit, to the pull switch, and consumer unit (switch off first!) to be on the safe side.

 

[mfarrow]

Why is it (usually) the neutral that fries though?

Lives are given the most attention because they're seen as presenting the most danger if something goes wrong.

So in summary, laziness leads to a loose connection, but poor logic and self-preservation mean it's the neutral which suffers first.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Might it be that showers and immersions are often second-fixed by plumbers?


Bless 'em

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Oh it's been a while....

http://www.richardrosenman.com/gallery/photo/movies/plumber_h480.mov

 

[Chri5]

Might it be that showers and immersions are often second-fixed by plumbers?


Bless 'em

Might it be that showers and immersions are often second-fixed by plumbers?


Bless 'em

Added in that 'some' like to terminate the mains side under both block terminal screws. So they loosen off both screws, push the main core in and then tighten up the 1st screw. Give it a torque test (pull it), say to themselves "good job" and then forget to tighten up the secend screw

 

[Steve]

Untitled

• Carlnorwich
• 7 Apr 2010
• 1

Carl, worth pointing out, that this has happened over a significant period of time. It hasnt suddenly burnt itself up. Its happened gradually.

Also, is it just me that hates the way this shower has the main neutral running down the front of the heater unit? Just looks rough on the manufacturers part.