45 Amp shower pull cord switch life expectancy.

[bhm1712]

i have a 10.8kW shower with a cheapo Wilkinsons isolator pull cord. My shower is used by me on average for about 20 minutes, followed by my wife who uses it for another 20 minutes every day. This isolator switch has been fitted for 5 years and gets turned off after every session of shower usage. My son has a shower in the evenings, so i reckon that in 1 day the pull cord is operated 4 times a day. 2 on's and 2 off's. Ive never had any issues with the pull cord isolator and its checked every 6 months for cable security, etc. I would say something is not right with part of your setup. Whether that be loose connections, turning on and off under load or too small cable i couldnt say without seeing it.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

those crappy pullcords are not really up to the job - you will be lucky to get one year's reasonable daily use out of one on average!

I have an MK shower switch which has had similar, if not longer, duty cycles than that for nearly 8 years with a 10.8kW shower, no problems.

i have a 10.8kW shower with a cheapo Wilkinsons isolator pull cord. My shower is used by me on average for about 20 minutes, followed by my wife who uses it for another 20 minutes every day. This isolator switch has been fitted for 5 years and gets turned off after every session of shower usage. My son has a shower in the evenings, so i reckon that in 1 day the pull cord is operated 4 times a day. 2 on's and 2 off's. Ive never had any issues with the pull cord isolator and its checked every 6 months for cable security, etc.

 

[thecladder]

Hi all, I managed to get online at work.
I told my son to see if he could nip the screw up anymore, bingo, another full turn he reckons, he tried them all but this one tightened up most so maybe thats helped us somewhat.
The cables are scrunched up as well, all trying to get through a 3/4" hole so thats something else I can do next time, as it is they have 90 degree bends in them then they go up through this little hole in the back of the box into the loft, you can imagine how they all have to be bent into position then pushed up so I can screw the box back together.
He assures me they always switch the shower off and dont leave the power on before pulling the cord.
Hopefully I wont have to replace it again, I will check the terminals again for tightness and if I have time I'll disconnect it and make the back hole bigger so its easier to push everything back into position.
I cant thank you all enough, you`ve helped me no end. A big THANK YOU.
Cheers, Steve.

 

[thecladder]

Thought I`d just have a final say on this. I thought my son was a one off taking 20 minutes to have a shower but it seems at least 2 contributors to this post take that or even longer. How can anyone spend 20 minutes in a shower. My son is still in his early 20s so Im thinking raging hormones blah blah, you know where Im coming from, or where he`s coming from I timed myself to have a full shower with hair washed as well and it was under 5 mins. Which bits are you cleaning that Im missing lol. 20 minutes, nah, so am I correct here? if its a 10.5kw shower its equivalant to turning on 108 x 100 watt light bulbs for 20 mins, and then the partner gets in for the same amount of time? How big are you`re electric bills?
Think this could be another light hearted topic, who has the longest shower.
Im not having a dig you guys, there could be a perfectly reasonable reason you need a 20 minute shower but phew 20 mins or more, ha ha, glad Im not footing the leccy bills.
Thanks again also for your contributions, it was all very helpful.
Steve.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Think this could be another light hearted topic, who has the longest shower.

Ana.

 

[bhm1712]

Not everybody has a shower just to have a quick wash ''in and out asap''

Some people use them to relax, get warm or thoroughly wake up as i do. Just as some people like to spend an hour in the bath...

If we didnt have the money we wouldnt be using them for that long!

Ive one of those electricity monitors and in theory after a 20 minute shower with a 10.8kw shower i should have used 3.6 units, but my monitor didnt show anywhere near 3.6 units extra to what it was before the shower. I know the monitors are usually only accurate to a certain degree but this one is part of the smart meter...so its normally pretty bang on.

 

[Adam_151]

[quote="sparkwright";
So will cutting a large hole in the back of the pattress (boxing it all in above the ceiling for safety) so that the cables can move out of the way comfortably without having to scrunch up.

Sounds rough to me. If you dress the cables in properly then there should be no need for excessive sized holes in the pattress or unsheathed cores pushed into a boxing in. Or have I mis understood you?

 

[Scoby_Beasley]

Or have I mis understood you?

(Wouldn't be the first time!! )

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Sounds rough to me. If you dress the cables in properly then there should be no need for excessive sized holes in the pattress or unsheathed cores pushed into a boxing in. Or have I mis understood you?

You've misunderstood about unsheathed cores - I suggested that the rear should be enclosed because the hole will allow access to the terminals.

And what I said was it's helpful to do it the way I suggested. Dressing the cables properly can be fiddly, and it's easy to get it wrong. Also, with a greater length to play with the switch can be further away from the pattress when being connected, easier to rotate to access the terminals if it's tight in a corner, and so on.

 

[bernardgreen]

An alternative is to use a 60 amp contactor in an enclosure to switch the supply and feed the coil of this contactor via a 6 amp pull switch.

This allows for the option of putting a timer in the feed to the coil to limit shower time.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

This allows for the option of putting a timer in the feed to the coil to limit shower time.

Those of us with dozy teenagers will have thought how good it would be not to simply limit the shower time, but limit the hot shower time - "You can spend as long in there as you like, but only X minutes of it will be hot"

 

[SaladFingers]

Personally I'll fit a din rail mount enclosure on the wall outside the bathroom, and put a standard 100amp main switch inside it as a shower isolator, those crappy pullcords are not really up to the job - you will be lucky to get one year's reasonable daily use out of one on average!

Can't do that, as it's not for functional switching, it won't live up to regular mechanical switching.

Either a wall switch outside or a decent pullcord.

Personally in 8 years I've only ever had one pullcord go.

 

[bernardgreen]

I know one house where the temperature in the family bath room does reduce to luke warm after a while. It is a pumped ( from hot water tank ) system and the control is in the water flow.

If it is a cut off to an electric heater shower then it would require a modified shower unit to reduce the heat input with the water valve kept open. So fit a large clock in the shower room and "train" the children to stop before the timer cuts off the power.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If it is a cut off to an electric heater shower then it would require a modified shower unit to reduce the heat input with the water valve kept open.

I suspect that one of the "remote" showers would be easier to modify.

So fit a large clock in the shower room and "train" the children to stop before the timer cuts off the power.

Indeed.

But having experienced them on a campsite, I can assure you that nothing focuses the mind on getting the job done as well as the thought that if you take too long the water will suddenly go cold.

 

[thecladder]

I`d imagine if anyone has a water meter fitted it wouldn`t be 20 minute shower then followed by the wife and kids every day, you would easily see a 5 minute shower gets you just as clean, less water and less electricity.
Ok so some people can afford it and don`t worry about the costs but lets also remember April this year, lots of Counties down from the South of England and up to the Peak District area that they were in drought conditions, the fields were just dust and the reservoirs and rivers were running very low so we were asked to conserve water, another reason to not have a 20 minute shower. Some drought that turned out to be though, lol.
Again thanks for all the helpful hints.
Steve.