Ekectric Shower Only Getting Warm

[Happyunited]

Hi,

Sorry if this in in the wrong section - please move if necessary....

My dads electric shower wont get hot anymore. This has only happened in the past day or so. It's a Triton Hawaii 2 which I know it's the most expensive make out there but it still provided a hot shower. The shower is supplied with cold water from a single pipe which comes from the water tank in the attic which is almost directly above the shower (It's a bungalow). He has replaced the shower with the exact same one and has also replaced the pull cord switch that switches it on but no difference.

What now? some people said to turn down the valve on the pipe which supplies the shower but there doesn't seem to be any valves on that line.

Your help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[HERTS P&D]

So you have replaced the shower and it still doesn't get hot, is there power to the shower?

Are you and your father confident to check for 240v?

Andy

 

[Happyunited]

So you have replaced the shower and it still doesn't get hot, is there power to the shower?

Are you and your father confident to check for 240v?

Andy

Thanks for your reply Andy.

Yes he bought the exact same shower because of the way the pipe comes into the shower and he wanted it so he wouldn't have to do more tiling etc.

My Dad lives a bit away so it will be him testing for it. He is very handy but I'm not sure - how would you go about testing that? the red light comes on the switch if thats any help?

He said even with the shower turned to the hottest setting it's still only warm.

 

[HERTS P&D]

He said even with the shower turned to the hottest setting it's still only warm.

Ok, so the shower is working, but not getting as hot as you/dad would like.

The shower has to work harder now that the incoming water is so much colder than in the summer.

Turn the shower to a hot setting and turn the water control so that water just starts to come out. It should be warm/hot.

The more the flow, the more the shower will have to work.

Andy

 

[footprints]

Hi,
Are you sure it's not just the low incoming temprature?
I have an electric shower in the en-suite that I only use during the warmer months as in these conditions it only gives a dribble of warm water.

This year with the mild weather I hve been able to use it up until this week when the outside tempratures dropped suddenly.

My shower (Aquatronic 3) will not pass water if the power is off, I suspect most are the same so with the neon working and a flow to the head the supply is likely to be ok.

The only other suggestion is a poor water supply pressure most have a cut off in the event of insufficiant water flow.

Regards,
footprints

Sorry more or less duplicated your post hertsdrainage0210 you obviously type faster than me

 

[Happyunited]

He said even with the shower turned to the hottest setting it's still only warm.

Ok, so the shower is working, but not getting as hot as you/dad would like.

The shower has to work harder now that the incoming water is so much colder than in the summer.

Turn the shower to a hot setting and turn the water control so that water just starts to come out. It should be warm/hot.

The more the flow, the more the shower will have to work.

Andy

Thanks again Andy.

What do you mean by 'turn the water control' are you talking about where the mains cold feed comes in from outside or a dial on the shower unit itself?

Here is the front of the unit;
http://p.mdcd.net/product_images/full/4f1f042c535fbdd870793733053d6d39193df599.jpg

Also this is 8.5kW - what does the 8.5 mean as opposed to say 10.5kW? would a higher kW make it work better??

Thanks again.

 

[HERTS P&D]

What do you mean by 'turn the water control' are you talking about where the mains cold feed comes in from outside or a dial on the shower unit itself?

Here is the front of the unit;
http://p.mdcd.net/product_images/full/4f1f042c535fbdd870793733053d6d39193df599.jpg

Also this is 8.5kW - what does the 8.5 mean as opposed to say 10.5kW? would a higher kW make it work better??

Thanks again.

Just turn the dial on the shower to the lowest setting so that water comes out, and adjust the water temperture to see what heat you get from the water an what flow

8.5kw is lower than 10.5kw but fitting a 10.5kw would also mean changing the wiring to take the extra power.

Andy

 

[Happyunited]

What do you mean by 'turn the water control' are you talking about where the mains cold feed comes in from outside or a dial on the shower unit itself?

Here is the front of the unit;
http://p.mdcd.net/product_images/full/4f1f042c535fbdd870793733053d6d39193df599.jpg

Also this is 8.5kW - what does the 8.5 mean as opposed to say 10.5kW? would a higher kW make it work better??

Thanks again.

Just turn the dial on the shower to the lowest setting so that water comes out, and adjust the water temperture to see what heat you get from the water an what flow

8.5kw is lower than 10.5kw but fitting a 10.5kw would also mean changing the wiring to take the extra power.

Andy

Andy,

My dad has turned the power setting down to the lowest and turned the thermostat up to the max and there is no difference in the temperate in still only warm.

Anymore ideas?

 

[Happyunited]

There is no valve on that line going to the shower. If There was a valve on that line then the flow to the shower could be turned down and hopefully some hot water?

Or would a a higher power power (9.5kW) be a better job??

 

[flameport]

My dad has turned the power setting down to the lowest

Hopefully that isn't what you meant - if you did, cold/warm water will be inevitable.

Electric showers typically have 2 controls.
The first one determines how many elements are used, typically none, one or both, which corresponds to cold, medium or hot.
In 99% of cases, this should be set to the hot setting and left there permanently. On your shower, this is the top control knob, the hottest setting is where the two red lines are.

The other control adjusts the amount of water which flows through the unit.
Less water = hotter.
More water = cooler.
On your shower, 10 is the hottest and also least amount of water.

The only other things which can cause problems are:
1. Where people have changed the shower head for a different one with larger holes - which let far more water out and therefore increase the flow rate. You should use the shower head supplied with the shower unit.
2. An increase in the water pressure to the property, which will cause an increased flow through the shower. This is far less likely.


One other thing:

The shower is supplied with cold water from a single pipe which comes from the water tank in the attic

Other than a few unusual types which include a pump, all electric showers must be connected to the incoming mains water supply, otherwise the pressure will be far too low and the shower won't work properly or at all.

 

[Happyunited]

My dad has turned the power setting down to the lowest

Hopefully that isn't what you meant - if you did, cold/warm water will be inevitable.

Electric showers typically have 2 controls.
The first one determines how many elements are used, typically none, one or both, which corresponds to cold, medium or hot.
In 99% of cases, this should be set to the hot setting and left there permanently. On your shower, this is the top control knob, the hottest setting is where the two red lines are.

The other control adjusts the amount of water which flows through the unit.
Less water = hotter.
More water = cooler.
On your shower, 10 is the hottest and also least amount of water.

The only other things which can cause problems are:
1. Where people have changed the shower head for a different one with larger holes - which let far more water out and therefore increase the flow rate. You should use the shower head supplied with the shower unit.
2. An increase in the water pressure to the property, which will cause an increased flow through the shower. This is far less likely.


One other thing:

The shower is supplied with cold water from a single pipe which comes from the water tank in the attic

Other than a few unusual types which include a pump, all electric showers must be connected to the incoming mains water supply, otherwise the pressure will be far too low and the shower won't work properly or at all.

Thank you for your detail reply. On that last bit I was wrong, it is fed from the mains cold feed.

This problem has only happened in the past two weeks or so, it has been working fine beforehand.

Do you think fitting an isolation valve on the line going to the shower and turning this down will fix the problem??