Gainsbourgh Energy 2000x 9.5kw Shower

[Holophyte]

Hi,
Can anyone enlighten me on a problem with my shower? I have the Gainsbourgh Energy 2000x 9.5kw Electric shower, which has started to blow the 30A fuse when on for more than 5 minutes on the high setting. Since my house is private rented and I'm not allowed to change anything with-in the house hold, I phoned my landlord who sent a repairs man around, who changed the wired fuse 30A to a plug in Wylex 32A fuse with a switched circuit breaker on it. This now works fine so long as I only use the shower on the medium setting. If I use the shower on the high setting, it again blows after 5 minutes. Before on the old wired fuse I had to then, re-wire it with a 30A wire through the middle, now all I have to do is flick the switch. I'm guessing this isn't right. I have on my main fuse board, 1 5A for lights, 1 30A for sockets and another 30A for the cooker (I think) and a seperate 30A socket, which has now been upgraded to a 32A switched fuse, for the shower. The main electrical amp is 100A. Would I be able to upgrade this 32A switched fuse to a 40A so the shower will work sufficiently on high or would that overload the main circuit fused board? Not really that clued up on electrics, but rather than ring my landlord up for this, I was thinking of just popping in a 40A fuse? Any idea's guy's?
Please see pic's for information.
Thanks in advance.

Untitled

• Holophyte
• 3 Sep 2009
• 1

 

[RF Lighting]

9500W / 230V = 41.3A

41.3A > 30A

also, 41.3A > 40A

Oh and it is always doing this:

 

[SparkyNinja]

As RF has just beaten me to it, clearly the shower is demanding too much power. Is the shower one that was installed by the landlords tradesman? Is it an old one?

A periodic inspection may have been carried out prior to you moving in, and hopefully this would have been brought to the landlords attention.

Any idea how long ago it was installed?

 

[ColJack]

I don't like the look of the 3 way "henley block" being used for 4 Live cables either..

 

[RF Lighting]

Crikey

Missed that

 

[SparkyNinja]

Me too...


further to what I said about the landlord getting a periodic done.. looking at the pic, I doubt it.

You should maybe ask them to get a check done, as some work is needed

 

[streetlighter]

Looking at that setup i notice there is no RCD protection for the shower circuit. Ive also spotted what looks like rubber insulated tails going to the main consumer unit,that says to me there could be more of that cable eleswhere.
Really needs a PIR and at least a modern consumer unit with RCD protection.

 

[Holophyte]

As RF has just beaten me to it, clearly the shower is demanding too much power. Is the shower one that was installed by the landlords tradesman? Is it an old one?

A periodic inspection may have been carried out prior to you moving in, and hopefully this would have been brought to the landlords attention.

Any idea how long ago it was installed?

Hi,
It was installed well before I moved in. So possible 4 years ago.
Like I've said, you know what landlords are like, you ask and you never get! We have a perodic electric and gas check, but nothing is ever flagged up, maybe this is because the guy, only checks the metre cupboard, through his eyes, and checks the gas with a leak metre testing kit. My question still hasn't been answered though. Can I simply just plug in a 40A plug in fuse or do I need to hound the landlord to do something about it, before like the picture above,I go up in flames?
I'm a carpenter by trade, so my vortia isn't in Electrics.

 

[Holophyte]

Looking at that setup i notice there is no RCD protection for the shower circuit. Ive also spotted what looks like rubber insulated tails going to the main consumer unit,that says to me there could be more of that cable eleswhere.
Really needs a PIR and at least a modern consumer unit with RCD protection.

Hi,
Thanks for that, I also know a RCD protection unit should be installed, but again like I've said, who knows of a landlord who when you ask for something you get? I hate the sight of that old fuse box, and if it was my own proerty the first thing I'd have done is a full re-wire. I'm hoping not to be in here much longer, as i'm looking into buying a brand new property with Barretts. All I really wanted to know for now is if I could exchange the 32A for a 40A so the shower would work on the high setting, so at least I could have more than just a tepid shower? Without the possibilty of what happened in the picture from RF. Or am I best just leaving it as it is, and having a luke warm shower every night?

 

[sjwkmje]

As RF has just beaten me to it, clearly the shower is demanding too much power. Is the shower one that was installed by the landlords tradesman? Is it an old one?

A periodic inspection may have been carried out prior to you moving in, and hopefully this would have been brought to the landlords attention.

Any idea how long ago it was installed?

Hi,
It was installed well before I moved in. So possible 4 years ago.
Like I've said, you know what landlords are like, you ask and you never get! We have a perodic electric and gas check, but nothing is ever flagged up, maybe this is because the guy, only checks the metre cupboard, through his eyes, and checks the gas with a leak metre testing kit. My question still hasn't been answered though. Can I simply just plug in a 40A plug in fuse or do I need to hound the landlord to do something about it, before like the picture above,I go up in flames?
I'm a carpenter by trade, so my vortia isn't in Electrics.

Under no circumstances change that fuse. You have no idea what state the cable is in feeding the shower, the state of the terminations etc. If you put in say 40A in replace of a 30A and there is a fault and the cable is under sized then you are likely to have a dangerous installation. I would leave well alone. Get a spark in. Example loose terminal in the shower or fuse box causes arcing, then you have a fire on your hands. Look at RFs photo for an example. Those fuse boxs are designed for a max of 30A per way IIRC. The CPD should not have been changed without checking the state of the installation.

As its private rented here is what I would do and yes I have been in the same situation. Ask for the PIR and the test results. This should have flagged up some issues just looking at the fuse box alone I could find a few. If there is a refusal or you are not happy you are allowed to bring in your own contractor. These will issue a PIR for the wiring and show what is wrong and the dangerous parts of the installation. The cost of this you invoice to the landlord. Its your safety at the end of the day.

If I came across this on site my actions would be to do a full PIR to check the state of the install. In your case we can see VIR so I would suspect it somewhere else. If the IR checks fail then its a rewire time with a new consumer unit. If IR is fine then you could get away with a new consumer unit but looking at what you have it could quite possibly be rewire time.

Its ultimately the landlords responsabilty. He has to comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 and the The Consumer Protection Act 1987 and failure to comply is a criminal offence.

Your local Council should be able to offer some advice as well on the issue if the landlord is refusing to make the installation safe.

Adam

 

[Holophyte]

As RF has just beaten me to it, clearly the shower is demanding too much power. Is the shower one that was installed by the landlords tradesman? Is it an old one?

A periodic inspection may have been carried out prior to you moving in, and hopefully this would have been brought to the landlords attention.

Any idea how long ago it was installed?

Hi,
It was installed well before I moved in. So possible 4 years ago.
Like I've said, you know what landlords are like, you ask and you never get! We have a perodic electric and gas check, but nothing is ever flagged up, maybe this is because the guy, only checks the metre cupboard, through his eyes, and checks the gas with a leak metre testing kit. My question still hasn't been answered though. Can I simply just plug in a 40A plug in fuse or do I need to hound the landlord to do something about it, before like the picture above,I go up in flames?
I'm a carpenter by trade, so my vortia isn't in Electrics.

Under no circumstances change that fuse. You have no idea what state the cable is in feeding the shower, the state of the terminations etc. If you put in say 40A in replace of a 30A and there is a fault and the cable is under sized then you are likely to have a dangerous installation. I would leave well alone. Get a spark in. Example loose terminal in the shower or fuse box causes arcing, then you have a fire on your hands. Look at RFs photo for an example. Those fuse boxs are designed for a max of 30A per way IIRC. The CPD should not have been changed without checking the state of the installation.

As its private rented here is what I would do and yes I have been in the same situation. Ask for the PIR and the test results. This should have flagged up some issues just looking at the fuse box alone I could find a few. If there is a refusal or you are not happy you are allowed to bring in your own contractor. These will issue a PIR for the wiring and show what is wrong and the dangerous parts of the installation. The cost of this you invoice to the landlord. Its your safety at the end of the day.

If I came across this on site my actions would be to do a full PIR to check the state of the install. In your case we can see VIR so I would suspect it somewhere else. If the IR checks fail then its a rewire time with a new consumer unit. If IR is fine then you could get away with a new consumer unit but looking at what you have it could quite possibly be rewire time.

Its ultimately the landlords responsabilty. He has to comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994 and the The Consumer Protection Act 1987 and failure to comply is a criminal offence.

Your local Council should be able to offer some advice as well on the issue if the landlord is refusing to make the installation safe.

Adam

Adam,
Thanks for that information it was very detailed.
I am going to go down the route of demanding an electrical test, as all my records only show a gas safety check and it doesn't seem that I've ever had an electrical safety check, so rather than me shell out for something that's the landlords responsibility, I'll ask the estate agent's to get this done for my personal safety.
Probably take 6 months knowing them!
I will quote the act's to them though so they know I'm serious about this.
Thanks again Adam.

 

[Steve]

Tell him you've had an electrician mate round (or the truth, you put photos online) and they told you that the installation hasn't complied for 20 years and is in a dangerous condition, quote the above regulations/acts at him, and tell him if he doesn't do something about the shoddy, substandard electrical installation, you'll report his handyman to the relevant authorities for carrying out notifiable work without notifying.