Mira shower cutting out

[ThistleMagnets1]

I wonder if anyone can help me sort this problem. I have a Mira Advance shower which is 7 years old. In July last year the shower kept cutting out and eventually was not working at all. I called out a Mira engineer and he replaced the PCB board. It worked fine for several months then started cutting out again, usually when my hair is full of shampoo!! I have had 2 Mira engineers here since the beginning of April, the first one, when the shower would not come on, took the cover off the unit and pressed a button which he said 'purged' it. He ran the shower for several minutes and it never cut out so he left and advised me to keep a record of what happened each day. It seemed ok the first time I used it but then just went back to cutting out. On 23rd April another engineer arrived and despite having constantly been cutting out before he came it ran perfectly while he was here! He 'recommissioned' it which didn't even involve taking the front cover off the unit! Of course it is still cutting out - and I don't really want to go through another engineer coming and doing nothing! Anyone got any ideas what can be causing this? Sometimes there is a burst of water then it cuts out. Sometimes the 'low pressure' light comes on. Sometimes I have to switch it off at the main cord as it won't switch off at the unit. Sometimes it will eventually switch back on but sometimes it refuses to come back on! I am ready to scrap it an buy a new unit, do you think this is necessary?
Thanks in advance!
Agnes

 

[gday2uk]

I am ready to scrap it an buy a new unit, do you think this is necessary?

Yes.
Have you been paying for each call out?
It's 7 years old - it's had its day!

 

[ThistleMagnets1]

No, I've not paid for the last two call outs! Can't believe it's had it's day after only 7 years!! But if it has to be replaced, do you have any recommendations?

 

[gday2uk]

I am of the opinion that if any electrical item lasts 5 years + these days then that is good service. I'm only presuming the shower has been used most days for the past 7 years so then it has done very well. I don't know how hard/soft your water is up there but down south here without scale reducers we can look at replacing our electric showers every 2-3 years because of the very hard water. It is just something you put up with. I know your issue may not be scale but 7 years is still a long time. You may as well replace it for another Mira Advance, just check your electric cable is suitable for the KW of the new model as it may be higher than your existing.

 

[Wirral_guy]

Agnes

I had a Mira shower (can't remember which one - 9.5Kw version anyway) and I had exactly the same problem. Mira couldn't find the problem etc etc and talked the same reset claptrap so one day I took it apart and had a look. On top of the boiler/heat exchanger there is a a temp sensor - a temporary fix was to replace the thermal compound which had gone dry and a permanent fix (2 months later) was to replace the sensor. From what I remember, the sensor was registering an overheat which kicked in the safety shut off until the unit cooled down. I can't remember the exact cost but I do know it was less than £20 (maybe even less than £10!) and was an easy fix for even a basically competent electrician.

Dave

 

[ThistleMagnets1]

Thanks Dave, I'll see if I can get a 'competent' electrician to have a look at it before I go to the expense of replacing it!

Agnes

 

[Ched]

My 10 year old Mira shower started doing that occasionally some months ago and a so called shower expert told me that it must be low water pressure so he couldn't fix it. Recently, it started doing it more regularly so I Googled the problem and found this site. Read Dave's (Wirral_guy) solution took the shower apart, applied new thermal paste to the sensor and its been working fine ever since. Many, many thanks Dave.

As for those who say replace things after 5 years or so. All the spares for Mira Showers are readily available to keep yours going. A new sensor currently costs around £15.00 but I don't think I really need one, just more thermal paste in several years or so. Time will tell!