ozone smell in main switch of shower

[dripdrip]

Help. the main switch for my shower - which is outside the bathroom has started smelling of ozone and the switch itself is quite hot. There was a fishy smell for a bit, but that seems to have gone after pouring cleaner down the shower outlet. Any suggestions?

 

[Softus]

There's a poor wiring termination in there, causing overheating and probably cable damage.

Isolate the shower supply at the CU and unscrew the switch to ascertain the extent of the damage. If any cable insulation is melted, you need to cut back to undamaged cable. If there isn't enough slack then you'll probably need an electrician to help you, otherwise just replace the switch making sure that the exposed ends of all of the copper conductors are clean, bright and untarnished.

Buy the best quality switch you can find - don't skimp.

 

[JohnD]

look at the ends of the copper conductors. If they have overheated (colour will have changed) this softens the copper, so that the terminals wil not be able to grip it tightly enough (it sort of squashes away from the pressure over time). in this case you need to cut it back to undamaged copper. this may be an inch or so. If this means that the wire are too short to reach the switch please report back here. it is diffcult to make a permanent joint that will not overheat again without a special tool.

The fishy smell is characteristic of the hard plastic of the switch burning.

For some reason it is usually just the Black wire that overheats.

edited: looks like Softus covered all that

 

[dripdrip]

Thank you. Will now start investigating. Hope this isnt an expensive process!

 

[Taylortwocities]

It shouldnt be expensive if you act now. Dont use the shower until its resolved.
Fishy smell usually = loose terminations causing heating of switch and/or cable insulation
or
someone has left a lump of halibut on the radiator

 

[reggie perrin]

For some reason it is usually just the Black wire that overheats.

And immersion heaters...why is that?

 

[bernardgreen]

For some reason it is usually just the Black wire that overheats.

And immersion heaters...why is that?

Because people pay more attention to the live wire as it is more important / more dangerous than the neutral.

So the terminals on the Live wire get a little more care and tightening than the terminals on the Neutral wire

 

[JohnD]

I've never believed that (sorry).

It seems to me that if you are used to doing screws up all day, you do then all up equally tight without even thinking about it.

 

[bernardgreen]

First time I heard it mentioned when staff were being taught / assessed on fitting 13 plugs to leads.

Asyou say the experienced person would treat both the same but the DIYer may have this Live is important - neutral is not attitude.

 

[gcx51]

which is outside the bathroom has started smelling of ozone

How on Earth do you know what the Ozone smells like?

 

[Softus]

How on Earth do you know what the Ozone smells like?

How do you not know what Ozone smells like?

 

[dripdrip]

Like the back of a printer! Thanks for all your help. I was able to appear totally knowledgeable with the electrician who came. The problem was exactly what you all said it would be. Burnt out plug and dodgy blackwire connection. Only problem was that they had to put the switch on upside down because there was no slack. Fish and ozone smells have disappeared!

 

[RF Lighting]

Guess he doesn't carry thru crimps then

 

[Softus]

Indeed not. And I'm just pretending to understand what "upside down" meant.

 

[JohnD]

cord hanging upwards