Shower problem...

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Have you checked the connections are tight at the switch and the CU?

Sorry, i know i should laugh.... ROFLMAO

Yeah ive checked the connections are all ok.

Ive now pulled the Fan from the Shower switch, Still have same problem with shower as before....

Just need to wire up the Fan to the Light switch now....
 
since you said this...
Med... Temperature dial has to be almost at full to be nice and comfortable
(OVer time this has had to be increased to full to get heat.)
in your first post, then as i said, the shower element has become scaled up.. you either need to find some way to de-scale it.. or get a new shower.. it's trying to tell you it's on it's last legs..

with 10mm cable you should be all right to upgrade the breaker to 45A providing it's not buried in or under lots of insulation..
 
Went to a Myra Shower fault last week, with similar problems.
What was happening was the high limit was cutting in and out.

I found that when I took the shower head handle off the hose, it looked like a bum hole :D and the hose had been turned around a few times and the rubber tube had almost closed the hole down.

This was causing the shower to overheat, this would draw excess current for a short time.

Maybe worth a look, only it cured the problem on the shower I had been called to.

Also with regard to the previous posts, I have never yet found a voltage of 230V at any property.
 
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Agree ColJack. Just checked my APC unit and I am running on 244V at present.

Never seen it below 240 yet, usually around 246.
 
Well if the shower is almost 10000w, then the shower will draw approximently 42A without ur fan, ur MCB is too small, hence why it is blowing out when the shower is on high and draws the most current. Use a 45A MCB instead and it wont trip..
 
Hi all, thanks for the replies so far....

If completely stipped out the shower, well taken cover off and checked a few things.... Im pretty sure now the tank is the main fault...

Dont soppose anyone know what i could be expecting to pay for a new 9.5kw heater tank for this shower?
 
Ive just been doing some further, checks... I feel like i first thaught have 2 problem here....

(1)The tank is faulty, hence no heat at all on LOW and very little on MED settings....

(2) When run in HIGH, with thermostat set to exactly the center of the dial, the shower will run nice and warm for just under 5 mins.... this is constant, its always about 4mins 50secs then trips.... Ive just checked things at the CU end.... the 40Mcb is a CPN MC140B, and it gets very VERY hot.... that hot that the heat from it disapates up the 10mm cable for about 4-5 inches... and the rubber sleaving goes rather soft....When it does trip, it does also Flash.... never actually watched one trip before, is this normal? Could it be a faulty MCB? or just too low a rating? Again im thinking maybe Faulty...

Any thaughts / comments on this update?

thanks
 
a flash when a breaker trips due to sustained minor overload is to be expected..

repeated tripping will cause the breaker to fail eventually, they have a limited number of times they trip before they are supposed to be replaced..

it will most likely be as cheap to replace the whole shower than to replace the tank.. plus you get the new 12 months warantee etc..

a friend of mine told me he did the following ( and i'm not sugesting you do.. )

take the head off the hose, turn the water off to the shower ( or house..) and drain the water from the tank (open a tap lower than it.. )

then pour vinegar down the hose to fill the tank.. this will disolve most of the limescale in about an hour..

then turn the water back on and run from all the taps and shower ( on cold ) for a good few minuted to flush all the vinegar out of the pipes and tank..

it might make your water smell and taste funny for a few days he said, but he got another year or so out of his shower..
 
Well ive nothing to loose with this vinagar trick.... i could just remove the tank from the shower unit and rinse out with vinager?

Does this realy disolve limescale build up?

Should i use White or Brown Vinager? Malt, pickling or condement???

This certainly will be something ill be doing when her in doors isnt in....

I dont think it will fix the LOW element tho, as theres no heat from that at all....
 
This voltage debate running through the thread...Don't you guys move around the UK at all?

I have found a full range of voltages between 216-252 and even one or two outside this range. :eek:

I have recently looked through my last two year's paperwork to search for something else & I can confirm that, of all the voltages I have recorded, 237V is the mean.

In those two years, I have worked in Staffordshire, Manchester, Cheshire, S & W Yorkshire, High Peak & Derbyshire, Birmingham & Worcestershire.
 
I don't understand this or I'm missing something very strange.

9.5 kW @ 240 = 39.58 Amps
8.3 kW @ 230 = 36.09 Amps

Someone is this correct thinking or am I daft as a brush.

Standard shower power sizes (8.5, 9.5, 10.5...etc ) are based on 240V. Some also indicate their power usage at the lower 'harmonised' voltage.

Given that I = V/R and that the resistance of the heating element doesn't change, the actual current drawn will depend on the voltage supplied.

Having established the current, then power in Watts = VI (or V^2/R)

You can calculate that a 9.5kW @ 240V shower has a resistance of 6.06 Ohms. At 230V the same shower will only be 230^2/6.06 = 8.7kW

In the same way an 8.5kW shower will use 7.8kW at 230V.

Hope that helps.
 

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