triton electric shower kaput?

[Softus]

softus - you certainly have a way of making your point.

I don't want me or my family in a morgue because of a fire.

Well, this is a serious subject.

I've done a bit of reading about dangerous overcurrent faults and cable selection (section 1.4 and 1.5):

http://www.kevinboone.com/cableselection_web.html[/QUOTE]
You could do a lot worse - KB's article is very well written and is right on the money.

So an 8500W shower will draw 35.41a current.

So the question now is - will my 6mm cable stand 46.4amps for 1 hour without overheating?

There are some circumstances when the answer to this is "no".

There are even some circumstances where 6mm² won't survive the cumulative effect of 35.41A.

There are no [plausible] circumstances [in normal use] where 10mm² won't survive the cumulative effect of 35.41A.

 

[mega_kas]

Thanks for reading the post - appreciated.
Can you let me know the circumstances where the 6mm won't take the 46.4 and even the 35.4a please?

I've checked my cable run and it seems to bea run of about 10m CU - then direct clipped for approx 2.5 metres - then under floorboards - then 1m up shower masonary wall.

Trouble is the shower is 1st floor but I can't be sure the cable doesn't go into loft (converted) along some clips on chipboard floor in eaves through insulated wall then back down to bathroom.

 

[securespark]

On balance, with a circuit length of 10m & no derating factors involved, I would be happy to fit an 8.5kW shower to 6mm² cable protected by a 40A breaker.

However, you need to check the EFLI is satisfactory.

Don't forget, the shower is a fixed load, it will not exceed 37A (@ 230V).

And that RCD....it is an 80A unit, isn't it?

 

[mega_kas]

Cheers -
well I have a 32a MCB fitted so that should be even safer.

RCCB (RCD?) is 80a / 30ma and the main input for the CU is 100a

I have no idea what EFLI is

 

[Spark123]

It is not good practice to run any overcurrent protective device above its design value. An MCB should trip within 1 hour at 1.45x its rating but often is a lot less than this, but this is besides the point. 32A MCB is 32A MAX circuit design.

EFLI is earth fault loop impedance. It is important that this is low enough to trip the MCB quickly (0.1s) in the event of a fault.
Since you are not sure all I can advise is for you to call an electrician.