Shower pull cord blowing fuse in consumer unit - pics

Joined
12 Aug 2018
Messages
285
Reaction score
7
Country
United Kingdom
We've just had an electrician in (bit of a disaster if you saw my other thread) who changed the shower pull cord. The previous cord had jammed and when we put the new switch on the old cable was quite badly melted where it went into the switch (I say we as I was sent up to the loft to push more cable through the hole).

The new switch worked for a couple of weeks but then it started to get really stiff - I've managed to get in to switch on today and then the shower went off. I assume that the 30A fuse on the (old) consumer unit has blown as the light on the switch is no longer coming on.

However when I've taken the fuse out, I've noticed a wire going across the two terminals - should this be there - it looks a bit strange:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DEXba17AcUt5j16H9

Failing this I'm assuming the 45A switch itself could have blown?

Does this sound like it is a fault with the shower itself? Not really sure of my next step - I don't want to this electrician back in my house!
 
Sponsored Links
a wire going across the two terminals - should this be there

NO

At sometime the fuse has blown and the person who should have replaced the fuse cartridge probably did not have the right cartridge so wrapped the wire round the pins as a total and dangerous bodge to get the circuit "working"
 
NO

At sometime the fuse has blown and the person who should have replaced the fuse cartridge probably did not have the right cartridge so wrapped the wire round the pins as a total and dangerous bodge to get the circuit "working"

FFS - This is really messed up - I've replaced the fuse once before when it blew and I'm sure that wire wasn't on it.

Could this be what's caused the switch to 'meltdown'?

I've removed the wire and will now get hold of another fuse - what's EXTREMELY frustrating is that someone has put this on in the last 2 years since I've been living here - I changed this fuse in October 2018 (I just looked at my Wickes click and collect order) and I'm pretty sure that this wasn't there. The only people we've had in were a handyman (didn't touch the shower) and an electrician a couple of weeks ago who did work on the shower switch but I didn't notice he'd done that to the fuse as I was helping him all the time he was at the house - obviously I can't prove anything but it's upsetting to think that someone wouldn't just ask me to drive 5 minutes up the road to Screwfix!
 
Last edited:
If he isolated the power before working on the pull switch, (which he most certainly would have had to), then either he put the wires across because the cartridge had blown and he didn't have a spare, or he is blind. In either case I would not let him anywhere near my house to even change my torch batteries!

Get a qualified spark, preferably by someone's recommendation, and get him to check the whole lot out. It may cost a few quid but you never know what he might find that could be dangerous.
 
Sponsored Links
If he isolated the power before working on the pull switch, (which he most certainly would have had to), then either he put the wires across because the cartridge had blown and he didn't have a spare, or he is blind. In either case I would not let him anywhere near my house to even change my torch batteries!

Get a qualified spark, preferably by someone's recommendation, and get him to check the whole lot out. It may cost a few quid but you never know what he might find that could be dangerous.

Thanks - do you mean get him to check the shower - or everything that this guy has done?
 
What kwatt rating is the shower ?
What size is the cable ,and amperage of fuse ?
 
Add to that the fact that there appears to be overheating of the fuse carrier blade so your problems might be a lot more than replacing a cartridge
 
Thanks - do you mean get him to check the shower - or everything that this guy has done?

I would certainly get him to check that particular circuit, including the shower and switch. If he has done any other work I would be highly suspicious of that as well.
The frightening thing about that fuse and the strands of wire is the wire is actually outside the fuse enclosure. The fuse enclosure acts as a sort of arc restrictor helping to keep and sparks from arcing inside the enclosure, just like the cartridge keeps it inside the fuse body when they blow.
 
Add to that the fact that there appears to be overheating of the fuse carrier blade so your problems might be a lot more than replacing a cartridge


I've replaced the fuse tonight and the shower is now working again - also the pull switch that was jamming before is now working properly, although I'm sure that can't be related to the fuse.

What sort of problems? a replacement shower? The electrician reckoned that the wires going into the switch were melted - could this have happened because of the fuse situation i.e. the wire prevented the 30A fuse from blowing, although then shouldn't the fuse in the shower switch have blown?
 
There is NO fuse in the shower pull switch. It sounds like you still have connection problems in that area. it needs checking. These things don’t magically fix themselves.
 
The electrician reckoned that the wires going into the switch were melted - could this have happened because of the fuse situation i.e. the wire prevented the 30A fuse from blowing, although then shouldn't the fuse in the shower switch have blown?

Overheating of wires at the connection terminals of a shower switch is typical of terminals not have not been sufficiently tightened (and they need re-tightening after a week or two because copper is a soft metal).

It would be strange to meet a qualified electrician with more than a week's experience who didn't know that.
 
Overheating of wires at the connection terminals of a shower switch is typical of terminals not have not been sufficiently tightened (and they need re-tightening after a week or two because copper is a soft metal).

It would be strange to meet a qualified electrician with more than a week's experience who didn't know that.

Similarly it can be the result of people using the pull cord as the on/off switch for the shower. Once the contacts get a bit pitted the contact resistance increases and everything melts
 
Overheating of wires at the connection terminals of a shower switch is typical of terminals not have not been sufficiently tightened (and they need re-tightening after a week or two because copper is a soft metal).

It would be strange to meet a qualified electrician with more than a week's experience who didn't know that.

It's tightening after a week or two standard practice i.e. if an electrician installs a shower pull cord they should technically be revisiting back in a couple of weeks?

Yes there are a few surprising things this guy didn't seem to know.
 
Similarly it can be the result of people using the pull cord as the on/off switch for the shower. Once the contacts get a bit pitted the contact resistance increases and everything melts

By on and off do you mean leaving the shower on and just pulling the cord to start the water? (We've never done that)
 

DIYnot Local

Staff member

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.


Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

 
Sponsored Links
Back
Top