Electric cable for shower

[paulgrecothompson]

The shower unit in the new house I moved into recently was not fixed flush to the tiles, and the electric cable was visible. As this is clearly unsafe, I've taken the cover off to have a look...the problem seems to be, whoever fitted it has fed the cable round the right hand side of the unit, meaning one of the screws on the right hand side won't go in -- basically the electric cable is in the way.

The problem is, I can't see where the cable is supposed to go.

Where does it usually go?

There doesn't seem to be an access point through the back. At the top / back there is a hollow half-cylinder gap which it sits in okay, but the wires can only be pulled over the top to fit them...the only way the unit front would fit back on is if you stripped the cumbersome grey outer casing of the electric cable and had just the three individual wires coming tight over the top ... I'm convinced this isn't how you're supposed to do it -- is it unsafe?

It's a Gainsborough 8.5 es

Can't find a manual anywhere...

 

[securespark]

Piccys!!

 

[paulgrecothompson]

Okay, you know what I'm going to ask next...how do you post pics?

Do I have to put them on a separate server, or can they go straight on to the forum?

If the former, how do I do that? [/img]

 

[Adam_151]

google for 'imageshack' upload them to that, and then use the IMG tag on the message box on here and put th link to your image between the

tags it generates

 

[paulgrecothompson]

The first two pictures show the route the former owner took with the cable -- round the right hand side...meaning it was impossible to screw down that side. Hopefully in pic 3 and -- particularly -- in pic 4 you can see the cylindrical space where the cable could go, which would mean bring the stripped part of the cable over the top to the front...which somehow feels wrong, but I can't think/see how else to feed the cable.

 

[Adam_151]

On your first picture, bottom right hand corner, you can see a second water inlet (if you wee feeding water from below), the cable entry position is around there, in your case its best to go just below that and sweep over it in a smooth bend (make sure your cable is the right way around comming out of the wall to get phase and neutral the correct way around without crossing over)

If you were using that water inlet you'd go a tad to the right of it

(there would have been a plan in the box showing the area that the cable can enter through... guess the original installer didn't find it... )

 

[didthathurt]

Most showers have a portion of the outer box itself, in the bottom right hand corner, which detatches around the water entry point, so you can fix the shower to the wall over the service entries Behind this part of the shower it has no back at all giving free access. The IPX4 rating means that it is waterproof to jets of water from above mostly, from the 10 O'clock to the 2 O'clock position, the unit relies on having no point at which water running across it's surface can find a "downhill" path into the workings.

The Gainsborough showers I've installed, take the water in at around this point with the power entering from behind through this area. They do have "cutouts" available for other cable entries, but these are only normally used if the cable arrives at the shower via a surface mounted trunking.

I would suggest you try to swap the water supply to come in from the bottom of the shower. Just loosen the compression fitting at the supply pipe end and turn it around, raising the shower by a couple of inches. You should then be able to feed the cables (and there is no problem, when they enter the unit from behind, in taking the grey outer sheaving back to the point at which they come through the wall. This should allow you to then bend the cables so they enter the terminal block from below, allowing any moisture that does get in there to run away from the terminal block (and, to me, your terminal block looks as if it has been installed back to front. You normally see the terminal block screws from the front so you can connect the services once the main body of the shower is secured to the wall).

One thing is definite, you really must not attempt to use this shower in the state you found it. Isolate the supply until yopu have this sorted. To be honest there is something just not right about what I am seeing of your shower from the pics, I'd like to see a pic of the front cover as well, fitted as you found it.

 

[don't_touch_that!]

I've got the same shower. Adam and didthathurt are both right about where the cable entry should be.
The instructions also show where the outer insulation needs to be cut to as without doing that you'll never be able to fit the front cover.
That may be why the original fitter didn't take it that way.

didthathurt - it doesn't look right coz the earth connector block is missing. It goes in the square bit behind where the red cable is in pic 1.

paulgrecothompson - the cylindrical space at the back is for feeding water in via the top, not really for cable.

[/img]

 

[paulgrecothompson]

Oh yes, I should have said, I took the earth connector box off thinking I could feed it through better, and reattach -- before hitting my dead end. Don't worry, it'll be back on before it's reconnected -- and the shower trip is down obviously!

Thanks all for your advice so far. I'll have another look, then doubtless bottle it and ring an electrician!

 

[paulgrecothompson]

Don't touch that, do you know the actual model number? Trying to get a spare part...