Fluctuating temp on my electric shower. Whats the rub?

[scotster]

This must happen all the time but your helpful advice may save me faffing for ages.

I have a 8.5KW electric shower - Topaz..from Triton. It was fitted 7 months ago.

It worked fine for 6 months but recently the temp goes from hot to cold every two mins.

This only happens on the high switch setting and when the dial is turned a quarter way around the dial. If I turn it up to half way it is too hot but it runs steady.

When it goes cold there is a slight spluttering as though there is a bit of air in the pipe. BUT the cold/hot cycle is regular (every two mins) so I dont think it is low pressure or air and certainly the low presure light never lights and the pressure from the head doesnt change noticeably. There is no other demand on the cold water feed in the house during the testing.

If i turn to the 1st swicth setting it is steady but too cold.

I live in a very hard water area and already the scale build up is obvious on the shower head holes.

I fitted the unit myself and so unfortunatley the simple answer is not to call the fitter! No other changes have been made to the plumbing that could have caused this.

Its almost like the control system cant now regulate reliably at this temp and it is 'hunting' for the right temp up and down.

Any help/advice welcome!

Thanks, Scott

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

I live in a very hard water area and already the scale build up is obvious on the shower head holes.

Theres your first and most obvious possible cause. If the water cant get out of the shower head it will boil up inside and overheat. The overheat stat will then cut off the power until it resets when enough cold water has run through it.
Take the head off and clean it. Anything acidic will clear the scale ie citric acid, vinegar or a bitter fruit juice. Battery acid and the likes have safety issues so don't try that.
Hopefully its just the head thats affected. Invest in some sort of limescale protection or check that your current protection is maintained.

 

[scotster]

Slugbaby.

That worked a treat. Thanks for that - I can't believe it was that easy.

Now tell me...is there an easy way to clean the heating elements inside the shower as they must already be caked in scale?

Is this I something I can do by taking the unit to pieces and placing the heating element in a bath of descaler or (as I suspect) is this something I would have to do by flushing descaler through it?

I don't yet have any mains water treatment in place as I'm waiting for the whole house to be re-plumbed in the summer.

Thanks again!

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

Now you fixed it, it ain't broke any more so dont fix it. Do consider expediting the water treatment to prevent further scaling.

 

[scotster]

Expidite is the word! I will look at getting it done as soon as I figure out which method to buy in to.

I know that there are several treatment types on the market and I'm sure that everyone has their own opinions on each and each method has it PRO's and cons.

...On saying all that do you have one that you would recommend please?

The 'electric coil' variety as at http://www.scalemanager.co.uk obvioulsy seem attractive but I have seen posts saying that it is voodoo despite the Bath university report shown on the site : http://www.waterimp.co.uk/report.html.

Again thanks for any advice.

Best Regards, Scott.