GAINSBOBOUGH SHOWERS - GOOD OR BAD

I

ianblue

I bought a Gainsborough shower about 25 years ago. Its still going strong in my son's flat!
I bought it initially because it was the cheapest and I was on a tight budget.
Because it was cheap it was simple. Very little to go wrong.
Because of its great performance I was sold on Gainsborough so since then I have bought several and put them in houses which I rent out.
One of these has just failed at about 2 1/2 years old.
The fault is no heat. The answer seems to be. Buy a new "engine" ( the complete inside) at circa £70 only the front cover remaining. A new shower costs about the same.
As an Electro-mechanical engineer I decided to see if I could fix it.
On examination I find the elements, o/h cutout and internal switches are all ok. The problem lies in the automatic operation of the power switches.
These are operated by a piston which operates under pressure when the flow knob is turned to reduce the flow. Pressure then builds up behind the piston and should pull in step 1 & 2 element stages. Unfortunately the piston and cylinder are sealed in, preventing inspection.
This means I have to throw away a shower which is perfect in every way except for the operation of this piston!! Its ridiculous !
Has anyone else found this problem and/or a solution?
 
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the stereotype of yorkshiremen seem to be true; tight.
 
the stereotype of yorkshiremen seem to be true; tight.
Sorry mate . I live in Yorkshire but I am not a Yorkshireman.
Ok banter is banter but would you not agree that it is ridiculous to have to through away perfectly good equipment for what looks like a flaw in design. Quite apart from cost. Its very bad for the environment. I actually did replace with brand new immediately for my tennent.
It was when I got the old one home I carried out my inspection.
My natural curiosity and the challenge was my driving force.
ps The shower is just over 2 years old
 
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And your labour charges are??

I don't have any labour charges. Actually I am retired now but instead of all these cheap personal attacks I was hoping for an intelligent technical discussion on the design of the Gainsborough shower but I guess that's beyond you chaps.
I am assuming you are both plumbers who are quite happy to spend other peoples money.
 
And your labour charges are??

I don't have any labour charges. Actually I am retired now but instead of all these cheap personal attacks I was hoping for an intelligent technical discussion on the design of the Gainsborough shower but I guess that's beyond you chaps.
I am assuming you are both plumbers who are quite happy to spend other peoples money.
And you assumed wrong - whilst missing the point.
 
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......Still no technical thoughts.
Surely someone out there has some opinion on manufactured products which have small easily replaceable parts which cannot be obtained and where 99% of the item is in perfect working order but rather than sell a small spare the only solution is to replace the completel unit.
This shower unit I have in front of me looks like its just come out of the packet its just over 2 years old. Its just not environmentally good practice.
Oh and I have comunicated with Gainsborough and await their reply.
 
I suppose the answer is that it was designed and built for the budget end of the market. Perhaps the cost of making one designed for tinkering would be higher and (allowing for a £50 call-out) would mean that repair would not normally be an economical proposition. I bet the factory gate price of the things is only about £20.

Have you heard the story about the king-pins in the Model T Ford?
 
Well I hear what you are saying but still its either
£50 call out + engine £70 = £120 or
£50 call out + 2stage switch ( easily replaced) say £20 =£70
Ok I know, to some people I am sounding pedantic here ,but its the environment that concerns me. We are the throw away society.
When I was an apprentice people used to bring in their appliances where I worked. I would repair hoovers, irons, toasters, electric drills etc etc even TVs where a single faulty resistor could disable the complete set.
Now all these items are simply thrown on to a landfill site.
Ok anyone will tell you its cheaper to buy new than have repairs done.
But that doesn't make it right. We are gobbling up the earth's resources as fast as we can. People will still be on this planet in a thousand/million years time.
They will curse us! Amen :LOL:
 
Well I hear what you are saying but still its either
£50 call out + engine £70 = £120 or
£50 call out + 2stage switch ( easily replaced) say £20 =£70
Or buy a new one for £70, and have the old one recycled for recovery of plastic and copper content, Best choice. In a thousand years I expect all our old landfill sites will have been mined for the metal and other valuable content. Did you know there is more gold in a ton of old mobile phones than in a ton of ore from a gold mine?
 
Excellent point. I will dismantle the old one, it will not recover the CO2 which has been used in the manufacture but at least it will be recycled.
Just a final point . One very good example of manufacturing was when I repaired my daughters three port valve I was able to renew just the synchronous motor. Not even the whole actuator which was renewable.
 
Ian, I completely agree with you 10% on how wasteful modern manufacturing methods are and the lack of suitable spares for equipment that should last for a long time but does not.

The whole western world seems to be like this, throw away and replace rather than repair, reuse or recycle.

Have you tried the manufacturer direct to see if you can get a spare?

Suppliers may not keep them but the manufacturer should.
 

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