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?
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?