I have repaired the unrepairable Gainsborough Shower

[ianblue]

I have just had a problem with a Gainsborough shower ,unbelievably the same fault which I had in a previous one.
The shower is a Gainsborough 8.5E.
The fault is NO HEAT.
THis seems to be a common fault. If you look at image (1) you will see the white plunger attached to the power switch by a spring . This is pulled down by a piston and operates the power switch to power up stage 1 and 2 of the element. When the control knob is moved towards heat , the control valve closes and causes an increase in pressure into the cylinder and so moving the piston. It should go down and stay down as long as heat is called for. Mine wasn't moving.
Gainsborough told me this could be damaged by either grit or a sudden surge in pressure. The shower is rated 1 to 10 bar. They said it was unrepairable and would need to be replaced with a whole new unit
Anyway what I did was to remove the white assembly (where it connects to the black assembly) lo and behold there was a fine filter there you can see it at the top in image 2. It was clogged - filter cleaned ,shower now perfect again!
There is also a bigger gauge filter behind the protective cover at the inlet.

 

[Pixels]

An old post, but useful to update for anyone else with the same problem.

The fine filter takes some finding without the pics referred to. It's actually beneath a small black 'O' ring (about 5mm in diameter) in the black part of the housing, just at the bottom of the vertical raised tube at the front of the black moulding that goes to the top of the plunger housing.

Sadly, in my case this filter was fine. Instead the silicone diaphragm on the end of the white plunger had gone, so the water pressure that should have made it move down to operate the pressure switch was bleeding through.

No parts available from Gainsborough, of course. In any case it would seem impossible to get at the plunger without taking a hacksaw to the black moulding. Why not have a normal (replaceable) pressure switch/solenoid like all other showers?

Exit one c. 4 year old shower that was otherwise in perfect condition.

Shall never buy anything else from Gainsborough.