Shower dead - solenoid kaput?

[blankfrank]

Hope someone can help please.

I've got a 3.5 year old Gainsborough Energy 2000x which has completely stopped working ie. nothing, not even a power light when ceiling switch is on.

After reading other topics in this forum I went and bought a multimeter and did some testing. There are 240V across both sets of points in the ceiling switch and also across the inward cables at the shower. Also tried combinations of the red and black cables at the top of the heat exchanger and got 240V for one and nothing for another. I also got nothing across the black and white cables connected to the solenoid.

I'm assuming this means the solenoid is at fault and that this explains why some cables at the heat exchanger give no reading. Before ordering a solenoid I wanted to check with you guys to get comfort that if the solenoid gives no reading it is because the solenoid is at fault and not because there's a problem with the heat exchanger.

Can anyone advise please so I don't waste money on a solenoid which may be OK.

Thanks.

 

[breezer]

depends how you checked for voltage.

Voltage is the potential difference across two points
if you "had no voltage across the coil" that doesnt mean there is no voltage there, just no difference between one side an the other.
I would suspect that is is either the stat or something else at fault.

Isolate the shower (not just at the switch) check the resisatnce of the coil, that way you will know for sure
i would say get a new shower.

Electric showers do not last that long, yes it does depend on how hard the water is but 3-5 years is average.

how "furred up" does your kettle get?

 

[blankfrank]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Sadly this is a hard water area (Oxfordshire) but I was hoping it was something simple which I could fix (like replacing the solenoid) rather than something I couldn't (like replacing the shower).

I certainly hadn't anticipated the cost of having a new shower installed every 3 or 4 years, to say nothing of potential damage to expensive tiling put up when the shower was installed.

Would limescale problems cause the power light to not come on?

How can I check the resistance of the solenoid if checking the voltage is not conclusive?
Do I turn the shower off at the switch in the meter cupboard, set the multimeter to resistance and then connect to the black and white leads to the solenoid?
What reading should I then expect to see if it's normal and what if it isn't?

 

[andy]

to test the coil: isolate power to shower, put meter on resistance and test accross the terminals. if you get an infinite reading (usually a 1 at the far left) then no power is goin thru the coil, meaning it is faulty.if there is smaller resistance then the coil does work and is not causing the problem

 

[breezer]

to clarify:
1 at the far left means the meter is working, but the resistance it is reading is too high for it to register (infinite)

you should also dissconnect what ever it is you are checking for resistance (coil in this case) this is so that you do not back feed and read something else

you should alos NOT be holding the leads when you do this, no, because it is liable to read YOU

 

[andy]

you should alos NOT be holding the leads when you do this, no, because it is liable to read YOU

as i found out the hard way a few years ago

 

[blankfrank]

Thanks for the advice so far.

I've now checked for resistance across the solenoid as advised and got a reading of 3.5 with the multimeter on the 200V setting. So this presumably suggests that is not the fault. Gainsborough have also advised this would stop water flowing if it was faulty but would not stop the power light coming on.

They suggested the PCB may have failed. I checked voltage between the black cable at the top of the heat exchanger and the various red wires there. One set of 3 red wires come from what I believe to be the PCB and join together at the heat exchanger. They read 240V.
There is another single red wire which also comes from the PCB but the voltage between this and the black is zero.

From what Gainsborough have said it seems there's really only 3 things to go wrong (don't know how true that is):

1. The solenoid - but that wouldn't stop the power light working.
2. The heat exchanger - but that would just stop the water getting hot, not stop it altogether.
3. The PCB - which apparently would stop everything.

The trouble is it would cost me £30 to get a new one (fine if that is the problem) and I'm not sure how easy that is to replace as it's not clear which bit comes out and which screws need to be removed.

Anyone got any idea whether that's a feasible DIY job (and/or views on how likely that is to be the source of the problem)?

Ta.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Thanks for the advice so far.

I've now checked for resistance across the solenoid as advised and got a reading of 3.5 with the multimeter on the 200V setting.

3.5A, I assume?

I'm not sure how easy that is to replace as it's not clear which bit comes out and which screws need to be removed.

Anyone got any idea whether that's a feasible DIY job (and/or views on how likely that is to be the source of the problem)?

Ta.

Try here for diagrams:
http://www.showerdoctor.co.uk

 

[ban-all-sheds]

That's odd - what happened to post 106921?

 

[andy]

That's odd - what happened to post 106921?

eh?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I got an email to say there'd been a post made to this thread:

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=106921#106921

 

[blankfrank]

Thanks ban-all-sheds - a useful link.

This is the diagram for my shower but it only repeats what's shown in my installation leaflet and makes no mention of the PCB or how to remove it.

From what Gainsborough told me it is behind what is labelled as "power selector / pressure switch"

http://www.showerdoctor.co.uk/spares/gainsborough/energy-2000x.html

 

[securespark]

I'd give up on the Gainsborough and buy a shower unit that does not have the pcb on top of the can........

 

[breezer]

I've now checked for resistance across the solenoid as advised and got a reading of 3.5 with the multimeter on the 200V setting. .

Either you have made a typo or you do not know how to use your meter, what you have written is not correct.

resistance 200v setting hmmmmmm

 

[blankfrank]

I've now checked for resistance across the solenoid as advised and got a reading of 3.5 with the multimeter on the 200V setting. .

Either you have made a typo or you do not know how to use your meter, what you have written is not correct.

resistance 200v setting hmmmmmm

I don't claim to know how to use the multimeter (I only bought it a few days ago) other than going by the instructions that came with it and what other folk have said in this and other threads on the forum.

BUT... I did not say "resistance 200v setting". I said "checked for resistance across the solenoid as advised and got a reading of 3.5 with the multimeter on the 200V setting". I set the multimeter's switch for resistance and then tested with the dial in various positions. Each change moved the decimal point 1 place and it read 3.5 (which I assume must be ohms - isn't that the unit for resistance?) when the dial was in the position labelled 200V - I realise that is voltage, not resistance.