Shower Isolator Location
- Thread starter mattg1985
- Start date
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it depends on what you consider a shower switch to be..
I consider it to be a device for switching off for mechanical maintainance..
others use it to switch the shower on and off having set the controls to their liking..
I consider it to be a device for switching off for mechanical maintainance..
others use it to switch the shower on and off having set the controls to their liking..
My understanding is that mechanical maintenance refers to non electrical work being carried out by non electrically skilled persons, e.g. the cleaning of a fan or ducting. I am not aware of any common routine mechanical maintenance required for a shower that requires the removal of its cover.
Isolation is to enable electrical work to be carried out by electrically competent persons.
Although it may be good and accepted practice to have a DP shower switch I have never come accross a regulation that states one is needed, as (provided they can be locked off) the main switch in the consumer unit, or an MCB in a TN system provide perfectly adequate means of isolation for a shower in a domestic situation.
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do you turn the shower off first? or use the pullcord to turn it off?
some people do the latter and the arcing of switching off whilst loaded lead to premature switch failure..
some people do the latter and the arcing of switching off whilst loaded lead to premature switch failure..
Always turn the shower off first, to reduce scaling inside the can (the shower flushes cold water through before going off).
True...
There is, indirectly though.
Many manufacturers (maybe all?) state that an isolator is required.
GaryMo said:
As I said, a main switch is a perfectly good isolator...
But you are correct - the instructions usually indicate a DP switch pull cord or otherwise after the CU....interestingly one manufacturer, mira, state the switch can be in an adjacent room...
i mistakenly thought ban was being unfair in his comment about his shower switch. I remember a few years ago he posted pictures of a contactor setup, whereby he controls his shower fan via the shower switch. I mistakenly "remembered" that his shower was also switched through the contactor, thus rendering any wear on the switch negligible, but I was reminded by another forum member that the contactor only switches the fan.
H
holmslaw
..
holmslaw said:
You don't seem to have grasped the difference of switching off for mechanical maintenance, and isolation. However, the same device may be used for both.
In BS7671 mechanical maintenance is replacement, refurbishment or cleaning of lamps and non electrical parts. Furthermore, switching off for mechanical maintenance is required where the maintenance may involve risk of physical injury. (Such as cleaning a fan which has moving parts
holmslaw said:
Only if they are competent, otherwise they shouldn't be working on the equipment.
132.15.1...effectice means, suitable placed. e.g. main switch in a house, locked off !holmslaw said:
holmslaw said:
No, you turn off at the main switch, repair or make safe the shower, and turn back on. Or you lock off the mcb. I dont see a major outage here, just an inconveience. I don't recall an inconvenience being a reason to depart from EAWR law. I don't see how a pull cord or a DP switch outside the bathroom is a safe and reliable means of isolation in this case.
Look the point I am making is there is a distinct difference between isolation and switching off for mech. maint. As stated MI state that a DP switch should be installed, however, I am questioning the purpose of such a switch. Take for example a pull cord switch which could be argued is in the supervision of the person working on the shower. While your back is turned your mate or a builder or whoever may walk in and pull it thinking its the light switch, zap ! If its a DP switch o/s the room then even worse, anyone could switch it without you knowing.
AT best a shower switch's only logical purose is as a functional switch.
you can't paraphrase a reg like that and ignore the wording of it to suit your argument..
so every piece of equipment requires a means of isolation, be that a plug and socket or a switch...
you turn the breaker off, take the shower off the wall, the N and E touch and the rcd trips and takes out the fridge etc..
in your example of the builder comming in, once you turn the pullcord off, you coil up the cord above head height and tie it up..
there is much more possibility that someone comes home while you've got the power off changing the shower, see's the telly is off, goes to the fuseboard and puts all the breakers back on..
I'm much happier is the means of isolation is lockable ( and a main switch isn't ) or if it's within site of me or in a room that someone has to pass me to get into
so every piece of equipment requires a means of isolation, be that a plug and socket or a switch...
you turn the breaker off, take the shower off the wall, the N and E touch and the rcd trips and takes out the fridge etc..
in your example of the builder comming in, once you turn the pullcord off, you coil up the cord above head height and tie it up..
there is much more possibility that someone comes home while you've got the power off changing the shower, see's the telly is off, goes to the fuseboard and puts all the breakers back on..
I'm much happier is the means of isolation is lockable ( and a main switch isn't ) or if it's within site of me or in a room that someone has to pass me to get into
ColJack said:
No ,each piece of equipment does not necessarily require its own, discrete means of isolation as the main switch could be deemed to serve all of the above if the CU were located, say, in the hallway of a one storey dwelling. I'm certainly not saying you would do this but in terms of the OP i am trying to demonstrate why a shower isolator could be located outside the room containing the shower and that it could be the main switch (unless otherwise required by th MI)
ColJack said:
You obviously don't have a lock off kit then because I have managed to lock off plenty!
I only paraphrased 132.15.1 to demonstrate that is is to do with switching for isolation, not mech. maint. Holmslaw was trying to use the reg to argue switching for mechanical maintenance purposes
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