shower

[mac123]

hi we have just moved in recently and had a new shower fitted , the previous shower was a bigger kw than the shower we have had fitted the orange light on the pull cord switch has never worked . the other night taking a shower there was a flash from the pull cord switch and the shower light went dim , the pull cord light came on and shower stoped the next day turned electrictity off and to my horror black cables are burnted through , looks like this has been burning for some time help !! can i just fit a new 40 watt pull cord switch or would i need a fuse switch to stop this happening again ?????? thanks eddie

 

[ericmark]

There should be a protective device already but really would be better to have the supply tested to ensure there are no other lose wires like the earths.

It was likely caused by lose wire BTW.

 

[disinfo]

hi we have just moved in recently and had a new shower fitted , the previous shower was a bigger kw than the shower we have had fitted the orange light on the pull cord switch has never worked . the other night taking a shower there was a flash from the pull cord switch and the shower light went dim , the pull cord light came on and shower stoped the next day turned electrictity off and to my horror black cables are burnted through , looks like this has been burning for some time help !! can i just fit a new 40 watt pull cord switch or would i need a fuse switch to stop this happening again ?????? thanks eddie

You'll need to cut the cable back so its nice and shiny bright copper.

But replacing the pull cord should be ok, making sure you connect to the load and supply terminals correctly.

 

[sparkwright]

A loose connection or a loose contact at the switch has caused this.

You need a new double pole pull switch, 50 amp I think they are now.
Get a decent make such as Crabtree or MK.

You will need to strip the cable back to clean copper, and sound insulation.
Hopefully there will be some slack above.

Observe which cable is feed, which cable is load.

Make sure you tighten the terminals tightly, make sure the wires are securely in the holes. Before replacing the cover, give each terminal a final tighten.

You mention the shower had been replaced for a lower kW one.
You should look at the rating of the new shower, and check the fuse/MCB is not too big.

 

[disinfo]

You should look at the rating of the new shower, and check the fuse/MCB is not too big.

Why would this matter, as long as the cable was correctly sized?