Spot the problem with shower - pic

[Dartlec]

Untitled

• Dartlec
• 5 Jul 2009
• 1

Here's a pic for you all - see if you can spot the rather worrying problem (no its not that the cover is hanging off! )

This was a job I went to last week where the customer told me the shower wasn't working. Checking in the meter cupboard and finding the trip switch down I thought it would be the simplest job I've had for a long time. But since there had been some issues I decided to check inside the shower.....

Apparently it has been like this since a 'friend' came to look at it two years ago.

Apologies for the pic quality - my super duper new phone decided not to include a flash

 

[Adam_151]

Neutral -> Earth IR right down

 

[ColJack]

ok, who's going to be first to say it looks ok to them?
besides the dodgy looking earth bolt?

might be the quality of the photo, but it's not imediately obvious to me..

 

[ColJack]

ah, is that earth actually in the neutral blobk then? looked like an earth cable doubled back to me..

 

[conny]

Earth linked to neutral, cable looks rather small csa for a shower and whats that thing dangling on the right hand side?

 

[ColJack]

that would be the cover..

 

[dextrous]

If only whoever installed it had removed the neutral from the supply - could have saved a fortune in running costs. My father used to keep his bills down by bypassing the neutral in the CU and using the earth as the "neutral".

 

[Adam_151]

If only whoever installed it had removed the neutral from the supply - could have saved a fortune in running costs. My father used to keep his bills down by bypassing the neutral in the CU and using the earth as the "neutral".

That wouldn't work unless the meter was connected with wrong polarity

 

[dextrous]

If only whoever installed it had removed the neutral from the supply - could have saved a fortune in running costs. My father used to keep his bills down by bypassing the neutral in the CU and using the earth as the "neutral".

That wouldn't work unless the meter was connected with wrong polarity

Never looked closely at his handiwork, but I do know his bills were exceptionally low (about £20 pcm for 6 bedroom victorian house with tenants using fan heaters!). Think he disconnected the neutral return to the meter within the CU and used the earth as the return. Reconnected it properly every so often to allow meter to increase and be read. Whatever he did, it worked!!

 

[Dartlec]

First prize to Adam

With an honourable mention to conny!

Yes, apparently said friend knew enough to put a meter across it when it stopped working a couple of years ago, and discovered there was no connected neutral, so decided that connecting Neutral to Earth with some 10mm stranded was the perfect answer - which is how it has been running ever since.......

As conny noticed, its 6mm, and a 9.5kw shower, with a 45A wylex plug in trip switch. It used to be a kitchen with a cooker point, so I suspect the person who installed it just extended the existing cooker cable, quite possibly with a junction box under the (tiled) floor.

The 8 years or so of slight overload may be to blame for the neutral fault, or a screw may have worked loose. I dread to think what state the 2.5mm earth is in after running like this for two years though!

Needless to say I recommended they didn't have a shower for a while, and am returning to run a whole new 10mm cable.....

 

[Taylortwocities]

First prize to Adam

and am returning to run a whole new 10mm cable.....

And fit an RCD??

 

[vsynth]

It's TNC-S-C

 

[sparkybird]

Oh look, PME shower!

How did that post just get above me!?!?

 

[Adam_151]

It's TNC-S-C

More like just plain TN-C! Dodgey at the best of times (but has been used in the past* where the CNE conductor is off a much larger CSA than the phase, so that volt drop is minimal - think single core MICC), but in this case this case the exact opposite is true


*wouldn't be allowed today, TN-C is actually illegal to install these days (The Electricity Safety, Quality and Continuity Regulations 2002 [section 8, sub section 4])

 

[Dartlec]

Fear not

I couldn't persuade them to replace the entire fuse box, so I will be fitting a new 1/2 Way CU for the new cable