Mira Advance Flex

[Toolmaker25]

Hi Folks,

Apologies if this has already been asked and answered.

I’ve got an Mira advance flex, I live in a very very hard water area.

My shower is 2 years old with a Electrolytic filter that’s less then a year.

I keep getting very weak flow at higher temperature and sometimes it cuts out.

so I’ve checked the head, hose and also taken apart the inlet filter, which although was dirty. Wasn’t clogged at all.

while giving the shower a good purge upon reassembly I noticed thick chucks and particles of limescale from the hose.

I’m assuming that these are part of the thick deposit that’s inevitably on the cartridge heaters inside the heater tank assembly.

So I’m asking if anyone knows how I can clean inside the heater tank?

as this is an integral part it’s not worth second guessing how to do this.

Apologies for the long context, I just wanted to show I’d checked all the common culprits first.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Luke.

 

[terryplumb]

You can't clean inside the heating canister. If water pressure is delivered to the shower ok , when you run the shower on fully cold you should get a strong flow of water..do you ?

 

[Toolmaker25]

Yes, the fully cold flow is strong.

Is the only option a unit substitution of the heater tank assembly?

 

[terryplumb]

Your shower is an expensive model and thermostatically controlled. It would carry a two year warranty ,is it just out of guarantee ? I doubt it's the heating canister scaled up ,but it may be. Probably worth contacting Mira to arrange for them to attend/ diagnose and repair ,I think they do a fixed price repair.

 

[Toolmaker25]

Hi mate,

I bite the bullet and took the tank assembly apart. I’m technical minded so I felt confident enough to do this.

I’ve attached two photos of the tanks heating elements. Before cleaning and after.

I used a mild descaler solution and a toothbrush to clean the elements. I didn’t over do it with the descaler as I didn’t want to eat the copper away.

after cleaning and function testing I checked the elements resistance and they measure 10,20 and 40 Ohms each. So I haven’t damaged the Elements as far as I’m aware.

After the shower not heating up when first turning back on.

I've left it alone for 2 hours and now it turns on, gets to temp in 2 seconds and hand good flow at hot temperatures.


I’d call that a success and didn’t require any spare parts.

 

[terryplumb]

Well done you !! That's some build up after only two years . I thought that heating cannister was a sealed unit ,good on YA !!

 

[ianmcd]

My shower is 2 years old with a Electrolytic filter that’s less then a year.

Now you have seen this snt working, you would be best advised to get better scale prevention, those ones are a bit of snake oil to be honest

 

[Toolmaker25]

Hi Ian,

what sort of prevention would you suggest?

I talked to my boss and he suggested a water softer. However that sounds like a 4 figure exercise that I can’t justify.

 

[ianmcd]

Not the best to advise you on this mate, we dont have any hard water areas here so dont know of the best brands, dont think you will be looking at anywhere near that amount though, lots more on here far better experienced of different brands than me @terryplumb probably a good one to ask for recommendations

 

[BlueLoo]

Hi mate,

I bite the bullet and took the tank assembly apart. I’m technical minded so I felt confident enough to do this.

I’ve attached two photos of the tanks heating elements. Before cleaning and after.

I used a mild descaler solution and a toothbrush to clean the elements. I didn’t over do it with the descaler as I didn’t want to eat the copper away.

after cleaning and function testing I checked the elements resistance and they measure 10,20 and 40 Ohms each. So I haven’t damaged the Elements as far as I’m aware.

After the shower not heating up when first turning back on.

I've left it alone for 2 hours and now it turns on, gets to temp in 2 seconds and hand good flow at hot temperatures.


I’d call that a success and didn’t require any spare parts.

I love this post. <3