Replacing electric shower unit

[Davidj6420]

Hi all,

Hoping for a bit of assistance.

Have replaced an old electric shower unit with a Triton Riba 8.5kw unit.

In the old unit, 1 live, 1 neutral and 2 earth wires went into the terminal block in the shower (the 2 earth wires went into the single earth terminal)

On the new unit, am I correct in thinking it’s exactly like for like - I.E 1 live wire into the live terminal, 1 neutral into the neutral terminal and both Earth wires into the Earth connection.

The only thing throwing me off is the two Earth wires, and the fact the new unit now has a terminal block for neutral and live, but a screw like connection for earth (see attached no.14).

Do I simply connect the two Earth wires to the screw connection and tighten?

Cheers

 

[terryplumb]

Can you show us a pic of the actual shower unit and your incoming cable / earth wires ?

 

[Davidj6420]

Can you show us a pic of the actual shower unit and your incoming cable / earth wires ?

Hi Terry,

Yes - will send pics this afternoon when I’m back home.

Cheers

 

[Davidj6420]

Can you show us a pic of the actual shower unit and your incoming cable / earth wires ?

Hi Terry,

Photos of the unit and close-up of the incoming cable and Earth wires.

For context, I’ve attached a photo of the old 8.5kw Heatstore Aqua Plus unit - both earth cables were in the Earth terminal when I removed the unit.

Cheers

 

[Taylortwocities]

Havent you got the manual?
CLICK ME
Page 11

If you have two earth cables then connect them together under the earth screw

 

[Davidj6420]

Havent you got the manual?
CLICK ME
Page 11

If you have two earth cables then connect them together under the earth screw

Mega D’OH! Can you tell I’m a novice?? No excuse either as I’ve read the manual front to back, back to bloody front in doing this!

Cheers for the confirmation Taylortwocities.

 

[Davidj6420]

Havent you got the manual?
CLICK ME
Page 11

If you have two earth cables then connect them together under the earth screw

In fairness, it was more the ‘whether I should screw the two Earth wires under the Earth screw’ which I was looking for assistance on, which the manual doesn’t explicitly state ‘if you have two Earth cables then connect them together’.

Thank you for confirming that that is the correct thing to do though - much appreciated.

 

[ebee]

Well the thing you should do is to make sure that the connection(s) is sound both electrically and mechanically so I reckon you have that covered.
The fact that it`s one or more conductors (which I don`t think is the bit you are querying) is probably because it has it`s own circuit earthwire and additionally a supplementary bonding conductor too.
Some installations might have more than one such bonding conductors dependant upon the way they are wired.
So, as long as you make the joint a good one then all is fine.
I would advise that the earthwires each make one complete turn in order to avoid pullout (in this case "fallout")

 

[Davidj6420]

Well the thing you should do is to make sure that the connection(s) is sound both electrically and mechanically so I reckon you have that covered.
The fact that it`s one or more conductors (which I don`t think is the bit you are querying) is probably because it has it`s own circuit earthwire and additionally a supplementary bonding conductor too.
Some installations might have more than one such bonding conductors dependant upon the way they are wired.
So, as long as you make the joint a good one then all is fine.
I would advise that the earthwires each make one complete turn in order to avoid pullout (in this case "fallout")

Cheers Ebee - by that, do you mean ensure each of the wires have been wrapped around the screw once?

I didn’t actually do this - just placed them right in and tightened the ever-loving sh*t out of the nut.

Will that be okay?

 

[ebee]

What you have to consider is if the nut loosens you want the conductors to stay put so a round or better still "shepherds crook" kind of shape is best. Personally I would twist both together before putting under the nut to help ensure some possibility of tight portions between the conductors even if the terminal post is a little slack, if it is loose then the RCD in most modern systems can save the day sometimes.

 

[Davidj6420]

What you have to consider is if the nut loosens you want the conductors to stay put so a round or better still "shepherds crook" kind of shape is best. Personally I would twist both together before putting under the nut to help ensure some possibility of tight portions between the conductors even if the terminal post is a little slack, if it is loose then the RCD in most modern systems can save the day sometimes.

Thanks very much for the tip mate - I’ll pop the front fitting off tonight and twist them together for peace of mind.

Cheers