Shower stopped working - where to start?

[TerminatorUK]

Hi all,

You'll have to forgive me for my lack of any sort of experience with showers but I was hoping to get a "starter for 10" of where I would start troubleshooting my shower which has failed to start working this morning.

Usual routine - pull rip cord to switch the supply on and turn the top dial to 'high'. Just this morning turning the dial has not switched the shower on - no noise at all that the pump is working - all you hear is the usual slight 'click' when the shower turns for the off to 'low' position.

I've attached a couple of reference.

The basic troubleshooting is that I have turned the rip-cord off and back on, turned the dial to the 'off' position and back on and at the fuse box, I've turned off the circuit breaker and back on again - none of which made any difference.

I have a basic set of tools including a multimeter and I'm fully prepared to replace the shower (which is the original when we purchased the property 8 years ago) if required.

Many thanks for your assistance in advance!

 

[HERTS P&D]

It's 8 years old........just replace it.

Andy

 

[TerminatorUK]

It's 8 years old........just replace it.

Andy

Fair enough!

Happy to do that - just wondering if anyone would recommend checking something first just in case that wasn't the issue.

Assume the 'Essentials 8.5' on the front of this unit means I'm looking for a 8.5kW shower replacement?

 

[HERTS P&D]

Contact www.showerdoc.com for a replacement shower.

Andy

 

[terryplumb]

Before buying a new shower it would be wise to check the electric supply to it is in order. The last time it was used ,and worked fine , did you then turn to off on the top dial ,then pull the ceiling cord switch to off ? If so I would check the terminal within the shower ( where the incoming circuit cable terminates ) for 230 volts > Live to Neutral. If you get that voltage change the shower ,if you don't ,ceiling switch is suspect .

 

[TerminatorUK]

Before buying a new shower it would be wise to check the electric supply to it is in order. The last time it was used ,and worked fine , did you then turn to off on the top dial ,then pull the ceiling cord switch to off ? If so I would check the terminal within the shower ( where the incoming circuit cable terminates ) for 230 volts > Live to Neutral. If you get that voltage change the shower ,if you don't ,ceiling switch is suspect .

Thanks Terry, some sound advice - I'll do that and report back.

Yes - the power off last night (where it was working fine) was indeed dial first then ceiling cord switch.

I assume the voltage check would be performed with the power still connected at the time?

I have actually bought a new shower which is arriving tomorrow so I've got that base covered - I can always send back if that doesn't turn out to be the issue.

Thanks again for the advice - greatly appreciated.

 

[terryplumb]

Your welcome for the advice. As you would be working on a LIVE circuit exercise extreme caution. Firstly isolate the shower circuit at the fuse or circuit breaker. Then remove the plastic shower front cover . as you will be standing in a bath or shower tray ,make sure its dry and you are not in danger of slipping. Turn circuit back on at fuse/ circuit breaker and ceiling switch. Set multimeter to AC voltage ,and take the reading . if you are not competent in the safe use of a multimeter on a live circuit don't do it . turn circuit off at fuse / breaker and ceiling switch before replacing the cover. Anything unclear please ask.

 

[TerminatorUK]

Success!

Thanks for your recommendations Terry - I went away and read a fair number of electrical safety articles before I started to be sure I was comfortable before I started the work.

I've included some of my pictures for everyone's benefit below if anyone is tasked with something similar.

First step - I turned the water and electricity supply off before I started.

I then used the multimeter on a known working light switch to ensure I was getting a good reading before testing the actual appliance I intended to test. I rigged up a 'hands free' kit and this indicated the multimeter was working correctly as I saw a difference in the voltage using the AC voltage mode with the switch turned on and off.

I then repeated the test on the shower by firstly turning off the electricity again, removing the front cover and setting up my multimeter using the special 'hands-free' kit again that I devised.

With the isolation switch cord in the 'off' position, I turned the mutlimeter to 200v AC mode and took a reading. 0 volts measured as expected:

I then turned pulled the isolation cord into the 'on' position and measured the difference. With '1' on the display, this was registering a 240v reading across the live and neutral terminals - the power supply was not at fault:

I then turned the power back off and proceeded to dismantle the shower. Unfortunately what I discovered is the old shower used a propriety connector that 'slotted' into the moulded housing of the inlet / motor:

However upon removal, I discovered the remainder of the pluming was the 'speed-fit' style push-fit connectors which feature a compression screw cap around them for extra grip:

I realised I totally forgot to take any more pictures of the project today!

Essentially on discovery of the current setup I got myself a diamond-tipped drill bit to bore through the tile (that was a pain in the a**e), a 15mm copper pipe cutter, and a 90 degree and straight-fit speed-fit / push-fit connectors akin to what was shown here.

I did contemplate the solder route or even compression fitting but with such limited working space (and it being my first time), I did a bit of reading and found out a lot of people were happy with these new style push fitting with the compressing screw collar.

I was glad I went with them as it gave a really nice neat finish and felt incredibly solid overall once they were screwed into position.

Then I went about measuring the 4 drill holes on the tiles and had fan and games with the drill bit dancing all over the tile. I eventually had to resort to making small pilot drill hole with a 3mm followed by 8mm masonry drill bit to make a 'crater' before getting the diamond drill bit involved (which just has a round, flat head).

After securing the unit firmly to the wall, I got my partner to then turn on the water supply with my fingers around the joint to check for leaks. I could hear the water surging quickly up the pipes and I held my breathe a bit as I can literally 'feel' the pressure of the water and even the push-fit connections 'pop out' slightly as they engaged under the pressure...... no leaks!

I'm still a bit paranoid about leaking so for the time being I have a piece of cardboard that is sat in the wall cavity on the other side of what you can see in the picture below - I can remove this at any time and see if anything had dripped onto the card.

After this, I carefully reconnected the wiring into the terminal blocks and fitted the new cover:

Happy with the result, I then held my breathe again whilst I turned the power back on and pulled the isolation cord - it didn't blow up!

Then the moment of truth - I hit the power button on the shower and, thankfully, the unit sprang into life - a bit noisy to start with as I guess it is pumping fresh water into an empty unit for the first time but shortly afterwards it settled down as was nice and quiet and I was rewarded with a steady stream of toasty water with no leaks coming from anywhere

Thanks again for everyone's help - definitely learnt a few new skills during the process of fitting the new shower

 

[terryplumb]

Great post mate ,bet your chuffed with your handi work. Like the fact you swatted up on the multimeter use and the ingenuity of the set up for testing. ( what did you use to stick the meter to the wall by the way )? Thanks for taking the time to tell us how you got on , well done mate.

 

[TerminatorUK]

Thanks Terry - very kind of you; yes - I'm very pleased I was able to do it and make it work!

I thought that question bit come up - I positioned the multimeter with none other than a giant glob of Blu-Tac and used smaller pieces for the probes!

My rationale was if I got it in position before flipping the power on then I can't get a shock from something I'm not touching.

Oh last comment - the old shower had an install date of 2008 - so it was 10 years old in the end - it had a long, hard life!

 

[aptsys]

Just as a general note, the pull cord is designed for isolation/maintenance. Normally you should just leave it turned on all the time.

I didn't see anything mentioned, but what was the rating of the shower you have fitted and was it suitable for the electrical installation? It looks like the old one was 8.5kW.

 

[TerminatorUK]

Interesting note on the pull cord - we normally turn this on only when using the shower and switch it off afterwards.

The new shower was 8.5kW as well - I did contemplate the idea of fitting a more powerful one but I decided to be conservative and just fit exactly the same wattage as the one which came out.

As that had worked well for 10 years, it seemed sensible to replace it with the same specification.