A friend has a plumber fitting a Power Shower in place of an electric shower.
The plumber is going to use the existing electric shower wiring (mostly) and will down rate the MCB. The instructions for the Power Shower recommend a 3 amp fuse. For his Consumer Unit it appears that 6 amp is the lowest rating. With motor surge in mind - does this seem correct anyway?
Regards
John
A friend has a plumber fitting a (pumped) Power Shower in place of an electric shower.
The plumber is going to use the existing electric shower wiring (mostly) and will down rate the MCB. The instructions for the Power Shower recommend a 3 amp fuse. For his Consumer Unit it appears that 6 amp is the lowest rating. With motor surge in mind - does this seem correct anyway?
Regards
John
He needs to put a fused connector unit in, with a 3A fuse. Ideally, adjacent to the pump, or nearby in an easily accessible place. It has local isolation then.
Alan.
He can fit a Fused Connection Unit to terminate the shower cable, and provide a flex outlet for the pump. If the pump is outside the bathroom, another alternative is a standard 13A plug and socket. In either case, a 3A fuse can be fitted. You should chose a make of socket or FCU which has large conductor capacity terminals and can take the shower cable (although if it's 10mm², you might struggle).
Then replace the MCB with a 16A or 20A or 32A one - it doesn't much matter.
He was hoping to avoid the obvious solution which was to put a FSU in the loft above the shower - the only easy place. He doesn't like going into his loft. Any other locations mean more electrical work and routing of cables which he is hoping to avoid.
It is one of those Power Showers that is wall mounted - it is literally going over the place where the old electric shower used to be. (Just new gravity water feeds to it).
It's unlikely he will get the 6mm² or 10mm² electric shower cable into terminals of a 3A appliance.
There is presumably a separate switch (pull-cord, probably) for the shower? After changing the MCB as described earlier, he could replace the switch with an FCU, and pull a 1mm² T&E from there to the shower, if it's designed to be hardwired.
Must make the plumbing rather difficult? BTW, FCU must be in the bathroom, or immediately outside, not in the loft. It has to be positioned so as to be under the immediate control of a person working on the shower (or it has to be of a type which can be locked in the off-position with a padlock).
Of course, the plumber should know all this, or he wouldn't be doing the wiring for the shower at all.
Must make the plumbing rather difficult? BTW, FCU must be in the bathroom, or immediately outside, not in the loft. It has to be positioned so as to be under the immediate control of a person working on the shower (or it has to be of a type which can be locked in the off-position with a padlock).
Of course, the plumber should know all this, or he wouldn't be doing the wiring for the shower at all.
In message , DerbyBoy writes
He doesn't need to know all electrical regulations, but he should be up to speed on those bits which are relevant to his work.
Is it not Part P notifiable being in a bathroom?
A like for like swap would be non notifiable even in a "special location". However swapping from an electrically heated shower to a power shower is stretching the definition of "like for like" a little. Especially as it unlikely to be doable without at least some modification to the wiring.
Lots of people think that a power shower IS an electric shower:-)
Any pro will tell you that you only need to remove 4 of the strands.....
when I installed a power shower some years ago, the supply to the unit was low voltage fed from a transformer. Does Part P then apply?
That could turn out to be a shock on many different levels ;-)
Probably depends on where the mains side of it was located.
For domestic installations Part P always applies (i.e the wiring must be safe), whether or not the work is notifiable. ELV circuits only get an exemption if they're for telecoms or control etc., rather than for power or lighting. An ELV circuit to power a shower pump should be notified (strictly...).
If it's in the bottom of the airing cupboard, across the landing from the bathroom? Shouldn't be notifiable whether it is ELV or normal mains as long as on an existing circuit.
My area of doubt was because some power showers basically are driven from a wallwart or soap on a rope style PSU, that then plugs into the back of the shower unit before it is hung - practically rendering the thing an "appliance". So with the socket outside the room (or in a space only accessible via a tool like the underbath space).
("Powershower" could also I suppose include a traditional shower pump installed outside of the bathroom).
Hmm, you can't argue that a shower isn't fixed equipment. Then see 0.4 (Electrical installation, definition of) and note h on page 9, both in the Approved Doc.
Yes that wouldn't be notifiable, assuming no new final circuit.
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