Power Shower fuse replacement?

[Chloe]

First off, I've moved to London from Australia so I'm very unfamiliar with how things are done here plus I dont feel comfortable with anything involving electricity at the best of times.

We are renting a flat that has a Triton T80si power shower installed. It has never worked for us. The electrician looked at it and thought it was the fuse so he took the fuse, said he'd be back with a new one and we have never seen him again (luckily, this is a second shower...). I figure if its just the fuse I should be able to replace it myself but I dont know what type of fuse to ask for or what shop to go to. Can anyone help me? I'm in Ealing, if that helps.

[bigcat]

any electrical wholesaler would have them. But what fuse...

Its legal to do your own electrical work here btw.

NT

[Owain]

Complain to the landlord. Do not attempt to repair it yourself. If there is a fault on the circuit or appliance it might be dangerous simply to replace the fuse without knowing why it blew in the first place. It's the landlord's responsibility (and why you pay him considerable amounts of money every month) and you could be liable if you unknowingly make things worse.

Owain

[Chloe]

If it helps, the power ratings for it can be 7.5kW, 8.5kW or 9.5kW, not sure which one it is though...

[bigcat]

Good point, I'd overlooked that it was rented.

NT

[BigWallop]

You shouldn't touch any of the appliances in the property Chloe. The maintenance and repair is all down to the landlord or owner / manager of a rented flat. For you to have to do these things by yourself is not in your rental contract, as all fixed appliances in a rented property must be maintained by the factors.

Leave it alone and play bloody hell with the landlord. Tell them you stink all over because you can't wash properly, and they'll get the cleaning bill for your smelly clothes as well.

[rrh]

This advice is basically sound but as someone who has been both landlord and tenant for many years I would advise you to approach your landlord or his nominated agent calmly and rationally. Sounds like he will know perfectly well that this is a second shower so you can hardly be depending on it for all your washing. And if he is halfway decent as a landlord he will recognise this as a perfectly reasonable request to fix an appliance and act on it because he wants you to stay happy.

[Ian Stirling]

Only if you own the item you are maintaining. If it's someone elses, as it probably will be in a rental, then it's not certain to be legal.

[bigcat]

This advice is not legally sound, and would only lead to significant deterioration in business relations with your landlord. Unfortunately some tenants do act this way. At best it would get you regarded as a prat and ignored, at worst it could even cause you problems, its not an approach I'd recommend.

NT