I had a shower fitted by a 'proper' electrician last December. The PRD went so the manufactuerer sent me a new PRD to self fit which I have done.
I have 2 questions
Does the unit need to be sealed with silicon after I have done it? The guy who installed it put silicon down one side but not all around, he said it was sealed anyway The actual installation guidelines say dont seal:
Aqualisa quartz electric =
Follow the manufacturers instructions regarding the silicon. ie do not silicon
I assume that your shower was not a full installation but just a shower swap given that the cables are red and black. Your photos suggest that the person that fitted the shower was not an electrician but a first class tosser who should not be allowed to trade as an electrician.
My advice is that if you cannot DIY the electrical safety of the shower then you should get an electrician in that can help you. Do not phone the guy that installed the shower.
Adam
He got the right wires in the right holes - but that is about the end of anything that could be said to commend it. Leaving lengths of uninsulated wire sticking out of the terminals is poor workmanship. The earth should be sleeved, and tile grout (or worse silicone) in not known for its electrical resistance lowering properties!
If there is enough spare cable there, I would be tempted to remake the connections properly having stripped back to some slightly less grotty looking wires. If not, then at least remove the wires from the terminals, check there is no contamination on the contact surfaces, clean, twist, and sleeve that earth and then put them all back making sure the screws are done up very tight.
I'm no electrician but I installed my own elec shower and would be ashamed to do that sort of work ..Is there a cable clamp missing as well.? Is that evidence of an old clamp mark at the E in England ?
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Got an electrician coming tomorrow - he confirmed that the wire should be covered in green and yellow which was the bit that worried me.
I will get the original electrician to pay for repairs or take the bugger to court!
In answer to the other question from Andy - yes it was a swap as we used an existing wire - i spose its an old one?
Cheers
Is the new shower the same or a higher rating than the previous one ? ....if higher ask the electrician about the suitabilty of the existing cable .
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In the words of Jim Royal:
"Electrician, my arse!"
Surely he shouldn't be allowed to trade if he thinks that's a good connection, esp in something with such a large current rating as a shower.
Shocking.
It looks like 6mm^2 and the shower is 8.7kW - so just under 38A nominal load. Assuming its not buried in anything insulating, ought to be ok. However it does depend on the length etc.
I would also want to check over the protective devices and make sure those are ok for the circuit and will meet the required disconnection times. Also check the main and supplementary bonding is up to scratch.
Yes, don't use abbreviations as they mean different things to different people - so there is no clear way what you refer to.
Why not phone and get one to answer your question? That is the only way you can verify advice given by unknown people in a newsgroup.
it shold be these days, but its entirely trivial
what a waste of time
NT
Sorry to reply to my own post, just looked again at that picture - its actually a 9.5kW at 240V... only adds a small amount to the current though.
I can't wait to see you try! One company will not give a statement about another and the first installation is NOT unsafe if the cover is fitted correctly. A piece of sleeving will make NO difference to the earth connection. You seem to be either paranoid or an idiot.
I have thanks. he confirmed that it should have been covered. Whether or not it was something that HAS to be done legally is what I will ask tomorrow and whether or not it was reasonable to leave it in that condition or not.
don't you think its reasonable for the avg person to be paranoid about a bare wire in a shower when they don't know what it could mean? taking into account how shoddy the whole thing looks?
I am more than competent i can get the money back *if* the work was not carried out to a reasonable standard, if the electrician tomorrow just says it was not great but not seriously bad then i wont bother.
Get a life.
Ignore Clive, he is a well known f****it around here.
I install the odd shower, only ever like for like. I wouldn't leave wiring like that, neutral isn't in the terminal properly, earth should have sleeving. Its sloppy.
Actually, when you get down to technicalities remember:
Electrician registered with Part P scheme...
- Works do not have to comply with BS7671
- Works merely have to be "safe" in their view
Engineer who wrote BS7671, DIYer or non Part-P elec...
- Works must comply with BS7671 (incl competency, right materials etc)
- Works should comply with AD "P" w.r.t. Notifiable or Non-Notifiable
If unhappy with a Part P registered spark take it up with the scheme provider. Could be the electrician used is a 5-day DI.
You would only take an electrician to court if...
- They installed 6mm CSA wiring through insulation and a 10.5kW shower
- ie, the installation is unlikely to be fit for purpose
You would not take an electrician to court if...
- They installed a LONG run of 10mm CSA wiring to a 10.5kW shower AND voltage drop exceeded that permitted
- ie, the electrician will argue shower's operation whilst slightly diminished will still function "reasonably"
To the OP, the problem with silicone/grout is corrosion of the terminals which in turn will create heating - damaging both the shower and the wiring to the shower. Something to remember when installing showers is where at all possible to conduit/trunking the cable in place (min 25mm) to avoid hacking tiles apart. Not always easy in tight bathrooms, but a lot better than "cable ends too short/ knackered", job becomes "rip apart the shower enclosure, tiles".
The thing that worries me is that electric showers have become more powerful in recent years, sufficiently so that old cable sizing is very often no longer adequate.
The guy who installed this was obviously slapdash, so did he check the cable sizing too? That part isn't a trivial hazard.
Unless you have given him an opportunity to rectify any defects you don't have much of a legal case to ask him to pay for someone else to do it. (You would if he cocked up the second attempt as well - but not for the first).
Why I have no desire to feed the troll, I will just shoot him down here on the off chance someone takes his comments seriously.
The presence or otherwise of the earth sleeving in this particular circumstance is unlikely to result in any major problem in itself. However the absence of it, coupled with the generally sloppy standard of work, poor termination, and some contaminant being splodged all over the place, does cause concern. It indicates that the installer was slapdash, and was not paying much attention to detail. Neither was he concerned with doing a professional job. Now that *is* the concern - what else has been missed?
Did he provide a minor works certificate for the work? If not, did he test it? Did he upgrade the fuse / MCB to cope with a higher power shower? If so did he re-do the calculations? Do we know the disconnection time requirements will be met in the event of a fault? Do we know if the earth fault loop impedance is low enough for the cable length and type of protective device? If it relies on a RCD for additional protection, do we know if this was tested with the correct equipment?
General view - Unfortunately, electric showers and the way they are sold makes them very appealing to a very wide market - some of whom will be less than qualified to install them properly
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