Electric Shower Fault

[Julian Talbot]

I have a Gainsborough 400X shower bought around 1998, it works fine for about 2-3 minutes then the water just stops, you hear a clunk from the water pipes as it shuts off - just as if you had turned it off normally. The power light remains on but the High / Low power light turns off. The shower will then not work again for 10 minutes or so, after this time it will work for another 2-3 minutes again, and so on...

Sounds like the solenoid is shutting the water off but why? is the solenoid faulty or is something else causing it to shut off the water? The water is not getting any hotter than normal and pressure is OK.

Regards

Julian

[Palindr☻me]

Look, this is just a theory. I am just guessing what goes on inside one of these things:

What sort of water area do you live in?

It sounds like the element is getting too hot because it cannot transfer heat quickly enough to the water.

With little or no flow, the water temperature thermostat controls operation. Thus the element is mostly off.

With a lot of flow, the water temperature thermostat seldom operates so the heating element is mostly on. After a couple of minutes on full power, the element heats to the point that its safety sensor trips out. It simply cannot transfer heat to the water fast enough, because of the insulating effect of the crud that has built up on it over the years.

As I said, just a theory. If it cuts out with just a trickle from the output, then that theory is shot down in flames!

Getting 8 years out of one of these sounds pretty reasonable. I didn't know they lasted that long.

[Phil Anthropist]

might help, or try Phil

[Julian Talbot]

Thanks for the replies. Guess after 8 years I'll cut my losses and buy a power shower!

[Dan Evans]

The chaps at showerdoc.co.uk are really helpful and helped me diagnose a problem with my Triton over the phone. The spares they sell are reasonably priced. Based in Edinburgh I think but do mail order.

--Dan