No 2 son has just bought a small semi.
Daughter in law had one shower and the shower has not worked since. It's a Triton T70si.
The shower ceiling power switch was diagnosed by an electrician as faulty. Son replaced switch and now there is power at the terminals inside the shower unit, but still no action. There is a green excrescence on an internal pipe, the thermal cut out seems to be open circuit and a wire leading to the main element has fried insulation.
I looked up and all sorts of places like Screwfix sell more recent Triton showers that look as if they would fit in the same place with little work.
However, the main fuse feeding the shower was a 30A cartridge, which according to the chart on the Triton instructions means it should be a
7kW shower. Argos, Screwfix et al only seem to stock showers of 8.5 kW and up.I've looked at all the installation this afternoon. The incoming utility fuse is labelled 60A. The consumer unit says 80A max and lists fuse sizes, the maximum being 30A. The label inside the failed shower says it is 7.4/8.0kW. Triton's chart says 7kW = 30A fuse, 7.5kW = 35A fuse, 8.5kW (which is readily available) = 45A.
She's a good cook, so 45A shower + 30A cooker seems pushing it a bit.
I haven't checked the shower cable size, but can do this. It's pretty substantial cable.
Obviously, the correct answer would be to replace the consumer unit with a modern RCD/MCB version and get the supply uprated, but I wonder if anyone can recommend a 7kW shower unit that might be reliable and produce more than a dribble.
He has little money, of course, so any alternative suggestions would be welcomed. His hot water cylinder is the smallest any of us have ever seen, so baths are a bit critical.