Electric shower - repair or replace?

[John]

We have a Triton T80xr 10.5kW shower that's about 4 years old maybe. It's used twice daily and has performed brilliantly up to now but one of the heating elements has blown so either a new heater can assembly (about £45 delivered from Triton) is needed or the whole thing needs replacing.

Given the use it's had and will continue to have in the future, I can't help thinking that we've certainly done well out of it and also the possibility of some other part failing in the not-too-distant future makes me think we should replace the whole shower.

However, they no longer make this model so it could end up a right nightmare trying to match pipe and cable entry points and/or tiling etc., so that makes me inclined to just replace the faulty part.

What to do? Is it worth repairing or should we replace?

[Bob Minchin]

Estimating the cost of a new shower and the coast/effort of adapting the installation, it seems like £45 is small beer and well worth trying as a first step. Take care because some of the parts inside will be plastic and could have become brittle and you will possible have to move/loosen and reseal these. There is almost certainly a youtube video out there with tips and possible info on sealants to use/avoid. A neutral cure silicone is not likely to do any harm.

Good Luck!

[tabbypurr]

4 years isn't very impressive. I'm tempted to say spend the £45 on a drai n heat exchanger and your reduced power triton should be fine. And you'll s ave money and get longer HW delivery. :)

NT

[David Lang]

Generally speaking if you buy the same make e.g. Triton the water & power entry is in the same place.

The Triton T80Z is described as;

Ideal size and shape for replacement installations Swing-fitTM left or right wiring terminal Swivel-fitTM left or right water inlet connection Left and right entry points top/rear/bottom/sides Adjustable distance between shower rail fixings Top entry trims

IMO you replace one part & another goes.....

[Clive George]

I've swapped the kettles in our Triton shower a couple of times. On mine it was fairly straightforward. When we had the wall replaced we got a new one. The old one was 15 years old or so.

So I'd do it while the rest of the shower is still working. 4 years is a baby.

[ARW]

4 years isn't very impressive. I'm tempted to say spend the £45 on a drain heat exchanger and your reduced power triton should be fine. And you'll save money and get longer HW delivery. :)

If you are going to waste money then would it not be spent wasting it on buying rocking horse shit?

[Tim+]

Links please to this mythical £45 drain heat exchanger and instructions on how to retrofit it to the OP's drainage system.

Tim

[John]

I thought about the T80Z 'Fast Fit' because of the claim that it's almost a direct replacement but in my case, it's not.

You can indeed swing the water inlet left and right and make any necessary adjustment to the supply pipe by loosening off the nut and turning the elbow to meet the shower inlet.

Trouble is, whoever did the plumbing in the house before we moved in has used either a soldered elbow or just made a 90deg bend upwards as the pipe comes out of the wall, so I need the shower inlet to be at the bottom, not left or right, otherwise it means knocking a section of wall/tile out to get at a workable piece of pipe.

[John]

John pretended :

Thanks for your replies folks, much appreciated :-)

[tabbypurr]

We had a thread on this not long ago, but I'm not finding it. It covered th ese questions & rather more.

NT

[Fredxxx]

You might find the same model on eBay. Just a thought.

4 years for a shower is not very old!

[Clive George]

I didn't see that thread. It does sound mythical to me.

[Tim+]

So it's your fantasy one again?

Tim

[stuart noble]

Indeed. Two cheapo Gainsboroughs have lasted me 30+ years, and the second one was only replaced because the latest model was on special at B&Q. As I recall the inlet could be swivelled to accommodate side or bottom entry.

[tabbypurr]

d these questions & rather more.

NT

[Chris B]

The shower doctor will give you advice about whether or not a direct pipe for pip replacement is in production at the moment

[Theo]

Is this a hard or soft water area?

Around here they tend to die by becoming so full of scale they emit just a trickle. At which point it might not be just the element to replace, but also to de-clag the innards. I'm not sure how complex that is for your model, but something to consider when evaluating lifetimes: I imagine the shower that worked for 30 years was in a soft water area.

Theo

[Adrian Caspersz]

Hmmm... maybe while they sell it I should buy another of the one I currently have fitted and store it....

[Andy Burns]

Except the £45 turned out to be the price for a prominent advert for something unrelated on the page.

[Tim+]

And the product is just as mythical now as it was then. I mean, it must be because otherwise you would have provided a link to this £45 unit surely?

Tim