Shower plumbing

[Martay]

Hi,
I've lived in my new place for about 2 1/2 months now, and the shower is an electric type with a pull cord on ceiling. Now the problem is, its never been really hot. Bearable but not toasty. I've just had an idea, what are the chances it has a hot water feed from the boiler? The boiler is rarely on, and hasn't been on or hot when I've used shower. So, do you think it has a hot water feed from the boiler? It has 3 heat settings, cold, 1 heat, 2 heat and a knob to adjust it. I have it on Heat 2 and the knob on max.
Thanks
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Eat well, poo hard
Drives: Cavalier 2.0 16v
Rides: Slightly ratted Honda City Express

[fatpies]

Meh nasty power shower right? The one I had was horrendous in winter in my old place (rented so no incentive to replace). It had a cold water feed in the bottom.

In November when it was cold and having a tepid shower..

I went out bought one of those squeeze over the tap hoses, used a jubilee clip on both ends and used the hot water tap from the instant boiler.

It was a fair bit hotter, gas bills went up a tad though.
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"It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one"

[carvell]

[charlie74]

like the previous guy said, its an electric shower, mains fed with cold water

chances are ( like my shower) its underpowered for this time of year as the cold water is toooooo cold and the flow rate too high to let it heat it to a nice toasty level

the only thing i can do without loosing pressure is to upgrade the unit itself with a higher wattage one ( and the wiring if needed)

[Martay]

I did suspect this. Its not my place (private rent) so i can't change the shower. Its in a glass cubicle so a tap one would be difficult from the sink on other side of bathroom Im going to try reducing the flow slightly. If i were to change the shower myself, keep this one and swap it back, can anyone see a problem with that? Im wondering if its just knackered? Thanks for all the suggestions
____________________
Eat well, poo hard
Drives: Cavalier 2.0 16v
Rides: Slightly ratted Honda City Express

[fatpies]

[charlie74]

hard to say if you can swap the unit without knowing what the wiring is rated at,

do you know what power the shower is?
or can you see what the thickness of the cable is?

the other option is to have a chat with your landlord and see if he will allow you to have a more powerfull shower fitted, if you pay for it

[whitedevil]

What wattage is it? IIRC the max recommended wattage is 7.5k with standard wiring.

I'd be checking for limescale buildup in the hose & shower head and feed pipe, some also have filters

Our old shower was shit, i fitted a new one and its been loads better, its pretty much plug and play if you stick to the same type and wattage.
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GPZ500 sold ~ CBR600FS-2 sold ~ ZX6R sold ~ Street Triple R

[demon9374]

My shower has been doing my head in. My problem isn't the heat of the water, it's the hotter I have it, the less powerful the shower is, also cold fed.

Settings go 1-10, 7 being optimal heat, problem is, it hardly covers you, so you're freezing your knackers off. I've tried turning screws, nothing changes speed wise with water coming out. The colder you have the shower, the faster it comes out :/ Anything less than 7 though is too cold for me.

Also after say 20 mins, the shower breaker switch goes leaving me freezing (have to leave bathroom and go flip the switch for it).

House that jack built. Honestly, the wiring in this place is a joke.

[MattEMulsion]

Its sounds like it is knackered to me. Why don't you have a word with the landlord and see if they will have a new shower fitted for you before you do anything else...
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Yamaha YZF-R6

[demon9374]

[t121anf]

As said, if you change it make sure your wiring can cope.

Got a 10kw in our shower and we can't get much past half, maybe 2o-clock so to speak, at most in the winter, summer is more like 10-11o-clock.

Cable is ridiculously thick, 10mm rings a bell, yours might be 6mm.

[BTTD]

Not too conversant with the internals of a power shower, but if you're in a hard water area could it be limescaled up, reducing the heating efficiency?

[demon9374]

[stevo as b4]

It could be knackered or the heating element on the way out, but have a look at it and check the wattage rating on it. I would also have a word with the landlord and see if they will replace it with an equal or higher wattage version if your wiring is sufficiant.

I had a knackered old 8kw when i moved in, and it was pretty easy to replace it with another new 8kw shower that works much better and is always hot enough when you turn it up. You never get powerful pressures and lots of heat from most electric showers though.

The idea of getting a bath tap type hand held shower is a good one as a tempory measure. I got one with my new taps when i changed the bath, and though i might as well fit it as it's there. I use it now and then and it's good for cleaning the bath too.

[Islander]

Most of these showers in rented accommodation are fitted on the cheap. They tend to be lower power units (7.5-8.5kW) because the units are cheaper and the cabling/switchgear is also cheaper. They simply can't provide a decent flow at a decent temperature.

If you take the cover off, you're not going to see very much at all. The heating cans are sealed and any scaling is going to be inside the can and pipes.

You can't fit a bigger shower unless the cabling and switchgear fitted is up to the job plus the MCB in the consumer unit would probably need upgrading too. It's not a job to undertake unless you know exactly what you're doing and have the appropriate test equipment. Electricity and water and all that.

I've got a 10.5kW shower I fitted myself and it's fine all year round BUT it uses 10mm2 cable which is more expensive, a 50A switch which is more expensive, a 50A MCB in the consumer unit and the cable routes need careful planning to avoid having to derate them.

[fatpies]

Hold on you shower for 20 minutes plus? Your mangina is showing!
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"It's easy to attack and destroy an act of creation. It's a lot more difficult to perform one"

[Poseidon]

[andym]

Before I moved from Glasgow I had a 7.5w shower fitted in my flat which was crap in the winter.

The first place I lived in Bristol had a shower which for some reason blew the pressure valve, so I ordered the new part, opened the unit (amazingly simple design in there I thought), removed the pressure valve and found it was just a little plastic ball that had popped out. So I pushed it back in and never had a problem with it again.

Not sure how much limescale would affect the shower though, I always thought that would just affect the flow through the head if anything, but the higher you have the heat set the lower the pressure is going to be because it has to heat the water more before it gets to the head.

I've used my shower on its coldest setting to spray engine parts, and usually on the warmest setting to get water for dishes etc (I'm too cheap and scabby to put the immersion heater on for 3 hours to do the dishes, so I'll fill a couple of pots from the shower and add a kettle of water)

[stinkwheel]

They often have a little thimble-shaped gauze filter in the water inlet. This is prone to being blocked.

I personally throw them in the bin.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[demon9374]