Shower Problems All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[Balkor]

Hey, im currently doing a plumbing course at college but so far with what ive learnt i cant figure out whats wrong with my shower.

Its a power shower that we have and what the problem is, is that when i change the power settings it changes the temperature, but when i change the temperature settings it does nothing.

I spoke to my tutor and he says i should get it looked at but i think its maybe an electrical problem, but with it not being and electric shower im not sure on what the problem could be.

Thanks for any help.

[plumbbob]

Bit odd this one. Has it always been like this? Is it a thermostatic shower? What model is it?

[Balkor]

Its a Neptune Exotic

but not sure what thermostatic shower is =/ sorry

but erm yeah its been like that since weve had it, its not a problem that we need fixing urgently its just a pain and would make things easier if it was working right.

[plumbbob]

The Neptune Exotic is not a power shower but IS in fact a standard electric shower available in a range of wattages.

The power control switches elements to achieve cold, warm and hot settings. The temperature control knob adjusts the flow rate hence the temperature of the water.

If you are experiencing no variance in temperature (flow rate), perhaps you have a poor water pressure, or the filter is partially blocked. Does anything happen when the temperature knob is turned from cold to hot?

[Balkor]

oh, thought it was power shower since its such a small mcb its connected to

But erm we have no problem with pressure, if i turn the shower head then i can set it through that, but when i change it straight from hot to cold it doesnt change the temperature as much as change the power a little, but say if i change it straight from high power to low power the water is freezing

very hard to get just a warm temperature :D

[plumbbob]

As the Exotic is available in either 8.5kw or 9.5kw, the mcb should be at least 32amp.

There is no facility on any shower to adjust the flow rate by adjusting the shower head so I am not sure what is happening here.

Google 'Neptune Exotic instructions' and select the result that gives the fitting instructions pdf. This shows exactly how the shower works and should be used.

If with the power setting in the "Low" (9 o'clock) position, if no luke warm water can be felt, then possibly the heating element has partially failed and this is why you need to do funny things with it to get it to work.

[Balkor]

thats quite worring, the shower is conencted to a 5 amp MCB =/ and ive also found out it hasnt been proprly eath bonded either so im sort of scared to use it now

My brother is an electrician and a friend of my mams so i should be able to get it sorted out quite soon.


And also about ajusting the shower head, i meant like it changes the type of how the water comes out but also different ways is different pressure

[plumbbob]

Well as far as I know, they don't do a 5 amp mcb the smallest is 6 amp.

Are you sure it is not 50 amp with a 10mm cable which would supply a 9.0 to 10.8kw shower?

[Balkor]

all it says at the consumer unit is its 5 amp mcb, but yea its got the 10mm earthing cable