DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi,
I had a 9.5kw shower installed about 4 years ago, and just yesterday had some burning smell coming from inside the rcd shower unit, i turned off power and took off cover to discover a burnt live load wire, but the rest of the wires in there were not burnt, i can tell you that it is 10mm cable that was used for load cable to shower with no juntion boxes and only 3 mts in length, the mains tails are 10mm also and it is a 50amp trip sw protecting the shower with a 63 amp main sw
I hope some one can understand what i have explained and give me some clue's to what might have happened, then i can get sparky out to fix

thanks

[quote="Basil20"]Hi,
I had a 9.5kw shower installed about 4 years ago, and just yesterday had some burning smell coming from inside the rcd shower unit, i turned off power and took off cover to discover a burnt live load wire, but the rest of the wires in there were not burnt, i can tell you that it is 10mm cable that was used for load cable to shower with no juntion boxes and only 3 mts in length, the mains tails are 10mm also and it is a 50amp trip sw protecting the shower with a 63 amp main sw
I hope some one can understand what i have explained and give me some clue's to what might have happened, then i can get sparky out to fix

thanks[/quote]

BASIL20

Possible that there was a loose connection with the live load wire , causing arcing and overheating.
your sparky will need to replace cable and unit if damaged.
He will test and inspect damage and advise u on the cost .

BLAKEY1963

Basil20 wrote:Hi,
I had a 9.5kw shower installed about 4 years ago, and just yesterday had some burning smell coming from inside the rcd shower unit, i turned off power and took off cover to discover a burnt live load wire, but the rest of the wires in there were not burnt, i can tell you that it is 10mm cable that was used for load cable to shower with no juntion boxes and only 3 mts in length, the mains tails are 10mm also and it is a 50amp trip sw protecting the shower with a 63 amp main sw
I hope some one can understand what i have explained and give me some clue's to what might have happened, then i can get sparky out to fix

thanks

If you are lucky, you will be able to pull through a bit of slack. You will need to cut back passed the damaged wire before you reconnect.

10mm cable to Reference Method 100# (above a plasterboard ceiling covered by thermal insulation not exceeding 100 mm in thickness) is only rated as 45A. You shower uses 41A but likely would run with a 32A MCB.

As already stated likely a connection was not tight enough. However with high currents like a shower one can't take chances and the meters required are too expensive for most DIY people to own. So I would get an electrician to test.