Help Needed With Electric Shower Cable and Power Rating
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:59 pm
by Mason1606
The cable that currently goes to my electric shower has written on it 300/500v 6242y 6.0. Firstly am I correct this is a 6mm cable? It is Connected to a 40amp mcb. Run from box to shower about 3m. What would be the maximum kw shower I could connect to this ?
Cheers
Re: Help Needed With Electric Shower Cable and Power Rating
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 12:03 am
by KitchenGuy
If you ask an electrician they will most likely tell you it depends on many variables, What is the cable buried in, distance run of cable etc. But as a rule of thumb it would be good in most situations up to 7.5Kw. You could get up to 8.5KW with a short run of 3 metres if the cable was not too heat insulated with its surroundings. 8.5KW will pull about 35 to 38 amp depending on actual measured voltage. if you look at the table you will see you are around the limit for 8.5kw so if you are going for a 9 or 10KW you will have to change the cable. The MCB is fine.
https://www.stroma.com/news/current-car ... for-cables
Re: Help Needed With Electric Shower Cable and Power Rating
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 6:48 am
by collectors
The triton 8.4kw showers would be ok. Any larger really wants the cable to be 10mm cable, which is worth changing as in the UK the 8.4kw showers do struggle to give a good shower when the water gets cold in the winter. With a 10mm cable you could fit 10.5kw shower, but would have to up the fuse to 45amp assuming the fuse board is ok for this.