Shower fire

cleary · Jan 25, 2011

Hi All,

Got a call today from a shaken customer- her shower caught fire while she was showering, flames up as far as the ceiling!

Shower was installed three years ago and looks like someone didnt check for tight connections on the manufacturers side of the connector blocks!

See pics!

SirKit Breaker · Jan 25, 2011

What a mess, never seen a Triton go up like that. I take it there is no RCD protection either. Just goes to show that when the instructions do or dont tell you to check the tightness of the connections it is still good practice to do so. I can't remember the last time i didnt find a loose connection on a CU straight out of the box. must be due to getting knocked about in transit etc.

Cheers...........Howard

Phil · Jan 25, 2011

bloody hell i would have been shaken up too. like howard said where was the rcd? agree with the tightness of the conductors i methodically checck every termination before covers go on.

Lofty · Jan 25, 2011

Jeeez what a knightmare.
I've got into the habit too of always checking all terminations.

Lofty.

rocker · Jan 25, 2011

Had the same problem, luckily it didn't get to the flames stage. The missus woke me up because there was a weird smell in the shower. I said to have a bath, isolated and buggered off back to bed.

On removing the cover it was in a right state. The top of the connection block was totally scorched and melted, as was the surrounding area. I had fitted the consumer unit about 10 months previous, and only removed and reattached (and crucially made sure was tight) my side of the cable. It was fine then as well, which shows how quickly this can happen.

Since then I ALWAYS tighten people's shower connections whenever I have an opportunity.

Cables in a house wiggle 50 times a second, people, and thoise screw terminals tend not to tighten themselves up.

EDIT: mine was all RCDd up as well, didn't go off. First thing I checked and RCD was fine. I spose fire isn't conductive, and an RCD isn't an all-round-fault-finder, is it?

Phil · Jan 25, 2011

glad you were ok mate. and on that note im off to check mine

nickblake · Jan 25, 2011

Have you thought about contacting triton regarding this, may well be an idea , as you dont know whether there have been any other instances ,thats a mess

when you think about it you shouldnt need to check the connections on this just the ones you install , these showers are tested on the production line , if you think about it there are so many nuts and bolts on them where would you start , they are not like a CDU , they have been tested which means the connections should be tight , you dont whip the top off the washing machine just in case the screws come loose , its just a thought , i must admit id do check the connections

cleary · Jan 26, 2011

Apparently this is the second T90 that they customer had and the second one which went on fire! This particular shower Triton had actually supplied as a replacement, the customer said that the shower did not look new when the Triton rep delivered it, it was wrapped in cellophane. Maybe it was a repaired shower and upon repair they did not check connections?!

The shower had its own RCBO and I tested it and it is working fine(it did not trip when it caught fire, the lady in the shower ran straight out and isolated it at the pullchord), the cable feeding the shower is also 100%.

Marvo · Jan 26, 2011

RCD isn't worth much when it comes to preventing fire, it would only trip when the first earth fault occurs and depending on circumstances the fire could be fairly advanced by then. The only effective prevention I know against poor terminations would be regular appliance check-ups using IR thermography or even a standard visual check in most cases.

That terminal block in the photo isn't a particularly good termination method for something that draws high current, do they not have a solid termination block built in?

SimpleSimon · Jan 26, 2011

Marvo said:
RCD isn't worth much when it comes to preventing fire, it would only trip when the first earth fault occurs and depending on circumstances the fire could be fairly advanced by then. The only effective prevention I know against poor terminations would be regular appliance check-ups using IR thermography or even a standard visual check in most cases.

That terminal block in the photo isn't a particularly good termination method for something that draws high current, do they not have a solid termination block built in?

I don't think any Tritons do!!
Your right Marv, an RCD wouldn't be much help unless there is a fault to earth but it could be too late. The best to hope for would be a loose connection wiggles enough so it just becomes a loose connection and either shorts with a neutral operating MCB or sparky gets called because my showers stopped working and upon investigation...loose connection.

Marvo · Jan 26, 2011

Marvo said:
..........do they not have a solid termination block built in?

SimpleSimon said:
I don't think any Tritons do!!

That's surprising, having a 30+ Amp appliance with a choc block type connector is asking for trouble. I'm surprised there aren't more problems in that case. A proper crimp on lug ring terminal would be more appropriate.

telectrix · Jan 26, 2011

next thing is wagos in showers. do they go up to 10mm?

Paul.M · Jan 26, 2011

telectrix said:
next thing is wagos in showers. do they go up to 10mm?

No mate they go up to 6mm 41A on the 3 pole connector.

LukeD · Jan 26, 2011

I love these tritons. The T80 was my shower of choice . Will be making sure from now on that things are tight !

telectrix · Jan 26, 2011

think i'll buy a power shower next!

Shower fire

cleary

SirKit Breaker

Phil

Lofty

rocker

Phil

nickblake

cleary

Marvo

-

SimpleSimon

Marvo

-

telectrix

-

Paul.M

-

LukeD

-

telectrix

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