9.5kw shower, 2.5mm cable.....

[Ross Trician]

got a call earlier this week from someone asking me to look at there shower as they had had an electric shock from it. intially advised them to switch of at pull switch, (not able to do so in fuse box as it was ild wylex 4 way and not marked up, customer unsure how to pull fuses etc)

Ayway,told em if they hadnt sorted it I could get today. basically found 2.5mm cable in pull switch and in shower, checked rating, 9.5kw,,,,,that didnt add up...lol. unable to get any proper test results, readings all over the place, (tested to satisfy curiosity of termination in cu, wondered if it was say 10m in cu and choky block joint somewhere) told customer of cable faults etc, looked in loft and found a molten lump of cables and signs of heating on loft woodwork etc.

asked em who fitted shower, "it was the chap who tiled the bathroom about 3 years ago, he seemed to know what he was doing and it's
been ok for all this time"

Part P is a good idea but still wont stop these sort of peopl eh!!!!!!

 

[bahco]

very lucky that the house hasnt burnt to the ground

its amazing what you find on some installs ive never seen a shower wired in 2.5 tho lol

 

[WarrenG]

speechless....

 

[sivoodoo]

crazy!

 

[Ross Trician]

the tiler probably charged em for a 10mm cable to...lol...lol

joking aside tho, very fortunate not to have had a fire.

 

[KNIPEX]

what was the rating of the mcb?? was there even an rcd for it??

 

[LukeScotty]

maybe it was on a 16 amp breaker :S, oh well, i think he shud be rang up n told in my opinion

 

[Andyw22]

lol 2.5mm..jesus!! out of intrest is a 9.5kw shower okay in 6mm if its on a 30A fuse?

 

[assured elec]

lol 2.5mm..jesus!! out of intrest is a 9.5kw shower okay in 6mm if its on a 30A fuse?

yes and no , 30a breaker will protect 6mm cable , but a 9.5kw shower on full power will trip a 30 a breaker............ so not really suitable

 

[jutty]

but who ever has a shower on full power??

 

[LukeScotty]

i dont think they ever reach there full potential do they ?

 

[CUDABOY]

the problem is..is this,too many jobs i go to look at,mostly people wanting upgrades,ie new sockets, you come across somthing like a shower in 2.5<that one rare thank funk>but you get my drift,customer says "iits worked fine for ages...."and thinks you having them on and not wanting to part with $$$ to put right, and yes to previous post, as long as long as they selling cable there be chancers to fit it............

i dont think they ever reach there full potential do they ?

ive had to modify my switch to go to 11 for the wife!!!dunno whats wrong with her but the lights dim and i fear the disk in meter flying out the speed it turns!!!

 

[heathelect]

i was called to a shower problem once, the guy had wired a 7kw shower to his lighting circuit in 1.0mm, he told me he changed the 5a fuse to 30a after it had blown when he switched on shower.The only problem he had then was his 1.0mm lighting circuit cable had melted together from the consumer to the shower via all the bedroom pendants, I had to laugh at him as we was a neighbour of mine, so he then had to pay for a new shower cct in 6mm, and the rewire of his upstairs lights, this guy is supposedly not an idiot hes a trained mechanic, but it just goes to show how ignorant people are but they still have a go themselves, thats why part p will never work.

 

[assured elec]

but who ever has a shower on full power??

good point , but people often wack there shower up to full power to warm it up , i know i do on mine when we have problems with the water pressure , and there is no diversity factor allowed on showers

 

[andyb]

but who ever has a shower on full power??

A shower is allways on full power, what controlls the temperature is the speed of the water flowing over the heating element.