Shower pull-switch permanently on

NickTellis

Our shower pull-switch is stuck at "on" - the thing refuses to click off no matter how hard I pull it. This means the shower (Triton T90) is permanently set to "on" so does anyone know if this poses a safety risk?

biko

Some info here https://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=724310

Randyleprechaun

No safety risk posed, it just means that you cannot isolate the electrical supply from the shower(for maintenance etc) without going back to the MCb at your consumer unit. The little indicator light is also using a minute amount of power1

davelerave

it should be replaced anyway( obviously;))

cossworxenergy

could possibly be a safety risk and I would change it myself. The switch contacts might not be fully closed and arching could occur which may result in fire. This is just a possibility. Electricity will run to any conductor depending on the distance between the source and a conductor available. Allthough it is utilised in the running of transformers i.e your shave light in your bathroom. Power comes into your shaver light to the primary side of the transformer to the copper windings but a gap actually exists between the secondary windings with no physical contact enabling a step down transformation of power.

davelerave

there is definitely a small risk with this as with any fault.shower is left on standby 24/7and the state of the switch contacts is unknown (although likely just a mechanical jam)

eoghan.geraghty

Replace the switch with a crabtree one, they have a very good reputation.

Kashkai

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought the wife had beat me to it and posted our problem, i.e. Triton T90i shower pull cord stuck permanently on. This switch is only 18 months old and we never had a problem with a similar switch in the 6 years we had an electric shower in our last house.

Anyways, I've just removed the outer cover on the pull cord box (after switching MCB off at the mains) and I found the following:

2 live wires - 1 feed and 1 load. The feed live was burnt, both wiring and insulation at the point it enters the switch

2 neutral wires - I feed and 1 load. The load neutral was also burnt but just the wiring this time as the insulation appeared to be intact.

The 2 earth wires appeared to be fine.

I took the switch apart then to see if there was a blockage inside to stop it turning off but I found that some of the plastic housing was burnt under the feed live. The switch istelf was also showing evidence of discoloration, i.e. yellow brown colour from the plastic overheating and melting perhaps?

Now in the past few weeks when my eldest girl is taking a shower (and she likes a loooong shower), there's a strong smell of ammonia in the bathroom afterwards. I got a strong whiff of this smell when I took off the switch this morning - any connection there, i.e. was I smelling the wiring insulation burning perhaps?

Now I'm off to buy a new switch so we can get the shower going again but I feel like I'm treating the sympthoms instead of the disease and also feel that the new switch might go the way of the old one. For anyone who's seen my other posts in this forum, you'll know that the sparks who did the house wiring was poor to say the least and that we've had loads of electrical problems including a similar problem with a cooker switch also burning itself out and the wiring too in the past 2 months. He was a member of the ECSSA (RECI equivalent) so is there any point in calling them to inspect the house wiring or would I just be p!ssing into the wind. Needless to say that the sparks himself has refused to respond to previous phone calls to put electrical problems right.

Pete67

Overheating at the switch as described would be due to poor cable terminations. The terminal screws were not tightened adequately, or were not clamping the full cross section of the cable.

Go ahead and replace the switch. Cut away the overheated section of the cables and terminate the new switch onto clean fresh copper. After a week or two, tighten the terminals again, copper is soft and creeps under the pressure of the screw clamps.

If the cable is not long enough to allow you do this you will have to replace it. Make sure it is 10mm sq cable, if not replace it anyway.

The smell is from the switch material burning. Don't use the shower again until this is sorted out - it could easily start a fire.

davelerave

im reci myself but ecssa advised members to stop using pull-cords a while back because of the level of electrical (and mechanical) problems with them.a good brand in 50amp properly fitted wouldn't cause quite so many problems

Kashkai

My in laws in Mayo have these Triton showers and they all have wall switches similar in size to cooker switches to turn on/off the shower. These are located outside their bathrooms beside the light switch. Seems to be a better solution to the cord pulls all right though in my case this would mean trunking/chasing walls to install one, both of which I'm reluctant to do.