shower switch burning out

kayabram

This week i have been asked to change a shower switch for someone locally, then she went on and stated it has been replaced at least 3 times before and is an ongoing problem of the switches burning out . the switch is 45amp switch,outside bathroom door , . my question is why would the problem keep occuring ??

M cebee

sometimes they burn out if they're used for switching rather than isolation

but that's unlikely outside the bathroom

get a quality switch professionally fitted

kayabram

thank you , im going fitting new switch now so we will see how it goes then

meercat

this seems to be common enough.try a crabtree switch,they seem to be better.
check that your client is not using the switch to turn shower on and off.there not designed for switching loads.more as an isolator as
m cebee says although others may have a different view.there is a thread somewhere with a discussion on them

2011

+1

I find the MK great but expensive.

Bruthal

kayabram wrote: »

This week i have been asked to change a shower switch for someone locally, then she went on and stated it has been replaced at least 3 times before and is an ongoing problem of the switches burning out . the switch is 45amp switch,outside bathroom door , . my question is why would the problem keep occuring ??

Maybe the connections were barely tightened, its hard to imagine getting out of shower leaving it running and only switching it off when leaving the bathroom. So too loose of connections or absolute rubbish quality switches probably.

2011

its hard to imagine getting out of shower leaving it running and only switching it off when leaving the bathroom

It is, but when I was a teenager I always turned the Triton shower off with the isolator outside the bathroom while my sister was having a shower :D

Gadgie

Sorry to drag up an old-ish thread, but I am having the same problem.

My shower isolation switch has burned out twice since it was first installed in 2007. The switch is on the wall outside the bathroom, beside the door. The shower is powered on and off at the unit - the isolation switch is turned on before the shower is used, and turned off after.

The first time it burned out (in March 2009) I complained to the builder, and it was replaced by an electrician from the company that wired the house. He just clipped off the burned cable and used a pair of pliers to pull some more cable down from the attic, then wired in a new switch.

Pictures of the burned out switch (from March 2009):



God knows where the cable came from, as I noticed while in the attic that the cable comes straight up from the fuse box, is pulled straight across the beams and goes down to the switch. There is no slack in it whatsoever.

Anyway, it has burned out again. The builder is not around anymore to complain to, and I didn't take a note of the electrical company's name. Not that I would probably have much comeback against them anymore (I'm surprised they entertained me first time around).

Pictures of the burned out switch (taken this evening):



Just wondering if anyone has any theories on why it keeps burning out. Is it because the cable run from the fusebox to the switch is too tight? Or maybe poor connections?

Would it be possible to have a ceiling pull-switch installed in the bathroom, just outside the shower cubicle (zone 2?)? I'm thinking this is the only place it could go without having to wire a new run of cable. Or is that against wiring regulations?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Buford T Justice

It could be a poor connection in the switch. Maybe it wasn't tightened enough in the switch, but its unlikely that it was the same issue the second time around. (Still, I never get surprised by what people do anymore)

In regards to the pull cord, I think it might be against regulations, but some of the sparks here will be able to advise better than me.

Bruthal

Gadgie wrote: »

Would it be possible to have a ceiling pull-switch installed in the bathroom, just outside the shower cubicle (zone 2?)? I'm thinking this is the only place it could go without having to wire a new run of cable. Or is that against wiring regulations?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

That looks like the connections were not tight enough, some sparks say turning on and off the isolator after each use can add to the contact wear but i`m not a big believer of that one as there is usually no load on as the shower isolator is operated. I do think the wall switches are better than the pull chords, and the double size ones are better than the single size you had there. The double size ones are like a cooker style one. I assume the one you had there is a 40 amp rated one?

But badly burnt switches and cable ends like that are caused by a bad connection of some sort, whether its connections not tight enough or rubbish quality switch. I have often opened cooker or shower isolators to find connections barely tightened, but on a cooker it can last as its rarely on full load, where as a shower is mostly used full load.

Gadgie

Thanks for the replies so far.

robbie7730 wrote: »

The double size ones are like a cooker style one. I assume the one you had there is a 40 amp rated one?

Both switches were 45 A. Got a big ugly red switch on the front like a cooker switch.

Shower is an 8.5 kW Triton T90si, if that makes any difference.

marknjb

Gadgie wrote: »

Sorry to drag up an old-ish thread, but I am having the same problem.

My shower isolation switch has burned out twice since it was first installed in 2007. The switch is on the wall outside the bathroom, beside the door. The shower is powered on and off at the unit - the isolation switch is turned on before the shower is used, and turned off after.

The first time it burned out (in March 2009) I complained to the builder, and it was replaced by an electrician from the company that wired the house. He just clipped off the burned cable and used a pair of pliers to pull some more cable down from the attic, then wired in a new switch.

Pictures of the burned out switch (from March 2009):



God knows where the cable came from, as I noticed while in the attic that the cable comes straight up from the fuse box, is pulled straight across the beams and goes down to the switch. There is no slack in it whatsoever.

Anyway, it has burned out again. The builder is not around anymore to complain to, and I didn't take a note of the electrical company's name. Not that I would probably have much comeback against them anymore (I'm surprised they entertained me first time around).

Pictures of the burned out switch (taken this evening):



Just wondering if anyone has any theories on why it keeps burning out. Is it because the cable run from the fusebox to the switch is too tight? Or maybe poor connections?

Would it be possible to have a ceiling pull-switch installed in the bathroom, just outside the shower cubicle (zone 2?)? I'm thinking this is the only place it could go without having to wire a new run of cable. Or is that against wiring regulations?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

i had to stop installing that type of switch in the photo in the jobs we were doing as they used to burn out fairly regulary allways use the crabtree one now and have never had any problems since