sibs

Hi gang I wonder if anyone can give me some advice? A friend of mine says her shower runs cold a few seconds after it warms up and she ends up having to pull the chord off and on again several times to get the water hot again which is not always successful. She thinks that it is due to low water pressure in the supply pipe and when the shower is turned on there is not enough water pressure and it trips out and runs cold. The shower is electric. Can low water pressure affect electric showers or is it more likely a fault with the element? She says it is an old shower unit.
I would really like to know what is going on here thanks!

ajs heating

can be pressure to low or the tco (thermal cutout) faulty.

sibs

Thanks for the reply ajs

Anyone else got anything they want to add?

Alanka

Most electric showers have a flow monitoring device which switches off the element if the flow falls below a certain rate (to prevent overheating). This may well be happening here.

Low or fluctuating flow rates could be caused by a poor water supply, or more likely by limescale inside the shower unit, which restricts the flow. This scale and other crud can move about inside and cause flow fluctuations. Another possibility is crud/scale in the shower hose or shower head, which can easily be descaled/replaced.

To test this, try running the shower with the head removed, then the hose as well. If the flow is still poor, test the flow via a mains cold tap (e.g. in the kitchen). Is the flow poor here as well?

If the old shower unit is clogged with scale, fit a new unit!

Cheers,

Big Al

sibs

Nice one Big Al thankyou very much

greenday

The showerhead should be cleaned on a weekly basis, my guess is this has not been done for a very long time, always try the simplist jobs first. nothing like an easy fix!!!

sibs

Cheers greenday