Shower can't turn off!

[maggiethecat]

Tenant just called to say she can't turn shower off and I have been running around trying to find a plumber. Found a local one through internet and he says it sounds like a shower valve needs replacing. Without seeing it he said it should cost aroung £100 to repair (labour and parts).
Does this sound about right?

If it is the valve then £100 doesn't sound too bad. It's a bit fiddly to replace and don't be suprised if he/she has to look at the shower then go away and order the part.

The other thing it could be, if it's an electric pumped shower, is the temperature dial. They have a magnet on the back that operates a magnetic switch to turn the pump off when the dial is turned off. If the dial breaks (which could be something as small as the little plastic stop on the back breaking) it will turn too far and the magnet doesn't stop over the switch so the pump doesn't switch off.

It's easy to tell which it is by getting the tenant to switch the shower off at the isolator (assuming it's an electric shower). If the water stops then it's the magnetic switch and you need a new dial, which you can get from the manufacturer. It takes about 5 minutes to fit, using a screwdriver.

What a pita. Plumber goes around and then tells me that bcos its an exposed thermostatic shower (rather than a shower coming up from the bath tap) he cannot fix it. So he disconnects the riser, caps it off and charges me £75!

Need now to try to find a new shower (fittings in bathroom are brass/gold coloured) which is proving difficult. Think it's probably better to replace whole unit rather than repair (since unit is about 12 years old).

Aaaargh!