Is this shower issue fixable? If not, how much roughly to replace an electric shower?

[SunnyUpNorth]

We have a house rented out to students sbd they've reported a problem with the shower. Occasionally when they press the on/off switch to turn the shower off it isn't connecting and they can't turn the water off.

We have an agent who has been out before and took the cover off and pressed the button internally. We recently found out about it (agent hadn't told us before) as the shower had been running for two days solid and no one had been out hence tenant chased us. My husband popped around and was able to turn it off by pressing the button and didn't need to remove the cover.

Agent seems to think it isn't something that can be fixed and that we should replace the shower. Is this correct? I would have thought it is just some kind of spring or something that needs replacing.

If we did replace it I know the cost would depend on how expensive a shower we went for, but how much should we expect to pay for the labour? Also would we need a plumber or an electrician for that?

Thanks.

An electric shower is relatively cheap to buy , branded decent one for hundred quid or thereabouts. You will need a plumber and an electrician.
.Showers have their own fuse at the consumer unit and can draw 2 kilowatts. So needs doing by someone with the skills. I wonder why they didn't trip the fuse at the box to shut it off?

It's difficult to estimate time and labour because the new one might mean new water pipe routing . Might be a good idea to choose one roughly the same shape and size. I fitted my own and have a isolator to shut off the water very nearby.

Thanks Roneik, they did trip the fuse so the heat was off but it didn't stop the water running. Luckily it's not on a meter but still a waste.

Your board name fits the weather, today been great, dog walked , car washed . . gardening . followed by drive out into the nice countryside here. Southern boy wont go back to the madhouse south.One connection to water supply and an electrical connection plus 3 rawl plugs to hold the unit to the wall , cant be that expensive 2 to 3 hours at a guess guess absalute. max

We recently paid £130 to have a basic electric shower fitted. You might be able to to save some money buying one yourself from eBay (check it comes with a warranty) and asking a plumber to install it rather than getting a plumber to source one for you.

Ha yes Roneik, we've had a few tasters of the coming spring lately!

Fairylea do you know what the labour cost was?

You might find, depending on the age of the shower the electric supply needs to be upgraded or you'll have to make sure that the shower you get isn't rated too high for your wiring.

It could be a straightforward swap, half a day 50 labour costs + shower but equally could be a lot more involved.

Sunny I'm not sure - the amount we paid was for everything all in but I've seen the equivalent shower on ebay for about £90.

Have a look on the Internet for a website to help, called 'shower doctor'. It saved me a fortune in the last year when I thought I needed a new shower. I only needed an £8 part and about 15 mins time. Highly recommend looking there first before parting with your cash.

If you need to buy a new one, then try and get the same/similar model to the one you already have - usually means a straight replacement rather than faffing with various things like moving the water inlet etc.

Do you have an external switch to turn the shower on? My shower unit is constantly on but I have a pull cord that I pull that is the main switch providing electric to the shower. Does that make sense? If tgey could do that, it saves the button issue. (I was fed up of being in the shower and getting that initial freezing cold hit)

I don't have to tell you that, as a landlord your responsibilities are grave in this situation.

Water and up to 8kw of electric power are a highly toxic mix.

Have the shower checked by an electrician as soon as you can. Get him to provide an electrical test certificate.

On a more positive note - to replace would be around £150 provided the new shower is an exact fit, if not then several hours messing around with copper tube, fittings and a fair bit of swearing may be order of the day!

electric showers are throwaway items. Get an electrician to fit a new one. Get the same kW as the old one. The electrician can and should check that the MCB and cable size are correct. Ask him to verify that supplementary and main bonds are correct and to issue you with a certificate showing the test results. Modern standards demand that all electrical circuits in a bathroom are RCD protected. You are not obliged to bring an old house to modern standards, but it would be a valuable improvement. If the consumer unit is fairly modern it can be done at reasonable cost.

The electrician must be a member of a Competent person scheme such as that run by NICIEC (q.v.)

Thanks all.

TrevaronGirl - don't worry, I've asked the tenants not to go near the shower for the moment as I wouldn't want them touching anything. Luckily there are two bathrooms and there are only two students there this year so they will be ok sharing a bathroom for a short while! As far as I know it is not an electrical issue just that the plastic button on the front isn't aligning up with the on/off mechanism inside. It's like the plastic button or the spring behind it has come loose.

We did have the house checked last year when we bought it by an electrician as part of our electricity safety cert as I'm hyper scared of anything like that going wrong and my responsibility as a landlord. But it is an old house and I think the previous owner did a lot of things on the cheap which we are slowly replacing. It is nice though!

I think for peace of a mind a new shower is probably best, especially given how cheap they are and two or three call outs to repair the old one would pay for it.

Thanks for the very useful advice as usual piglet john and everyone else.