Electric Shower Broken - NOT ideal timing

[Fartlek]

There seems to be no power going to our shower unit all of a sudden even though the isolator switch has power. It's less than 2 years old but because of the lockdown neither the shower company or Triton have any engineers to send out. I'm ok about having baths for the next few weeks but DH is insistent we get it fixed. Do you think there is any way for someone to come into the house and have a look without risk to them or us? Could we clean doorknobs and surfaces really well before they came and then stay in another room while they work and then clean really well again once they leave?
Please be gentle, I know this is probably a stupid question, I genuinely want to know what other's thoughts are though.

Could your shower head be silted up with hard water? (Literally just happened with mine) Resolved by sticking shower head in tub of coca cola.

Otherwise just have a bath. Unreasonable to expect a repair for a couple of weeks or so.

I think your DH is unreasonable and he should suck up the bath. Not like he’s having to have a strip wash with a hosepipe. By all means ring the plumber and get the, to order you a part for when restrictions are lifted.

Our shower pump broke recently and we bought a portable camping shower from Amazon, it’s £40 but it’s brilliant - just like a normal shower and you can recharge it. I’m going to try a link:

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0744938XL?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

We had to use ours for a couple of weeks, basically if you still have hot water, either fill the bath or a bucket and then fully submerge the pump, and turn it on. If you use a bucket then put it on the ‘low’ setting.

Our DW broke last week. We are washing up for the forseeable.

We are interpreting it that it would be ok to call a plumber out for broken heating or no hot water in a household with elderly people, babies etc, but for us, in good health with a very first world problem, no.

Thanks for all your replies. That's how I see it, we'll just have to wait. I'll check out the camping shower as I have very long, thick, curly hair. Nightmare to wash in a bath with just a wee cup! Although the good thing about lockdown is that I don't wash as often (going feral)

Next door had heating fixed yesterday.

We were half way through so have no shower( no bath) as it is half plastered. I am managing with a washing up bowl and a jug for rinsin

How do you know the switch has power?

Do you usually turn it on and off with the shower knob or the ceiling switch?

Hi @PigletJohn the switch is on the ceiling and has a light on it that stays illuminated. When it is in the 'on' position the shower's on button (Triton T80z fast fit 10.5) should light up but it doesn't and it won't turn on. I've emailed Triton and told them the problem. They think it is electrical. We just completed a rewire in Feb and the ceiling switch was replaced so I tend to agree. Also, when originally installed they couldn't put it over the tiles because the old unit was plumbed into the wall and the previous knobhead owner tiled around it. The new unit didn't quite fit in the space so it has small open spaces along the bottom. The top is waterproof and we haven't had any trouble in 2 years until the rewire.
I don't want to muck about with any electrical stuff, not like I'd know what I was doing anyway.

you say the ceiling switch was replaced in February.

As a guess, I would first suspect that the wiring in this switch (on the output side) was a bit loose and has lost contact. This is very common in shower switches because (1) the copper wire is stranded, and very large, and has to be done up very tight; but because it is a soft metal, it distorts under pressure and can loosen, and (2) showers run at a high and sustained power, so the wire, and any loose connection, will heat up, which makes it distort more and become looser. It is best practice to retighten the terminals in high-rated connections after a couple of weeks, but this is often overlooked.

if my guess is correct, you need a qualified and experienced electrician. Because the heat softens the copper, any heat-damged part needs to be cut back to bright metal and the joint remade. This may need an extension piece to be jointed on. The switch will also need to be replaced because it will have become hot.

Of course, I might be completely wrong. But if not even the light comes on, I think an electrical fault is quite likely. It doesn't fit with scaling up or a plumbing fault.

When I say "very common" I mean of all the electrical connections in a house, I'd say it is the one most likely to fail. I don't mean all of them are failing every week. I'd say immersion heater switches are the second most likely. Hardly anything else runs at full power, every day, for a sustained period.

Thanks so much piglet. Wouldn't the consumer board have tripped if there was a fault? Should I switch the shower off on the consumer unit in the meantime?
I texted the spark who did the rewire and he said he'd come by to look at it once out of lockdown.

no, the consumer unit will not trip if there is just a bad connection.

It won't hurt to turn off the circuit on the CU.

I'd go with PigletJohn's suggestion.

I have a Triton shower and they usually last a long time.

If you need a new shower (you probably won't) you could order the same model directly from Triton, which would make fitting simpler.