Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: BazaJT on 07 November 2020, 19:17:48

Title: Shower
Post by: BazaJT on 07 November 2020, 19:17:48
Been to get in shower only to find it's stopped working >:( Pulling the ceiling mounted cord results in the usual loud click,the little rotary thing goes from showing off to on and the little red light illuminates[although it doesn't seem quite as bright as usual-but that could be a false impression]but as soon as button is pressed on shower unit to turn it on the little red light goes out and nothing happens,press the button on the shower as though turning it off and the red light re-appears.The shower is a Triton T80 and is at least 7yrs old if not older.Is it likely to be the shower that's fubar or could it be the pull switch that has a fault meaning it's unable to cope with the load of the shower going on it?
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 07 November 2020, 19:19:20
I've dabbled with electrics in the past. Have you hit it quite hard, on both sides?
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: TheBoy on 07 November 2020, 19:20:56
Those ceiling pull switches are universally somewhere between crap and bloody crap.  So I know what I've be checking first.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 07 November 2020, 19:21:13
Break out the tin bath, Barnsley style. It will be hanging on the inside of the shithouse door.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 07 November 2020, 19:31:24
Break out the tin bath, Barnsley style. It will be hanging on the inside of the shithouse door.
Outside wall in the yard, heathen. The first kettle of boiling water is just to melt the ice in it.  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: BazaJT on 07 November 2020, 19:34:26
My tin bath rusted out a couple of weeks ago so can't use that anymore :D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 07 November 2020, 19:41:01
My tin bath rusted out a couple of weeks ago so can't use that anymore :D ;D ;D
It must have been one of those 'modern' ones. Ours was good for about 50 years.  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Varche on 07 November 2020, 20:01:14
My bet, ceiling switch. Had same thing with my Dad’s back in first lockdown.

Fixed for £20 including delivery of part same day. Usual caveats dealing with electrics but my advice is mark up cables when disconnecting. My dads wiring is 1960’s .
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: BazaJT on 08 November 2020, 09:58:49
Thanks people.I'll go with a new ceiling switch[only £12.99p from Wickes]and see where we are after that.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: TheBoy on 08 November 2020, 11:37:32
Thanks people.I'll go with a new ceiling switch[only £12.99p from Wickes]and see where we are after that.
Get a decent quality one, not the shite Wickes sell.


Also, to prove, bypass the ceiling switch to test :y
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Enceladus on 08 November 2020, 12:47:12
Get a Contactum or an MK.

The wiring might be upto 10mm sq depending on the shower rating and the distance to your consumer unit. This sometimes makes it very awkward to get a new switch connected. So consider a deeper box, which of course is uglier.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 08 November 2020, 13:02:20
My tin bath rusted out a couple of weeks ago so can't use that anymore :D ;D ;D

You really need a cracked bar of carbolic to set off a tin bath......luxury. :)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 08 November 2020, 13:18:47
For the genuine 1950's tin bath experience the water should be cold and cloudy, because your 3 sisters have all used it before you. :)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Lizzie Zoom on 08 November 2020, 18:14:00
For the genuine 1950's tin bath experience the water should be cold and cloudy, because your 3 sisters have all used it before you. :)


.........and all set in a very drafty, poorly heated kitchen :D :D ;)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 08 November 2020, 18:49:53
You had a heated kitchen? No wonder you're going soft ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Sir Tigger KC on 08 November 2020, 19:13:22
Lizzie had a kitchen?  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Lizzie Zoom on 08 November 2020, 19:15:43
You had a heated kitchen? No wonder you're going soft ;D

 ;D ;D ;D Yes, an Ascot water heater backed up by a skeleton gas cooker ;D ;D ;)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Lizzie Zoom on 08 November 2020, 19:18:23
Lizzie had a kitchen?  ;D

We did, in our two up two down, outside toilet, one coal fire in the front room.........and a kitchen with Belfast sink and the great 1950’s kitchen cabinet, house ;D ;D ;)

It’s all I knew for 7 years of my early life :)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 08 November 2020, 19:30:09
Sheer luxury. We had to sleep in a cardboard box in the middle of the road................................... ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: biggriffin on 08 November 2020, 19:34:51
Sheer luxury. We had to sleep in a cardboard box in the middle of the road................................... ;D

 Did you have a Norwegian Blue parrot as a pet,   :)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 08 November 2020, 19:43:00
Lizzie had a kitchen?  ;D

We did, in our two up two down, outside toilet, one coal fire in the front room.........and a kitchen with Belfast sink and the great 1950’s kitchen cabinet, house ;D ;D ;)

It’s all I knew for 7 years of my early life :)
That is almost an identical description of our house, but no cabinet in our kitchen. Grandad was a shipwright by trade, and he made us a very posh bench seat for the out side lav. A massive piece of wood with a toilet pan sized hole in the middle. It was very smooth on the bottie when he made it, but even smoother after being sat on by us, and scrubbed by mum for ten years or so.
We had our baths in front of the coal fire, but those old houses were very strange. You would get a heat rash on one side from the fire, but the other side would be freezing cold. All of the heat was quickly taken away by draughts and single glazed, sliding sash windows that rattled in the wind.
Just before we moved to a bigger house there was seven of us in there. Mum, dad and five kids in two bedrooms.

I remember dad sold it for £250 in 1963, when I was 10, and paid £1995 for a three bed with a bathroom.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 08 November 2020, 19:44:19
Sheer luxury. We had to sleep in a cardboard box in the middle of the road................................... ;D


......Yeah yeah.....and Dad thrashed you to sleep each night with his belt. ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 08 November 2020, 20:13:28
We didn't even have a box... Just a puddle for a floor and no roof...  ::)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 08 November 2020, 21:00:29
I assume you don't operate the pull cord every time you use the shower (as its only designed as an isolator for occasional use)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 08 November 2020, 21:17:03
Sheer luxury. We had to sleep in a cardboard box in the middle of the road................................... ;D


......Yeah yeah.....and Dad thrashed you to sleep each night with his belt. ;D

Belt ! I wish. We had to endure a club with nails sticking out of it. Sounds like you had it easy.  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 08 November 2020, 21:17:58
Sheer luxury. We had to sleep in a cardboard box in the middle of the road................................... ;D

 Did you have a Norwegian Blue parrot as a pet,   :)

Got one on Christams morning, but Mum cooked it for dinner.  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: BazaJT on 08 November 2020, 21:19:40
Yes I do use the pull cord switch every time,turn it on before turning shower on and then off again after turning shower off.Should I not do this?
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 08 November 2020, 21:24:55
Nope.Its to isolate for emergencies or when repairs are needed.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: BazaJT on 08 November 2020, 21:32:28
I shall remember to leave it switched on when I replace it then :y
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 08 November 2020, 22:23:12
Everyone in the world uses the pull switch every time.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 08 November 2020, 22:48:21
Ive never used mine.  ::)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 09 November 2020, 06:43:57
Ive never used mine.  ::)
I'm sayin nowt  :-X
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Migv6 le Frog Fan on 09 November 2020, 08:43:27
I meant the pull cord, not the shower.  :D Bloke who installed it said "This is an isolator switch, its a safety device really. Not meant for switching the shower on / off".
I said "Yeah I know that. I have used a fickin shower before".  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Marks DTM Calib on 09 November 2020, 10:19:26
The pull cord is for safety isolation only as it provides the required contact separation (minimum 3mm with a reliable form of indication that the separation distance has been achieved) on neg and live for servicing, it gives no benefit at all to the user and turning it off/on regularly just means they fail.

Using it to switch the shower on/off rather than using the shower control makes them fail MUCH faster to, as they are not designed to switch a load.

For replacement chose a decent make e.g. MK, they are easier to fit and do last longer.


Title: Re: Shower
Post by: STEMO on 09 November 2020, 10:59:33
Ours has got a wall switch with a neon light outside the room next to the light switch. The fan switch is there too, higher up the wall.
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Raeturbo on 09 November 2020, 11:22:26
Sheer luxury. We had to sleep in a cardboard box in the middle of the road................................... ;D
.            Nailed club?  Luxury. You were spoilt.


......Yeah yeah.....and Dad thrashed you to sleep each night with his belt. ;D

Belt ! I wish. We had to endure a club with nails sticking out of it. Sounds like you had it easy.  ;D
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 09 November 2020, 13:20:14
Everyone in the world uses the pull switch every time.

No they don't. :)
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: deviator on 09 November 2020, 13:20:40
I honestly can't see it being the isolator if the light on the shower is lighting up.

Joking aside...
I've dabbled with electrics in the past. Have you hit it quite hard, on both sides?

This worked on our shower for a few months before even that no longer worked. I suspect it was limescale built up on the water control valve. I would have stripped it and cleaned it but it had been running on a single heating element for over a year. The cost of the heater tank/elements was over 50% of the cost of a new quality unit. If I replaced the valve as well, this would have been about 80-90% of the cost a new unit. A new shower was fitted. Although, for the cost of a switch, it probably does make sense to rule that out first.

Title: Re: Shower
Post by: omegod on 09 November 2020, 13:51:32
Have fun with the 10mm cable, I replaced and rewired my shower recently and it's bloody hard stuff to work with
Title: Re: Shower
Post by: BazaJT on 09 November 2020, 16:15:33
Changed the switch today,that was fun and games.Had to pull the switch part down to get at the screws holding the wires of course that pulled the wires through the hole in the ceiling a little bit.Connected wires up and had a real struggle with it to get the wires to go back through the ceiling hole to be able to screw the whole unit back together!! Anyway all good and working now.Pull cord switch is mounted in the wet room round a corner of the wall from where the shower unit is mounted.