Shower tripping RCD

[Pompeyblue]

Hi,

My shower keeps tripping the RCD, straight away.

I am getting an earth fault with L+N.

I opened the shower and can't see anything obvious.. Could the motor have blown and could it be causing this?

Many thanks.

 

[Theorysparky]

Isolation switch ????

element ????

 

[Pompeyblue]

It Doesn't appear to be the switch.

Element maybe.....

Its a Triton T80si

 

[Andy™]

triton T80 doesnt have a motor. only power showers do

but they do have a heating element, which is pretty much the only thing inside that can give an earth fault

but you will need to test the element to make sure its the shower. could easily be a N-E fault somewhere else in the house, and only apparant when the shower is in use

 

[Theorysparky]

the only way to find the cause is for some testing.....

 

[Pompeyblue]

Thanks.

It is a power shower. Am doing some testing now, chances are it is a fault elsewhere...

Will find out shortly..

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 18:01 ---------- Previous post was made at 17:50 ----------

Whats the best way to test the element? and are they repairable?

Thanks guys

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 18:10 ---------- Previous post was made at 18:01 ----------

Scratch that.

Will just test across the terminals and work out the values.

Thanks

 

[Andy™]

best way to test? IR accross element.

repairable? yes, but probably cheaper to buy a new shower

and its not a power shower. a power shower doesnt have a heating element and gets its hot water from a combi or hot water tank.

 

[Dunx]

Turn off main supply at consumer unit. Isolate shower at pull switch. Test wiring between CU and shower switch, l to earth and neutral to earth with insulation restance tester. If its ok then it must be shower.... Do same tests on the shower at the 'can', pretty sure it will be the heater. Not worth repariing, but make a careful note of where the plumbing and power supply come in. When you buy a new shower make sure the connections are in the same place, it will save a lot of fuss and bother!

 

[Pompeyblue]

Excellent.

Thanks for all the help and advice people. Much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[Pompeyblue]

The shower does have a pumped. I should have mentioned it's a t80si pumped..

The element only costs

 

[batty]

You will need to disconnect a few wires and then do an insulation test on the element to see if its going down to earth.

 

[Pompeyblue]

Thanks batty. Will do that first thing tomorrow.

The fianc

 

[batty]

Thanks batty. Will do that first thing tomorrow.The fianc

 

[Pompeyblue]

It was just as easy to remove the can to test then do it in place...

Thing is the IR tests are all fine.. Which brings me to my next question. Does water have to be in the can prior doing the tests?

Thanks

 

[Andy™]

It was just as easy to remove the can to test then do it in place...Thing is the IR tests are all fine.. Which brings me to my next question. Does water have to be in the can prior doing the tests?

Thanks

would be useful

looks like it wasnt as easy to remove the guts to do the test than leave in place

 

[Pompeyblue]

Can micro switches trip the rcd?

Replaced can and still not working. Am just buying a new shower now. Had enough. But would still like to discover the fault.

Anyone recommend a good direct replacement for a t80si pumped? But cheaper than

 

[NozSpark]

Isn't the T80si an instantaneous shower?? I.e. Just run off the cold water supply and then heated by an internal heating element,,, and not pumped

If you want something cheap and easy to replace then get another T80si,,,, they are still available

---------- Post Auto-Merged at 20:42 ---------- Previous post was made at 20:36 ----------

OK,, scratch that,

I see that they do a pumped version :coat

If it was me I'd be doing a lot more testing to find out what is actually causing the fault,,

have you fully checked the circuit?

Have you tested the motor, solenoid,...?

There aren't that many electrical components in the thing!

 

[Pompeyblue]

I was trying to narrow it down to what would cause the rcd to trip, rather than just the shower not work.....

I have noticed a little black on one of the micro switches, but not sure if thats whats tripping it....

The can assembly was definitely faulty, but something else too now...

It's unlikely for an insulation test to damage the can assembly isn't it. But could it have damaged the motor?

 

[NozSpark]

Have you actually tested the circuit cables in isolation from the cu, shower and isolator switch??

 

[Pompeyblue]

Yeah. I tested those first.

Someone mentioned that the fault could be caused on the neutral somewhere else in the house....So i removed all circuits from the CU and still the rcd tripped.

I really appreciate any help you could through my way Noz.