Teardown of a UK electrically heated shower unit.
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2017
- Having shown one of the cheaper, but less safety conscious electrically heated showers used in some other parts of the world I thought it would be fair to show the insides of a typical British electrically heated shower.
It's understandable that people might be concerned about having electrical equipment in a shower cubicle with them, particularly at 240V, but when done properly (like this unit) then the risk is very low, especially when backed up with an RCD or GFI for protection against earth/ground leakage current.
Unfortunately, many of these units are now installed by crash-trained "electrical experts" courtesy of the retarded Part P instant electrical certification scam. But let's not go there. (Financially motivated deskilling.)
This unit had lots of technical surprises. Mainly because the design has been optimised for manufacturing time and costs. But it looks good quality with a sensible modular design to allow easy servicing.
These shower units are popular in the UK because they offer near instant hot water on demand without relying on a remote hot water tank or a continuous circulation pump. The high power rating is really more suited to a higher supply voltage like 220V to 240V, so I'm not sure if they do 120V versions of these.
This video was recorded with a different device to test its audio and video functionality. I may have set the exposure a bit high.
If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:-
www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm - Věda a technologie
"This is sealed, but that's okay. I have a Dremel." Beautiful.
That's the way I opened my FAX machine some months ago :)
Nobody expects the Dremel of Inquisition!
Words to live by.
He is gonna freak when he learns the power of angle grinders
I bought one of these, worst telephone ive ever owned ..
DarkLinkAD Lol😁
I thought it was a kitchen tap?
@@railwaymedialondon r/woooosh
But I bet you've got the cleanest ears around...!
Kacper Skornicki e
I was like, a heated shower would be nice. Not remembering that every single shower I've had has been with hot water. I'm probably special.
Cold showers hit different though
One of the problems with the on-demand type water heaters is that if the power goes out, you go from a hot shower to a very cold shower, very quickly. With a tank type water heater, you still have whatever hot water is left in the hot water heater tank, so you don't immediately freeze. Of course, the older style mechanical gas water heater designs are best since they require NO electricity for control circuitry... I'm in Texas and we recently had a bit of a winter storm where a lot of people lost power... I suspect that a lot of them right now are wishing that they had not fallen for the "all electric house" propaganda that the electric companies were spewing awhile back... For me, losing power was a minor inconvenience, nothing more... I still had hot water, was able to cook on my gas range, and use the gas fireplace to keep the house warm -- even without hooking up my generator to backfeed electricity to the house.
@@jakeblanton6853 Things are electrical not because of propaganda, they are electrical because they have electronics, and electronics make them able to do more advanced things they are programmed to do. Which is also critical when it comes to safety, because modern electronics used for example in heating, are more reliable than mechanical linkages. Even if they malfunction, they are designed in such a way that device will simply shut off. While malfunction of purely mechanical linkage/regulation gauge will much more likely lead to it being stuck in constant state, and for example overheat, cause fire or explosion.
@@cytrynowy_melon6604 -- And an electronic control has even more points of failure and could still result in something being stuck open... I'm retired, but my degrees were in CS and EE with a background in aerospace, so I'm a bit familiar with the problems associated with electronic controls and how redundancy must be put into it for life critical applications. This redundancy is not being put into home appliances and devices because it would increase the costs more than the consumers would be willing to pay.
This device is very bizarre to me as an American, like 95% of homes and apartments just have a large water heater unit that supplies hot water to taps all over the house, rather than a unit specifically to heat shower water.
it's very comforting that someone who tears apart literally thousands of devices follows basically the same disassembly approach that I always have. Look for screws, remove, pull, yank, spudge, twist, repeat.
I'm pleased to see that when putting a screw back into plastic you turn it anti-clockwise first and then screw it in. It would great if you could make this more explicit to people to help them not "screw" up the hole by cross threading it. ie: turn the screw anti-clockwise until it clicks, then you know the threads are lined up, then proceed. If the screw goes in harder than it came out then you've probably cross threaded it!
Tony Brock Good tip!
It's standard advice for auto repairs, too. For obvious reasons, especially on/around the engine.
So I'm not the the only one doing this...nice!
I always did this instinctively, was surprised when a friend had never thought of it.
I always do this, once on a very fine plastic thread so I had to turn it anti-clockwise for a while to find the thread. Some wise guy was watching me and piped up that I was turning it the wrong way.
I still can remember the joy of my siblings flushing the toilet while I was in the shower and being scalded before being doused with freezing cold water
Do you still require more shower-ninja training? Listen for the flush!
@@recklessroges Lol I remember jumping out of the way
Well that clears it up! I was recently taking a shower in a airbnb place in the UK. And i saw a similar device on the wall with just a cold water feed. I was baffled. The water stayed warm forever. Amazed at the heat these little things can pump out!!
yh electric showers is the most common here for heating ,typical most UK homes dont have a hot storage tank like usa does ,we heat the water as we use it, ether by elements through a shower or boiling tap in the kitchens and a combination gas boiler that heats the mains water feed for the central heating and the hot water supply which saves money compared to gas/electric hot storage tanks , british homes used to have immersion heaters decades ago but cost a lot to run and they can run out of water if u got a big family
@@girlsdrinkfeck well depends, these showers are mostly in flats and city homes. Houses with combi boilers and storage tanks use mains hot water
It is over-engineered. That Chinese one is simpler, more fun to use and character-building :P
Brilliant
Manly electric stimulation.Every time i take a shower,i yell "THIS IS SPARTA!"
piast99 No but in China they make USA standard shit so your 52C shower could become a 100c shower because the thermal safety shut down off is confusing temperature.
yes, a free permanent wave with every use! sadly it is a one use per customer, and burial expenses are not included in the package. . .
morning showers are nice and refreshing, but sometimes you just need that good old buzz to wake you up
I'm so happy you did this video, I am fitting one of these today and quite reassured that it is safer than that heated shower head you tore down a while ago.
As always, thank you Clive.
Growing up ours had a feature where it would keep the cold water flowing after you turn it off for a few seconds to stop the water inside from getting too hot and tripping the cutout; I think it was also to prevent scale build up on the element? Not sure what timing mechanism it used, assume electronic?. Biggest memory of these is when our Dad thought we had been in the shower too long (power bill), he would simply flick the breaker causing instant cold shower! this of course lead to 'fun' uses of this knowledge when sister (of if feeling brave, dad!) was in the shower :)
Andrew Sparrow As far as I can tell, modern ones still do similar. Or at least they continue for a bit and the water gets cooler.
The more expensive ones most certainly do this and I was aware it is so that if someone comes in to have a shower after you if it did not cool the element down then the water that is left in the unit/comes out initially will be overheated and could burn.
All the showers like this i've had turn off instantly on loss of power. This is because the solenoid needs power to keep open. Particularly annoying when there is a powercut just after you've put shampoo on.
The better ones keep the water running for a bit. The old Triton t100e was the first to do this.
I remember that my parents had the original Triton T90 over 20 years ago. That didn't cut off when power was lost (it just shut off the pump). I know because I still remember being in the shower during a power cut and the water flow kept going, albeit freezing cold!
I'm Amazed! I'm American born and raised and I'm 60 years old, I never heard of electrical heating devices for water at the point of use until I started watching your videos. In America we have something called water heaters or hot water heaters. They are gas or electric. You wouldn't get me to wire up a hundred and twenty volts to my shower head or my faucet much less 240 volts! I have a degree in electronics so I know that water isn't all that great of a conductor but you're still not going to get me to take a shower with a bunch of electrical Pixies LOL. PS, you need a secondary Channel where somebody tries to put back together everything that you tore apart.
Same thing as an electric water heater just point of use so the pipes would conduct so you could theoretically get a shock from both also large water heater tanks cause more injuries in the uk
You could probably take the top of that workbench and pretend it's modern art.
Sannesthesia what jew say?
Whadd'ya mean 'pretend'. It’s worth at least 6 figures
Sannesthesia Idd, complete Pollocks.
@@HighestRank What did *you* say?
I'm an artist, I could take that and make it modern art. You can't because you're not an artist, that's how it works you see.
why no shower demo
ChrisD4335 what is the matter with you?
epoxy dat back together and hop in
yeah we dont wanna see clive in the shower thanks
Speak for yourself...
He is from the Isle of "Man", so we want to know if he measures up.
"There's tons of water in this...". I can tell you're not a plumber. If it's not flowing over the tops of your wellies, it doesn't count as a leak :D
You got my sub for this one. I always fit a Triton based on face value of what i can see, now im really impressed. The heat can design has come a long way over the years. Thanks for taking the time to educate me further.
Thanks Clive! I have this exact same shower and it's pretty cool to now know what's inside. Just need to resist the urge of taking mine apart.
Same here. This is the same unit I have 😎
"This is sealed, but that's okay. I have a Dremel"
Love it :)
Thank you for your teardown! You've got me interested in electrical, and this coil path look very much like my hair dryer's heater coil circuit. Mornings are getting interesting with learning about the work that goes into good products, as opposed to gadget-du-jours. Thank you for your work!
Great teardown as usual. Last year our distribution (fuse) panel was replaced, changing the HRC fuses with a panel having two banks of MCBs, each bank protected by its own RCD. When it was powered up, the RCD on one bank kept tripping out. By a process of elimination it turned out to be our electric shower unit (which we had been using for a few years!). Fitted a new modern shower unit and all is now good.
A rare product actually still made in England, and Nuneatons biggest employer.
Didn't realise they were based in Nuneaton - not long moved here and my shower is a Triton
Big up sunny nunny haha
Pity they don't export these. Simple and effective.
@@wotcherfaz they probably will once gas boilers start getting phased out.
@@scottwhitley3392 who wants to get rid of tankless gas boilers?
Here in the USA, I just changed my Hot water tank for a Electric Tankless system. 36 KW, 60 feet of armored cable, and 4 x 40 amp dual pole breakers fun.
You didn't know where your towel was. Shame, shame.
Jim Fortune
42?
Ask ford, he keeps the towels :-D
42
he he :-D
What's wrong with his avatar?
I'm really impressed with the improvements in audio quality, everything sounds crystal clear and pleasant through my K7XXs
Video and audio quality has been drastically improved....Thank you for your videos.
Clive! You teach us so many weird and interesting electrical (and sometimes non-electrical things) just by breaking them down. And your content delivery is just so nice...
The John Peel of teardowns! 👍
I've never seen a man so sensitive about getting his work bench wet.
flagpoleeip . I was thinking the same thing. He seems a little afraid of water. he is either a witch or raised by cats.
LOL raised by cats :-D
MDF and water equals sudden fluffy texture.
Paint it pink, to suit said fluffiness. :)
= Another battle stain
Another brilliant video.
Learned a few new things again. Thanks !
Living in Thailand for more then a decade,
I have seen these water heaters everywhere.
But not a single one was earthed, neither are Air conditions....
I had an earlier version of this, made by Triton too. In 20+ years the only faults were the micro switches, so much so that I bought a box, off Ebay, of 100 of them! They were even simpler to replace than the ones here as they weren't so encased. The way mine worked was that the 2 micro switches pivoted on a pin as the Hi, Lo, Off control and cam was rotated and the switches just slid off the pin for replacement. I was really happy that every time one failed, every year or two I could repair the unit within 1/2 an hour and have it back up and running. Great, saving lots of money on repairs, very eco friendly as I'm not throwing an otherwise good shower unit in the waste. Not so good is that my wife eventually got fed up with the very economical repairs and demanded that I replaced the complete unit, the old one looked tired and a bit worn!! WTF it's only a shower who cares what it looks like as long as it works? Well she did, apparently either the old shower went or I did. For my own safety I gave in and she now has a new shower and I have most of a box of micro switches!!
Very interesting Clive, especially as I have a similar shower unit in my bathroom. I certainly hadn't twigged how the water temperature is simply controlled by the flow rate. As for your new audio/ video setup, picture quality is clear and crisp as usual. I agree the audio is pretty compressed - but still clear and easy to listen to. Best not mention the final section, hard up against the AGC and somewhat over-exposed!
Hello Clive!
I have this exact model and live in a low water pressure area. Your description of the thermal cutout seems to explain why every morning I have to start it on high with a cooler setting, let it flow for a few seconds, then switch up to a hotter setting, at which point I hear it click and the water heats up near instantly.
These are superb vids, keep it up!
Excellent video! I've always wondered what was inside an electric shower and you've saved me the landlord fees of finding out myself!
Thanks for finally sorting out the sound levels, sounds good and clear.
I always wondered why my shower tends to click about 10-30 seconds after I switch it off. Also, good to know these have so many safety features. I've always been a bit paranoid about electric showers.
It was the camera inside taking a picture of you. xD lmao
@@1987FX16 makes sense, I’m a sexy lady 😁
Since these are common in the UK, I thought they were housings for small pet dragons who heat your water. My life has been a lie.
They used to be
Before the culling
Vid quality amazingly sharp, been watching your vids for a few yrs, like the change,
I have seen these units quite a few times in British houses in television series. I never understood why it looked so different from what I'm used to from mainland Europe. Now I feel enlightened! Thank you.
This is quite a basic model, you get really fancy ones with pumps in them ect
The irony of water finally taking out Clive's desk and not a fiery explosion. Also, no exploding shower unit? Very disappointed :)
I fitted a Triton Cara to the shower in my new extension. Hang on a bit, I'll just grab a cuppa and be right back.
I have this exact shower, so I am finding this very useful. Thank you.
You are so special, I cannot imagine living without you!
I can definitely notice the new audio, there seems to be parts where it's too loud. Probably need an audio compressor. Didn't notice much about the video though.
EDIT: actually no it's not the volume at all it just sounds a lot more closed and nasally than before.
Its definitely clipping when speech gets louder, needs the gain slightly reduced or a compressor applied to the audio feed
Regarding the video instead:
the saturation is "ok" although a bit on the high side for my taste.
Definition seems ok too (after youtube compression).
What I'd DEFINETLY suggest is reducing the contrast.
In this scene the skintones are correctly exposed at around 70% but the white plastic is 1-2 stop overexposed while the black plastic and sleeves are pitch black :-)
Unless the sensor has an uncanningly low dinamic range that should fix it :-)
TL/DR: Reduce contrast a bit :-D
To me the sound was sort of like it was from cheapo speakers......didn't sound good at times. Video quality seemed ok though.
The framerate feels low.
Sounds great to me
Seems a lot safer then the last one.
I like these triton showers a lot. I've installed hundreds. They're cheap, powerful, reliable and safe.
@Jerome VV The pull cord is there to cut power to the shower completely, isolating it from the mains. This helps make it safe when working inside it. When the shower is off its not using any power so the pull cord can be left on. I usually turn my shower completely off using the cord just to make it totally safe but its up to you.
Never leave the shower switched on and use the pull cord to start and stop the shower. It puts strain on the switch and will wear out the contacts.
@@dlarge6502 interesting, really? I've not personally seen inside ours, but we do that all of the time and we've only had one issue, where our pull cord became a tad dodgy.
Wow. I didn't think you could get better. But you have. Great video and audio quality. The episode was interesting as usual.
The audio is more bassy (and slightly resonant) and gets distorted a little easier. It sounds fine, but slightly worse that the last camera. I can't place the video differences, but it appears to be neither better nor worse.
Does the camera support an external mic? That could solve any audio problems in theory.
Flaming battery goo - oh well. A little water from a shower heater - runs to get a towel.
We have two units the same, every Triton we have had just gets through its guarantee and fails. The rubber balls are for one-time use once blown out although they fit back in they soon blow out again. Also, I have had them blow out prematurely one I had replaced under guarantee the other one they would not honour the guarantee saying a surge in water inlet pressure caused it. Impossible to prove otherwise. I used to keep spares but I found a cheaper way. I changed the make, Far less hassle with the new make I am using. Keep up the good work Clive I love your voice very calming when I cannot sleep.
I wonder if you have unusually high water pressure.
I always wondered about that situation of "shower is cold after someone else just used it". Thanks for resolving that!
I always switch the shower to cold before turning it off at the gym to purge some of the residual heat in the heating chamber.
Would love to spend a day with Big Clive and see just what craziness he gets up to off-camera too!
It's amazing how robust those micro switches are. I stripped an old electric shower down a couple of years ago, and needless to say after 20+ years of service the contacts were looking a little worse for wear!
Great tear down Clive! I quite like the new camera. Video is very crisp and audio is fine. Keep it up man!
This is a great video, and has answered a family debate over the use of eco vs high switches in winter. I maintain that it's easier to burn out a heating element through overuse on a high setting, than to run two elements both on a lower setting.
I'll look at your other videos too, as this is the first I've seen of yours, and will probably recommend you to
I was wondering when one of these would come up, I've been wanting to see a tear down of a UK(or EC) standard electric shower to see the safety feature compared to that South American one
Save your hand, get an electric screwdriver.
I enjoy your videos a ton
This same model was put into my home a few years ago, so I'm pleased to know it is safe.
Don't know if you'll see a comment on an older video like this but I just wanted to thank you for doing this teardown as I was able to use the information from this to fix my wee Triton shower. Essentially it was leaking heavily from the top of the white pipe coming out of the heating chamber. I would not have had the guts to take it apart had I not seen this video. Turns out the o-ring had dried out and shrunk over time breaking the seal. I was able to fix a fairy significant leak with a simple new o-ring. Thank you.
Audio is good but would prefer a wider angle. I want to zoom out constantly.
its an impossible balance, people watching on phones or tablets want closer shots so they can see whats happening and people using desktop monitors or tvs want to zoom out
yeme
I've watched a few on my 46" TV - never worried me when he zooms in. Normally I'm watching on a phone though, so zooming in is important to me.
Sit further back? Or don't watch full screen?
I'm on a 27" monitor and sit fairly close to it. No complaints here.
Little point it making the screen 3/4ths dead space just so you can sate some guy's dumb complaint
i watched it on a 34" ultrawide screen and the zoom would have been perfect if this video was ultrawide. as 16:9 i'd prefer it a little zoomed out. stuff he's showing don't even fit properly on the available space.
Just opened this video and see you have a shower what we used to have in my house until it was replaced with a Mira shower which is utter JUNK.... cost a fortune compare to these Triton ones but performs terrible. The Triton ones work pretty well.
My mira has been going for 12 years you might have just got a bad one
oh clive i do love you man. been here since you first started your videos and i always enjoy these and have a laugh. keep them coming love your work bro
This was a very interesting video to watch! Keep up the good work Clive!
Well I always thought when you turned the shower to hot, it was drawing more power so the pump had less power to push the water through. I didn't know it actually just reduced the flow of water through the element.
Every day is a school day when big clive's aboot.
I thought exactly the same. The Triton we have made me think that because it's relatively quiet when cold but sounds exactly like a kettle when at hottest.
Triton lied to us!!!!
You must be in a hard water area. That sound (which is called kettling by the way) is due to limescale build up on the element. It will, eventually, kill the heating element. It might be possible to remove the heater and use a de-scaler on it, but not in situ.
In Florida it always sounds like a kettle waters is too hard
I used to work for the company that made these. I can answer any questions anyone has about this product.
How many fatalities to date using this unit ?🤔
@@bobthompson4918 none
Thanks for the reply, No water pressure is fine, and the shower head descaled. I have taken the problem up with the makers and they insist it cannot happen, but a lot of people were complaining at the time. It was about that time that outside sources started offering the balls online. My own conclusions suggested that the structure of the ball or the housing altered with heat over time and shrank in size. There was a time that I had the showers professionally fitted but so many problems with undersized wiring and loose terminals causing terminal meltdowns. I now fit my own and have no problems.
Love my triton showers. Always had them and the company based in the uk will supply any part you need very easily Good company to deal with, thanks Clive, very interesting to see a complete tear down Regards
Interesting unit. I wish we had power like that over here.
Robert Gibbons aren’t these common in America?
@@scottwhitley3392 Not at all, the US uses a water heater in the house so the bathrooms/kitchen etc all have a hot and cold water pipe. There are some newer water heaters available here that are electric, but most of them use some form of gas such as propane. I believe Canada is the same for the most part.
Aidan Montgomery in the U.K. half the house have combi boilers that supply showers but the other have (usually older) have electric showers. I think it’s because homes in the U.K. tend to be much older than in the US so don’t have fitting for mains hot water showers
@@scottwhitley3392 It does make more sense if there isn't already pipes run for hot water, which would be the likely case for older homes there. The tank water heaters used here are a pretty wasteful way of heating water, fortunately tank-less water heaters are becoming available and will soon likely become more common here. They would generally only heat the water when it's being used.
Aidan Montgomery Ignore earlier comments! Every home in the UK has some form of water heating, most usually a combi boiler or a cylinder heated by a boiler or an electric immersion heater. The real reason for the popularity of electric showers is because many millions of older homes have gravity hot water systems, fed by a cistern in the attic. These are fine for filling a bath, but don't provide the required pressure for a good shower. Baths were the norm here until perhaps the eighties, and electric showers became the simple and cheap solution to those wishing to add a shower to their homes but who didn't wish to replace the entire hot water system.
How do you wire them up?`10kw @240V are more than 40A. Wich wire gauges and breakers do you have in the UK?
Techtastisch 75 Usualy a 45A or 50A MCB going to a 50A pull cord isolation switch (because it's a fixed appliance) Also it's on a 30mA RCD and usual fed with a 10mm Twin and Earth cable. ( Depending on run)
10mm² is the cross sectional area of the conductor, so about 7awg. Sometimes 6mm² is used - 9awg.
50A breaker, 16mm2 cable (5AWG)
The one we have runs on 400V 3 phase
Ian Darley 16mm2? WTF! 10mm2 is a nightmare to get into a isolation switch using the largest box available (a 47mm) If it's a long run or through isolation you could use 16mm2 as a sub main to a separate consumer unit to feed the shower (Not that I've ever needed to do that) but trying to use 16mm2 into appliances or switches is crazy and not necessary.
If you've used 16mm2 for a shower if like to know how.
Excellent audio and video. Definite Improvement. Kudos.
Both video and audio are totally on point !!
I remember using exactly this unit in London when I was there on a business trip for my company, staying at apartment. It was not a very nice experience compared with my country where It's practically a standard to use something like 35 kW natural-gas boilers for hot water and heating :) Using this electric heater you either freeze to death or you need 10 minutes to wash shampoo from your hair :D Good times :)
My folks have this shower and boiler for the bath. If you mainly have baths then an electric shower is a good backup for when the boiler breaks down... But they are bit naff and slow.
Electric showers do come in a range of powers. I've experienced some really good, powerful electric showers, and some really measly, lukewarm dribbles.
Video is good but I don't like the new audio.
I noticed a bit of distortion on louder words.
sometimes it is clipping the audio, but it is doing it in a controlled and not too unpleasant manner.
I find the video much better, and the audio only slightly worse (bit bass heavy maybe)
And nearer the end of the video, once the Dremel has been used, the audio deteriorates quite markedly
I have fitted some many of these Triton units. Very straightforward and simple to fit. They are made rated from 7 to 10Kw rating. Simple to use and cheap to replace if they fail, though never had one fail yet. Highly recommend them for the price.
I wondered why this shower reduces pressure if you switched it to the cold setting and turned the heating control clockwise. Something I thought was illogical until I saw the teardown. Thanks Clive for this.
0:48 "We do have electrically heated showers in the UK." I thought Clive lived on the Isle of Man though?
I do. It's apparently not the UK despite its UK dialling code, NI number and post codes.
My parents had a mira sport shower that failed a couple years ago. The guy from Mira who came out said the whole unit had to be replaced because they are computer controlled and not repairable. Looking at schematics for the unit they had, I am not quite sure I buy that xD
That just about sums up sales BULLSHIT .Its a language thats very popular these days ,but if you are gullible you will fall for it.Its not just sales either ,its other places as well
Some manufacturers, I think Mira is one from memory, do use some electronics in the controls (wouldn't necessarily call it computer controlled though). For me most repairs of these cheaper showers are uneconomical; by the time labour is taken into account + parts may as well stick a new unit in.
Not just popular these days, its always been popular and always will be. At the end of the day its basically a universal truth that bullshit sells :p
Very interesting video, thank you for posting. I have just replaced one of these again, it failed after less than three years due to the solenoid. I checked with Triton, the solenoid unit is almost £40 so I bought a complete new shower from amazon for £54. I did not realise the coil was available separately on line, I have just checked and these are about £9. I will keep the old unit and replace the coil when the present unit fails! Bob
I had cool showers for two years every winter when I moved into my flat.Not having turned the knob past maximum heat, the 12 o'clock position, I later discovered that who ever fitted the shower, put the knob on in the wrong position and maximum cold was at 3 o'clock and max heat was at 2 o'clock!The knob cannot be repositioned.I now have warm winter showers.
19:09 set off my Amazon Echo. Hacks!
Dont even think we can use them in the us. I mean legally aside from 240.
No. We have 1st world water heaters for the whole house. I wonder if they have one of these for washing machines, sinks, etc.
Larry Gall there is nothing first world about American water heaters, especially open vented gas ones which have been banned in Europe for years. These electric showers are mainly used in extensions to save plumbing, or as cheap upgrades to bathrooms in homes with gravity hot water systems- they do not always provide sufficient pressure for a traditional shower.
@@larrygall5831 NA is one of the only ares in the world where we "store" hot water. A complete waste of $$. Hot water heaters are 3rd world tech. In Montreal we are slowly getting rid of tanks and going with instant units (whole house).
@Wallace fun fact: immersion heaters generally operate either central heating or hot water, with another boiler to do the other one.
@@mikejd35d23 Well within the last 5 years or so there have become many tank-less "instant" water heaters available for use in the US. Old style tank water heaters are not the only thing available here, whatsoever. I say give it a couple decades and tankless water heaters could end up completely taking over in the United States, and probably all of North America.
Video Quality is very good Clive...And nice to see that the shower I have in is ok...
It's a nice design. It would be my choice of a shower unit.
I like both the new audio and video. Nice!
As AvE would say, you 'Released the Smooo!'
I'm wearing my "Release the Schmooo!" t-shirt right now! :)
Well eh, I'm wearing my "Can't fix it? Fuck it!" t-shirt right now too.
So er, can I fix you? Eh? Eh?
Ohhhh OK I'll get my coat :(
Noo, it's not Smoo ;) Release the fluuuuuui :D
is it just me or does he sound like scott manley
Hullo! Scott Manley here and today I will talk about what KSP doesn't teach...
Thanks Clive. Have fixed my more sophisticated Triton many times but never had to replace the heater unit so wasn't sure how they constructed the element inside. Most revealing thanks. Mine has electronics and provides water over run after the heaters have been switched off to prevent that latent heading effect. This is easily done with it's electronic on/off control, and mode select push buttons. Have been toying with the idea of replacing the electronics as it never remembers the heat setting so summer time I'm having to keep pressing the economy button.
NEW AUDIO!?!?! damn that soft Clive voice. Love it. Great upgrade!
I keep wanting to zoom out.
Manual zoom out function; just move your chair back.
Your audio is clipping!
At first I thought this is too much boost in post processing, but it's not even that loud, so it must be too much input gain?
These have changed a lot over the years in design. They used to have for example a diaphragm switch to sense water pressure and a relay board for safety interlocks.
Improved video-quality!
Excellent.
That thing wouldn't even work here in Portuguese homes, the highest single phase amperage we can here for a home is 30A.
What amperage does a typical UK home have?
usually fused at 80-100A, but a lot of older installations will have a 60A main fuse
Generally it's at about 100A
100A 230V
mine has 50a total, hope no-one showers whilst i am using power tools in the garage
Typically a 240V supply at 80A.
bigclivedotcom .... Why do alot of the UK or just EU anything have alot of Neon lamps? Why not use LEDs vs Neon? Is there a reason for this? Wouldnt it be cheaper to use LED? Wouldnt it be a less of a power draw than a Neon Lamp? I mean you still ahve to use resistors so it isnt a resistor issue. You dont see Neons in US anything anymore they use to, I have seen some back before 1970, anything 80-present you dont see neon or incandecent anymore, just LEDs now.
Larissa Monroe neon can be put straight across the live and neutral without using any fancy components to provide a lower voltage. Whilst leds might last decades, capacitors, diodes and resistors won't, plus they're bulky - so there's less chance of a failure when neon is used it will pretty much go forever so you can be sure if the lights out there's no power, where as with a led you can never be sure.
neon always has a greater tolerance to any transients or surges which might otherwise kill a led. it will always illuminate if there is a week connection, I've known neons to faintly glow even when one pole has been isolated, so again you can see if it is receiving some juice still from the mains (imagine a faulty isolator switch, the led wouldnt be able to tell you that).
Over all. neon works and is robust and no nonsense.
Ahhh ok thank you Both for the clarification....much appreciated.
Actually that is a good point, very good point.
@Paul Gascoigne: totally agree, I have several power output/switches with red neon indicators around the house, all glowing nicely, a couple of them for > 20 years:)
It all comes down to the cost of a neon plus low power resistor vs. diode + LED + resistor. The 230V / 240V means a resistor running a LED will run hotter than on a 110V / 130V supply. So the resistor has to be a larger type with a higher power rating. The available current or available power is not really relevant.
The audio seems fine. The video is amazing. Very sharp.
"I need a paper towel" I have heard that one a few times.
I love the honesty of your videos. You leave all the "woops'es" in.
Water from the Nile! Oh wait ... Wrong channel :-/
Kostas Albanidis Nile Water!
heh.
This UK system of individual heaters seem so stupid for me. Like we in Finland have central water heaters usually if we don't have warm water coming in from the local system. Usually it's big water tank installed somewhere in the house. Just seems easier to me.
Hene193 we have water tanks too, that's where the hot water for the taps comes from.
The advantage of having an electric one is you don't have to let it run for 10 minutes before it gets hot.
Weird. We don't have that problem. I guess our pipes are better insulated because we get hot water instantly.
Yeah these are weirdly popular, even in homes that have modern combi has boilers. Historically they were a cheap way to add a good pressure stand up shower to a home that might of only had a gravity fed system. I think some people like them as if your boiler craps out it still works but honestly for the once in 10 year event of a boiler dying it's not worth it.
To expand further in a lot of homes in the past you might of had mains pressure cold water and gravity fed hot, that combination doesn't really work for mixed flow systems so these electric showers solved it for a low capital cost.
Central hot water heaters are pretty much standard in the US as well though point source heaters probably save on water and power but it would course would cause higher peak usage as a 40 gallon electric hot water tank only needs 4500 watts or 20 amps.
I've had one of these exact models for about 9 years, I changed the head when I bought it.
It's been a good shower.
I love these. I was at a friends in Surrey and was hooked the first time I used it.
I am really willing to watch this video. I struggle a lot to understand how can britons cope with NO outlets in the bathroom and terrified by the idea of a fan heater or hair dryer in the bathroom while they can have a 9kW/240V device they can hug while taking a shower. For f** sake even the name sounds like a nazi torture invention.
I have seen and fixed/replaced a few of those things, I rather to have a bath with a toaster...
Having said that, I am not afraid of electric things in the bathroom, I am Spanish, we are used to it and I think electric showers are great, I love them if they are in good conditions and properly installed. You get water at the temperature you want instantly.
These shower units are far safer than the suicide shower heads Cliveden showed at the beginning. They are also not as remotely dangerous as your over exaggerated analygy is. A toaster in a bath will certainly harm you and if you don't have right tripping at your property. Will kill. Electric showers have several redundancies that ultimately protect from electric shock. Which Clive addressed as he went through the video.
@Orlando Simpson I can say for certain that I have never seen a hair dryer plug in a bathroom in the UK. A shaver outlet will allow 1 amp at 110 volts. A standard hairdryer uses about 2kw. At 110 volts that would be 18 amps. More than the flex cable on a standard dryer can handle.
@Orlando Simpson That's what I though you meant. I've seen a few shaver outlets but never a hairdryer outlet, internet search just comes up with stuff for mainland Europe ect... More common thing is to just have a plug installed right outside the bathroom door and run the wire for your *[insert appliance here]* under the door.
We still have one that is likely around 2 decades old but we don't use it for years. It just hangs up there and I believe it still works but you can't open water much if you want it to be hot enough. Oh and also turning it on makes bathroom a little darker.
Ours doesn't have that shower head heating though.
Idk why all replies to this comment came after a year, including mine.
@@horusreloaded6387 You probably have the same thing as me. It's an un-vented instant water heater. Ours is 12kw and noticeably dims all incandescent lights in our house and slows fans, microwave ect... down. Pulling a lot of current makes the voltage drop.
Meh, I like the South American model a lot more. As long as it's grounded, it won't shock you. The UK model is ridiculously overengineered and overcomplicated.
Our SA shower must look and it is dangerous if not grounded properly, but it offers good quality and is very cheap like 20 dollars the most basic one
Love these tear down vids!
I have this shower in a 10.5Kw version. It works alright. I had to replace the solenoid once and also pressure overload rubber ball. If you don't let them run cold after use they tend to trigger the heat overload switch and require a couple of minutes of cold if you're next in.