Electric Shower Switch Light

S

simp

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Electrician and plumber installed a new electric shower - Triton T90si.
It's on its own fuse, and everything's working fine...

BUT... the light on the shower switch in the hall is constantly on - whether the shower is on or not. We find this quite annoying! The builder tells me that this is 'regulations' - is he chancing his arm?
 
simp said:
BUT... the light on the shower switch in the hall is constantly on - whether the shower is on or not.
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If you turn off the switch what happens? Or is it just a indicator light/lamp? I think that the regs say you must have an isolator switch for the shower. The light indicates that there is power available for the shower not that the shower is on or off.
 
hansov said:
If you turn off the switch what happens?
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The light stays on irregardless.

hansov said:
Or is it just a indicator light/lamp?
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Yes, it is.

hansov said:
I think that the regs say you must have an isolator switch for the shower. The light indicates that there is power available for the shower not that the shower is on or off.
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Yes. That's what the builder said... I was hoping that we could just have a light which went on or off when you turned the power to the shower on or off... Hmmm...

Thanks for clarifiying that!
 
The switch has been installed in reverse and hence incorrectly.

Tell the builder you will be letting the ESB know that an electrical completion cert has been submitted for a sub-standard electrical installation and you may find that the light goes on and off as designed.
 
SineWave said:
The switch has been installed in reverse and hence incorrectly.
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Thanks for that SineWave - can you be more specific, so that I can approach the builder with the exact problem?
Are hansov and the builder (and electrician) incorrect when they say that the light is an indicator for the power going to the isolator switch?
Am I correct to expect the light to indicate whether the isolator switch is on or off?
 
Hi Simp. For a shower it is a two-pole isolator switch which may or may not have an indicator light (LED) or FLAG to indicate that there is power to the shower. If the light is permanently on then I would say that at best you have inverted wiring in the switch (I dread to think what the worst could be!).

It has nothing to do with telling you if there is power at the switch. I'm not saying that the other poster's are wrong. I'm just saying that I'm right!;)
 
Thanks for that, SineWave - that's kind of how I assumed that those switches should work... I will get back to him with that information, and hopefully he'll do something about it..!
 
Give my electrician James a ring.0862697595. I told him about your shower and he said it was ok to ring him.
 
Thanks Jill - that's very good of you. I've reverted to the builder with SineWave's info, so I might wait till I hear back before contacting your guy.
Thanks for your help, everyone!
 
Our electrician got back to me to say that the switch is wired correctly, but that the light can be wired up any number of ways - so he is going to rewire it in our preferred way... Thanks for all your help!
 
SineWave said:
It has nothing to do with telling you if there is power at the switch. I'm not saying that the other poster's are wrong. I'm just saying that I'm right!;)
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I humbly bow to the superior knowledge of one who knows.

Glad you're getting it sorted simp.
 
Hansov, I was only slagging!!

Simp, your electrician is totally incorrect and/or lazy. There is one way to wire the switch. It's terminals are labelled "supply" and "load". The supply side comes from fuse/mcb board and the load goes to the shower. The indicator light indicates if there is power to the unit (in this case the shower, in other cases a cooker).

My real worry here is the electrician's wiring of the MCB board and your RCD protection from electric shock.
 
Thanks for that, SineWave. He's coming to fix that on Saturday, so I'll raise your concerns with him then.
 
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