Disconnecting Electic Shower Ask questions and find answers to many subjects relating to electrics and electrical work

[MattR]

I have just removed my electric shower, which was operated from a pull down cord in the corner of the bathroom. The cable ran from the back of the shower, over the ceiling joists to the pull-down cord terminal and then another cable runs from the pull-down cord terminal - through the floorboards, down to the kitchen and then runs to the back of the main electric unit located in the hallway. There is a switch on the main unit to knock the power off for the electric shower, which I have done. I currently have all the cable in my kitchen with the electric knocked off. Do I need to take the cable all the way back to the main unit (tricky because it runs behind the plasterboard wall) and disconnect it from the main unit or can I simply blank off by using thick insulating tape or whatever you recommend, leaving the switch which powers the electric shower OFF at all times??

Any advice would be welcomed.

Many thanks

Matt

[sparx]

Hi mattR
it seems a shame to waste such a difficult to run cable, can't you use it to supply a socket or 2 in kitchen area? most people can't get enough outlets in a kitchen!
If not useful then just leaving MCB turned off is not really good enough as it could be knocked back on later .
only safe way would be to disconnect at consumer unit, L,N & E and then cut off in kitchen but still put into connector or Joint box just in case!
Either way it is not diy to add as sockets or to delve into consumer unit,
regards SPARX

[MattR]

Thanks for the reply Sparx!

I din't think about using the shower cable for a kitchen socket- very good idea. The grey cable is thicker than normal socket cable and i was wondering if it was too powerful for a double socket? If it's not too powerful and can be used, would you simply cross out the electric shower on the consumer unit and just write kitchen socket?

p.s what does MCB stand for??

Thanks again

Matt

[sparx]

Hi matt, sorry guilty of assumptions again,
M[iniature] C[ircuit] B[reaker] as opposed to fuses. MCB's are basically a thermal overload device and trip on excessive load current being drawn from a circuit, also have other clever magnetic element which causes very quick trip if serious short circuit occurs such as cutting through cable!
I should have said that the MCB for using your old shower cable to power some sockets must be no larger than a 32A device such as used on older, smaller shower circuits, in which case the cable should fit in terms. of a socket, this could then be marked as 'radial socket', if unsure of cable size ie 4mm/6mm it would be worth cutting a piece off the end and asking a sparks to look also if MCB is more than 32A then would need to get leckie to change it and do connection to socket,
regards
SPARX