Fitting a power shower

[Booldawg]

We have an old unit that hasnt worked since we moved in. It runs of a 12v DC transformer. Its yonks old and the pumps are not available even on ebay.

I'm hoping to fit a new one soon. Good new is all the plumbing is there (hot and cold)

The sticky part is the electrics. No doubt the new shower will run off a conventional 13a plug. There is a fuesd switch outside the bathroom door but no doubt the wire has been helpfully tucked back into the cavity. By this I'm presuming the switch still is cabled.

My question is how does one run wire through a cavity to marry up between shower and mains socket? Is it a case of waggling it and hoping for the best?

[GRUMPY]

You could as you say waggle it and hope for the best but if you are unlucky you could be there for hours.I would nip to B&Q or somewhere and get a draw wire.
Good luck

[Old_Geezer]

No expert but if it is an instant shower then that usually has it's own spur from the fusebox since it takes qhite a bit of power, doesn't it ? It the water is heated elsewhere though then I'd suspect that may not be necessary, but I'd still expect the pump to be cabled into a junction box rather than plugged in somewhere.

If there is an old cable already running to this switch you refer to, can it not be used to pull through any new cable you require ?

Failing that there are flexible things you can buy which wriggle through spaces more easily, and to which you can tie cables and suchlike to pull through.

[Old_Geezer]

http://www.transtools...sh-tape-30-metre.html

This sort of thing.

[Booldawg]

Hi OG. Its a power shower which works off a pump and existing hot/cold water mix rather than heating its own water as per electric showers.

Without taking the switch off the wall I'm not able to establish if the orginal cabling is still intact. Will defintely invest in something to help me!

[Graham-W]

Our power shower is a fairly new one and does have a 12v transformer.
I suspect they all do as a safety feature as you don't want 240v inside the pump housing unless the pumps are actually outside the bathroom.

[Graham-W]

PS. To get the cable through the cavity wall I use a piece of wire coat hanger poked through with the cable taped onto it with a bit of insulation tape.

[buildersmate]

These things are called shower booster pumps. There are plenty of them that operate from 240V without an isolating transformer - here is the instructions for installation of the Wickes version.
http://www.wickes.co....ces/images/gil/46.pdf
Since it is a fixed electrical installation it should be wired via its own fused socket, with (probably) a 5A fuse - depending on the rating of the pump. Clearly there should be no access to the pump from the bathroom side.
Often the pump is mounted in the airing cupboard - have you actually bought the new pump?
I use a stiff length of steel wire hooked at the end to pull cables through partitions - assuming there are no studs in the way.

[Booldawg]

Heres a link to the unit I'm looking at:

http://www.diy.com/na...Shower-Satin-11817516

The pump is integral. As I said all the plumbing is there from the old unit. The fused switch is outside the bathroom on the landing wall. I should imagine that years ago the bathroom had a shower running off this fused switch.

[The Builder]

When you mention cavity, Boolders, I guess you mean the void in a stud wall (between the two plasterboard faces).
It's impossible to say without knowing how far the new shower is from the fused spur on the landing. With the old shower removed, you can knock a fairly large hole in the tiles behind it. That should help a lot.
When I've fitted these ........... I've been able to take an electrical supply from above, in the roof space, from the lighting circuit and through an isolator switch.
I must stress though, that it's essential to check the current demand from the power shower. Usually a small built-in pump drawing around 3 amps, therefore ok for a lighting circuit............ do check this though.

[Booldawg]

The fused spur is right outside the bathroom door, on the wall. So (I'm hoping) it will simply be a case of dropping the cable from the shower unit (mounted on the opposing wall) and it should pretty much be where it needs to.

There is no long cable run around walls or up and across the loft space.