Fastpedaller
Senior Member
Bit of a rant really, but what view have others amongst our online community............
As plumber, I fit electric showers fairly frequently. Like a lot of products the manufacturers try to 'tempt' us with new products. That's the first thing I don't understand, as for most people an electric shower is a utility item, not a fashion one. Anyway, whenever I need to source a replacement (given that the broken ones are at least 5 years old) its a PITA to try and match up a replacement. To avoid unsightly 'extra mounting holes' in the tiles is an aim, and more importantly, the water supply position and the electrical connection need to be the same, otherwise changes (sometimes almost impossible) add to the difficulty/cost, and I like to minimise that for my customers.
Looking at the (ahem) leading manufacturer's site is a nightmare. Firstly it's a case of looking for the same power as a start, and then looking at the tech drawings for any models that have the water outlet on the same side as the old one, trying to narrow it down. It took me about 1 hour online to find a suitable one yesterday. Unfortunately customers (understandably) think any, say, 8.5kw shower will replace their old one. They may say 'this is the same model name' so it will replace it, but that name is now used on a totally different layout. . It doesn't help that the manufacturer 'helps' by selecting replacements on the basis of 'lower left water entry' or similar criteria, except the old entry is horizontal and their 'selected replacement' water entry is vertical. They also 'recycle' the moulds for the shower cases, which re-appear about every 10 years, but with a different name.
Oh dear.... Rant over.
As plumber, I fit electric showers fairly frequently. Like a lot of products the manufacturers try to 'tempt' us with new products. That's the first thing I don't understand, as for most people an electric shower is a utility item, not a fashion one. Anyway, whenever I need to source a replacement (given that the broken ones are at least 5 years old) its a PITA to try and match up a replacement. To avoid unsightly 'extra mounting holes' in the tiles is an aim, and more importantly, the water supply position and the electrical connection need to be the same, otherwise changes (sometimes almost impossible) add to the difficulty/cost, and I like to minimise that for my customers.
Looking at the (ahem) leading manufacturer's site is a nightmare. Firstly it's a case of looking for the same power as a start, and then looking at the tech drawings for any models that have the water outlet on the same side as the old one, trying to narrow it down. It took me about 1 hour online to find a suitable one yesterday. Unfortunately customers (understandably) think any, say, 8.5kw shower will replace their old one. They may say 'this is the same model name' so it will replace it, but that name is now used on a totally different layout. . It doesn't help that the manufacturer 'helps' by selecting replacements on the basis of 'lower left water entry' or similar criteria, except the old entry is horizontal and their 'selected replacement' water entry is vertical. They also 'recycle' the moulds for the shower cases, which re-appear about every 10 years, but with a different name.
Oh dear.... Rant over.
Good little shower, and not too difficult to fit a new pump if they eventually get noisy - though there are 2 types, so you need to know the date. The riser bar is a problem if the holes are different, and customers sometimes stay with the old riser and keep the new one as a spare - when they have a shower again the riser bar may have changed back to the original 
.
