FCU on lighting circuit - shower pump

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by Matt3603, Sep 6, 2007.

  1. Matt3603

    Matt3603 New Member

    Hello all,
    I've recently moved in to a house which has a shower pump in the airing cupboard. The pump is wired to an FCU which is wired into the lighting circuit in the loft. It appears to work fine, I was just wandering if it was ok to do this? I've looked back through previous posts, can't find a definite answer. Don't want my new house to burn down or anything, so if necessary I'll get a new spur put in the airing cupboard from the ring mains which I think is the normal way to do it - I guess whoever fitted it took a short cut to avoid ripping up the floorboards.
    Thanks
    Matt
     
  2. Ion Transient

    Ion Transient New Member

    > Hello all,
    I've recently moved in to a house which has a shower
    pump in the airing cupboard. The pump is wired to an
    FCU which is wired into the lighting circuit in the
    loft.




    this is an incorrect installation



    > so if necessary I'll get a new spur put in the airing
    cupboard from the ring mains which I think is the
    normal way to do it




    this is correct..via a 5A fuse
     
  3. Max 1

    Max 1 New Member

    Hi
    If the shower pump was under 6 amps it would be fine, however I doubt it would be.

    It may work perfectly fine at the moment, but personally I would not do it.


    1. Check the Fuse in the FCU
    2. Find out how much the shower pump draws

    I can tell you that either the lighting circuit is a high amperage, or and it definately isnt a power shower as they use about 40 AMPS.

    Answer those questions and get back to me and I will tell you exactly what the status is and what to do next.

    Max
     
  4. Max 1

    Max 1 New Member

    Ion transient

    You just said that a 5 amp fuse it right to use.
    The lighting circuit is 5 or 6 amps anyway, so It will be fine as it is protected via the fuse, this will prevent the Master fuse / RCD from blowing.

    Max
     
  5. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    I can tell you that either the lighting circuit is a
    high amperage, or and it definately isnt a power
    shower
    as they use about 40 AMPS.

    The bigger clue might be that there isn't a smokin' mess anywhere in the vicinity.
     
  6. Coloumb

    Coloumb Screwfix Select

    Hello all,
    [/i]I've recently moved in to a house which has a
    shower
    pump in the airing cupboard. The pump is wired to
    an
    FCU which is wired into the lighting circuit in
    the
    loft.



    this is an incorrect installation

    According to what reg?
     
  7. Clark Kent

    Clark Kent New Member

  8. Kwichy

    Kwichy New Member

    Most 'Pump' showers i've fitted barely pull 1 amp, as already said, a
    proper electric shower is in the Kw and will eat a plugtop fuse for breakfast.

    I'd not panic to much, though i usually fit an RCD fused spur on pump showers
     
  9. Matt3603

    Matt3603 New Member

    Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I'll get a spur run in to the cupboard off of the mains ring just in case, but from what's been said, I think I can quite safely continue to use the pump in it's current state.

    Thanks again
     
  10. EH59 AMP

    EH59 AMP New Member

    its fine.
    you could just replace the spur for an RCD spur be on th safe side.save you pull in new cables.
     
  11. cliffy brown

    cliffy brown New Member

    Hi
    If the shower pump was under 6 amps it would be fine,
    however I doubt it would be.

    It may work perfectly fine at the moment, but
    personally I would not do it.


    1. Check the Fuse in the FCU
    2. Find out how much the shower pump draws

    I can tell you that either the lighting circuit is a
    high amperage, or and it definately isnt a power
    shower as they use about 40 AMPS.

    Answer those questions and get back to me and I will
    tell you exactly what the status is and what to do
    next.

    Max

    you certainly know your stuff max
     
  12. limestone cowboy

    limestone cowboy New Member

    I can tell you that either the lighting circuit is a
    high amperage, or and it definately isnt a power
    shower as they use about 40 AMPS.

    I don't get this. If a shower used 40 amps, wouldn't it be one that heated the water electrically? In which case it would be fed with mains water so wouldn't need a booster pump. Unless it's a very powerful power shower ie. about 12HP.
     
  13. fooman

    fooman New Member

    Hello all,
    I've recently moved in to a house which has a shower
    pump
    in the airing cupboard. The pump is wired to an
    FCU which is wired into the lighting circuit in the
    loft. It appears to work fine, I was just wandering
    if it was ok to do this? I've looked back through
    previous posts, can't find a definite answer. Don't
    want my new house to burn down or anything, so if
    necessary I'll get a new spur put in the airing
    cupboard from the ring mains which I think is the
    normal way to do it - I guess whoever fitted it took
    a short cut to avoid ripping up the floorboards.
    Thanks
    Matt

    theres the clue ;)

    http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=99043&ts=11123
     
  14. sinewave

    sinewave Screwfix Select

    Answer those questions and get back to me and I
    will
    tell you exactly what the status is and what to do
    next.

    Max

    you certainly know your stuff max



    :^O
     

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