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#110232 03/09/06 02:40 PM
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 984
Likes: 1
G
Member
The "Mexican vacation" picture has something else in it that's even MORE scary. Apparently you're supposed to move that switch with your wet fingers while your naked feet are standing on the wet shower floor. If this was my shower in a motel room, I'd snip the wires, cap them off, take my showers and let someone else fix it.
They'd be unhappy, but at least I'd be alive for them to be unhappy at.


Ghost307
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#110233 03/09/06 08:22 PM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 167
S
Member
An electric showerhead - what's the big deal????
Hey rewired!!!

Granted the one in the picture is a disaster, but wired correctly, what's the problem???

You jump in a pool with a 120volt luminaire.
You wash your hands at a sink with an electric insta-hot underneath.

And this is a problem??? I fail to see the issue??


Larry LeVoir
Inspector
City of Irvine, CA
#110234 03/10/06 10:56 AM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,445
Likes: 2
Cat Servant
Member
I've never seen such an item...but there just doesn't seem to be enough there for it to do much heating.
Perhaps it's a little pump to produce a sharper spray?

#110235 03/10/06 11:25 AM
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 86
N
Member
I might think that it could be some kind of selonoid controlled from a timer to limit shower time. Designed as an aftermarket unit to control showers. I'm sure the coin deposit is located just outside of the curtain to the shower.

#110236 03/10/06 02:15 PM
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 368
M
Member
According to the company web page it is an immersion heater putting out 5000W at 127V on a 50 amp breaker.

I agree with Sandsnow that its probably safe if installed properly.

I don't think that it is designed to be marketed in North America as I did not see any CSA or UL approval seals on their web page. The only approval mark I saw was from Inmetro which appears to be a Brazilian standards agency.

#110237 03/10/06 05:50 PM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 2,498
T
Member
Hmmm... does the color coding in the first picture remind you of anything? [Linked Image]
Black, red, yellow...

#110238 03/10/06 07:29 PM
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 558
R
Member
Sandsnow:
Sorry bout that.. The top picture looks like a total disaster I will agree, so does the picture below.. I dunno, I just dont like the idea of conductors such as what you see there, exposed and in a very wet environment.. what happens if one gets knicked or damaged?? Even if it was a proper cord of some kind, I would still be uncomfortable..... I have gotten "lit" but good a few times just from a little moisture and dirt on the outside of undamaged extension cords... A current actually tracked right from one of the ends down the outside of the cord and through me!!
Usually when you are dealing with pool luminaires the method of grounding is different, and those insta hot heaters, the chamber where the water is heated is grounded metal I think? I am not sure I have only seen pictures...
Even if those electric showerheads are grounded internally of which the top one looks like it may be with that 3rd wire, I would not really trust a measly little #16 or #14 grounding conductor.... With the way those ones were " hacked" in, the ground probably is not connected to anything anyway, and if it is, I would not trust trust its connection...

Sorry I may be wrong on all this but I hope you see where I am coming from... It just doesnt look / seem right...

A.D

#110239 03/11/06 01:49 AM
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 144
N
Member
I am not sure that I would trust this eiher. A good friend of mine refers to these as ''Widowmakers''.

#110240 03/11/06 08:09 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,294
Member
Sandsnow's right in my not-very-humble opinion.

When I get up in the morning I take my shower in water that's been heated by a 240V water heater, and circulated by a 120V circ pump. Neither have GFI protection.
They're located behind a wall and you can't see them, but that doesn't inherently make them any safer.

#110241 03/11/06 02:27 PM
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 806
Member
Quote
If this was my shower in a motel room, I'd snip the wires, cap them off, take my showers and let someone else fix it.

A bad idea on two counts, first of which is you could be charged for damage to property or vandalism, despite the noble purpose. Just take a cold shower or have the management have it disconnected.

Secondly, the wires will be energized. Even with PPE, risky. And how can you be sure that it will be corrected before the next guest uses it? I can see the next guest with no electrical knowledge uncapping the live wires and trying to splice them back together!

Now on to the what if:

What if, this shower head were properly wired in? I see for example, a factory installed flex tail, leading to a weatherproof box mounted into the wall above the water pipe, with proper fitings to exclude moisture. Would you consider it safe to use?

Granted, standards of what is considered safe differ around the world, but I do wonder how many of these are properly installed and in use with no incidents of shocks or fatalities? Maybe I see things in a niave way, but I don't think any company, no matter how "third world" would stay in business long if their product was fatally flawed.

***Note: Trumpy, feel free to delete this comment, but:***

And let's NOT get into the debate over cigarettes, please!!!! This is not the place for it!!


Stupid should be painful.
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