We have a Mira electric shower, which is 8-9 years old and has been pretty much faultless (the odd hose/head replacement aside). Yesterday, something’s obviously burst inside it as cold water started spurting out of the unit while it was running. I switched it off at the RCB, took the cover off, decided it was too complicated for me and put it back. Any ideas what might have happened? And is it worth getting a plumber to try and fix it, or better, given its age, to get a new one and have a plumber fit it?

YOU ‘ORRIBLE SHOWER!

Replace it with a new one.

Good point

Any ideas what might have happened?

It broke. They have lots of bits of plastic in them that are likely to break through normal use.

If you can work out the specific bit that’s broken it might be worth finding the part and doing it yourself but after 8-9 years, I’m guessing it doesn’t owe you anything.

My vote goes to a new one, shouldn’t be rocket science to fit as long as you buy a similarly rated one (i.e. you don’t need to upgrade the leccy supply).

It sounds like the pressure relief valve has gone.

It’s a common thing when the shower gets a build up of scale. Saves serious damage and it’s designed to burst like that.

They are quite simple to replace. I had one go a few years ago and fixed it myself.

https://www.showerdoc.com/shower-spares/electric-showers/mira

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8AyW1x4pKs[/video]

Are they easy to fit for the amateur? I’m good at reading instructions, but there did seem to be a lot of wires.

Which shower model is it?

They sometimes have an overpressure device, sometimes as crude as a ball pushed into a rubber seal that will ‘blow’ to stop the heater assembly being overpressured. If you’re in a hard water area it could be the heater is blocked with limescale, whether it’s worth fixing is up to you
https://www.showerdoc.com/ lots of spares and advice

Ah, beaten to it due to my poor keyboard skills!

It’s a Mira Azora, so the info here https://www.showerdoc.com/mira-elite-sport-sprint-relief-valve-assembly-147-50#ctl04_Product_pnlImportantInformation suggests this part is compatible. For £9 I might give it a go myself.

Yeah why not, water and electriciy, a match made in heaven 😉

Why not? Funnily enough it’s built to keep the electricity and water separate.

I would have a go but I can’t see on the exploded diagram where the valve is?

The one I did was very obviously and accessible and took about 5 minutes.

Yeah why not, water and electricity, a match made in heaven

Well he’s not touching the electrics and he also didn’t die when the valve burst, so not sure what he could do to make things worse?

He finds the open valve, unscrews it and replaces with a new one. If it works all good, if it still leaks no change then. Worth it for £9.

Yes, it’s not obvious from the exploded view where it is, nor is that part visible when I take the cover off.

From that webpage.

PLEASE NOTE: If your shower does not take this whole assembly, you will need to remove the red ball from this part, and put the ball into the heating tank manually.

So I guess the ball goes in the white heater tank?

Can you see where the water is coming from?

I saw that and guess that applies to my shower. I’m pretty sure it’s around there, because when it happens, it initially comes out of where the hose connects, so right under the heater unit, then a second or so later starts coming out of the opposite side of the unit, which suggests to me the leak is beneath the heater unit. I haven’t tried it with the cover off, I’m a bit reluctant to turn the power back on with all the wiring exposed. I’ve emailed that showerdoc website to see if they know.

I’ve always fixed them myself and never died as a result.

But:
They make everything from the worlds most brittle plastics, every time you screw something back in it will crack.

They never seem to make things accessible, to replace anything, everything has to come out! Even if something looks clear it’ll turn out to be wired/plumbed to something else on a really short wire/hose so that has to come out too.

They’re fiddly. I doubt a professional would ever fix something more complicated than a hose or the PRV simply because as a result of the point above taking the whole thing off the wall and replacing it is 3 wires, 1 pipe, and £70 for a shower. Replacing anything inside the old one is several wires, numerous pipes, tens of tiny little fiddly bits of plastic, numerous leaking hoses, and an hour soaking everything in a bucket of descaler (plus parts).

£70 for a shower.

For a cheap shit one yes.

Those Miras are closer to £300.

It’s not the PRD, I found that – just the red ball in the bottom right corner of the heater/tank, which is still there. The water is spraying out of the side of the oval black bit – that numbers 6 and 8 point to. It looks like the plastic ‘weld’ between the sides and front of that oval bit has failed.

Shame. Much more complex and expensive.

Worth fixing do you think, or just bite the bullet and get a new one?

Sound like a new shower 🙁

I would give those Shower Doctor people a call, they offer free telephone advice.

If it was me, I would probably give it go, but I’m as tight as 2 coats of paint.

I would see if I could easily disassemble and get the broken parts out before ordering the spares.

For a cheap shit one yes.

Those Miras are closer to £300.

Having dismantled a few of them, most of them use a common set of parts inside, you’re paying for the designer case.

Worth fixing do you think, or just bite the bullet and get a new one?

It’s probably cheaper to fix, whether you have the patience to do it is another matter, like I said, there are a lot of little fiddly bits of plastic in there! If you value your time and sanity more than the cost of the new shower, then it’s not worth it!

Having dismantled a few of them, most of them use a common set of parts inside, you’re paying for the designer case.

Your probably right, the most expensive spare part for that shower is the glass cover!

its old, its water and electric.

Buy a new one!

its old, its water and electric.

Buy a new one!

This is what is wrong with our World.
Is 8-9 years old for a £300 piece of domestic equipment?
It’s a pretty modular thing and plenty of images available of how it goes together.
One part of it has failed and spare parts are readily available.
There numerous sources of advice and help in how to replace the part.
It has a RCB which offers a lot of protection for any chance of shock.

Fix it and get another 8-9 years out of it.

In a similar situation with our Triton shower (which will soon be known as Trigger’s broom).

It’s started cutting out mid-shower. Turning off & on at the shower switch itself doesn’t do anything, but turning the isolator off and back on will bring it back to life – it comes straight back on, but you then have to turn it off at the isolator again.
Some time later, it’ll work normally again; i.e. switching on at the isolator restores power to the unit, but it doesn’t switch on until you hit the power button on the shower itself. It’ll then be fine for a few days and then do it again).

I have previously replaced the solenoid valve for a different fault and the heating tank because one of the elements failed.
I replaced the main switch for the latest fault as this looked corroded on taking it to bits, but it’s still doing it. Only things left to try are the power PCB or the control PCB – but at a bit of a loss….

I am getting to the point of just replacing it with a new shower…..

The whole thing is probably full of scale, if you can still buy an identical replacement I’d do that. It’ll be quicker, will definitely work, and will work better than it has done for ages.

This is what is wrong with our World.
Is 8-9 years old for a £300 piece of domestic equipment?

Around 3000 days of service for £300, 10p a day. You know what I wouldn’t actually class that as a failure of the modern world.

I’m happy to have had 8-9 years out of it, but at the same time, don’t like chucking things away unnecessarily. I’ve emailed the shower doc people so I’ll see what they say. Thanks for all the help, especially gobuchul.