2 electric showers and melted live wire from relay

[Jberry]

This unit is running two showers. Unit was smoking while one shower was running, never tripped the safety switch. Power to one shower is cut off while the other is in use. Is it ok just to change out the relay that had burned? I'm not an electrician but one will be doing the work. The house is rented and the landlord will be arranging the repairs but I'm afraid he probably wont send someone who's registered

 

[SparkyChick]

If you haven't tinkered with the unit, then this has happened before because one of the neutrals appears to have been moved (No. 3 on the burnt contactor is also burned).

If it's a sample of the work the electricians your landlord uses (some of the cabling will be factory fitted as I believe this is an off the shelf unit - it's not that cabling to which I'm referring) then you are justified in your concerns as I can see several non-compliances.

 

[Spoon]

Looks like the whole shower circuits need to be looked at, as the neutrals near the burned relay are also damaged.
As @SparkyChick has pointed out, terminal 3 has also received damage previously.

What power ratings are your showers?

 

[Wilko]

... Unit was smoking while one shower was running ... Is it ok just to change out the relay that had burned?

Hi JB and welcome. There has been heat damage and I'm not sure if this was due to the cables not making proper connection or whether the contactor has been overloaded. The failure cause should be established and corrected or it will likely just happen again. And the heat damaged cables should be replaced of course.

 

[Jberry]

If you haven't tinkered with the unit, then this has happened before because one of the neutrals appears to have been moved (No. 3 on the burnt contactor is also burned).

If it's a sample of the work the electricians your landlord uses (some of the cabling will be factory fitted as I believe this is an off the shelf unit - it's not that cabling to which I'm referring) then you are justified in your concerns as I can see several non-compliances.

Thanks for the reply. No has never been touched by anyone, we have lived here for 5yrs. Landlord has a history of paying monkeys peanuts! He has contacted me tonight to say he is sending round a non electrician to fix, I have assured him he is not!

 

[Jberry]

Hi JB and welcome. There has been heat damage and I'm not sure if this was due to the cables not making proper connection or whether the contactor has been overloaded. The failure cause should be established and corrected or it will likely just happen again. And the heat damaged cables should be replaced of course.

Thank you for the reply. I have notified the landlord Sunday gone and I'm still back and forth about having a professional diagnose and fix the problem. He's all about saving Penny's though

 

[Jberry]

Looks like the whole shower circuits need to be looked at, as the neutrals near the burned relay are also damaged.
As @SparkyChick has pointed out, terminal 3 has also received damage previously.

View attachment 48760

What power ratings are your showers?

Yes I agree, there are a few wires that appear to be heat damaged. Also terminal 1 & 3 have heat damage also. When we noticed the smoke and strong smell of burning in the kitchen we had to cut power to the unit.

Should the safety cutout switch have tripped before hand? It never did!

 

[dmxtothemax]

Don't take any chances at all !
Anything that looks like it is damaged at all
Should be replaced, no if's or but's
Saving a few dollars now,will seem trivial if it burns down later on.

If this is an on going problem ?
Then you need to find out why !

 

[Charlie_]

The whole thing is totally wrong..
Singles coming in at the top left.
Both showers on protected by just the 1 40amp MCB & RCD?
Do you have a photo of the whole enclosure?
Be a good 1 for the wall of shame

 

[Jberry]

The whole thing is totally wrong..
Singles coming in at the top left.
Both showers on protected by just the 1 40amp MCB & RCD?
Do you have a photo of the whole enclosure?
Be a good 1 for the wall of shame

Here's a few photos to analyse. Let me know what you think