Shower completely deadwhat to check
No neon, no water, nothing when you pull the cord. On an electric shower a total dead is almost always the supply rather than the appliance.
Take care
What this means
A dead electric shower is a more tractable problem than a dead appliance anywhere else in the house, because there is so little between the consumer unit and the unit on the wall. The circuit is dedicated — nothing else is on it — so there is no question of another appliance having caused the problem, and the chain has only four links in it: the breaker, the cable, the isolating switch, and the shower. Working through them in order settles it quickly. Start at the consumer unit, because a shower circuit that has tripped is both the commonest cause and the one that tells you something.
If the breaker has gone, the shower did not simply stop; something made it stop, and resetting it without asking why is covered on the tripping page. If the breaker is on, the next link is the isolating switch, and this is where most dead showers actually are. A ceiling pull cord is a mechanical switch operated wet-handed several times a day for years, and the mechanism inside wears out.
A cord that has stopped clicking, or one where the little indicator no longer changes, is a switch that has failed rather than a shower that has. The switch also has a second failure mode worth knowing about: on a 40 amp circuit the terminals inside it carry serious current, and a connection that has worked loose will heat, discolour and eventually open. That version smells before it dies, which is why a burning smell is treated separately and much more seriously than a plain dead shower.
What causes it
| Cause | What is actually happening | How likely |
|---|---|---|
| Breaker or fuse for the shower circuit has operated | The first thing to check and frequently the answer. If it has tripped rather than simply being off, the reason it tripped matters more than the reset. | Common |
| Pull cord or isolating switch failed | A mechanical switch pulled wet-handed twice a day eventually stops making contact. Very common on installations more than about ten years old. | Common |
| Shower switched off and forgotten | The cord has two positions and no obvious indication in a dark bathroom. Worth ruling out before anything else because it costs nothing. | Occasional |
| Loose terminal in the switch or at the shower | A high-current connection that has worked loose. This one usually announces itself with discoloured plastic or a smell. | Occasional |
| Internal supply board or solenoid failure | Less common than the supply-side causes, and only worth considering once the first four are ruled out. | Rare |
What to try yourself
Look at the consumer unit and find the shower circuit — it is usually the highest-rated breaker in the board, 40 or 45 amp. Note whether it is tripped or simply off.
If it has tripped, do not keep resetting it. A breaker that trips again under load is reporting a fault, and that is a different page and a different answer.Pull the cord and listen. A healthy isolating switch makes a definite mechanical click. A soft or silent cord, or one where the indicator no longer moves, points at the switch.
Look at the ceiling rose of the pull cord and at the shower itself for browning, staining or a smell of hot plastic. If you find any, stop and treat it as the burning-smell page rather than this one.
Check whether the power neon on the shower lights with the cord on. Neon on with no water points at the solenoid or the flow switch; no neon at all points back up the supply.
If the breaker is healthy, the cord clicks and there is still no neon, the fault is between the switch and the shower. Leave the circuit off and get it tested.
Get a qualified electrician to look at your electric shower
We do not pass enquiries to a repair firm, so there is no form here. When you book a qualified electrician, tell them the make, the model and the exact code or message on the display, and ask whether they carry parts for this make — that is what turns one visit into a repair rather than a quote.
What it costs to fix
Typical repair cost
£0–£140
Time on site
15 minutes
Nothing if the switch was simply off. A replacement pull-cord switch fitted is the common outcome and sits at the low end. A fault inside the shower itself puts you into element or board territory.
Typical UK prices including parts and labour, updated September 2026. Your quote may differ.
Own this appliance and had this code? . Nothing is published until a person has read it.
Related electric shower fault codes
- Shower keeps tripping the electricsStop — call an engineerA shower that trips the breaker or RCD is reporting a real electrical fault. Do not keep resetting it to get one more shower out of it.Related: electrical-supply
- Burning smell from the shower or pull cordStop — call an engineerHot plastic, scorching or discoloured fittings on a shower circuit is an overheating connection. Switch the circuit off at the consumer unit and leave it off.Related: electrical-supply
- Fitting a higher kW showerUsually simple to fixA bigger shower is not a like-for-like swap. The cable and the breaker decide what you can fit, and that also decides whether the job is notifiable.Related: electrical-supply
- Shower runs coldGet it checkedWater flows but never heats. On an electric shower this is nearly always the supply, the flow through it, or an element that has stopped working.Related: same brand
- Thermal cut-out has operatedGet it checkedThe safety device has taken the elements out of circuit. Whether you can reset it yourself depends entirely on the brand, and the answers differ.Related: same brand
- Water suddenly scaldingGet it checkedAn electric shower that runs too hot is usually short of flow rather than making too much heat. The exception is a thermostatic model, which should not do this at all.Related: same brand
Related guides
Common questions
Which breaker in the consumer unit is the shower?
Almost always the largest one, marked 40A or 45A, and often labelled. An electric shower is the biggest single load in most houses, so nothing else in the board is usually rated that high.
The cord feels different from how it used to. Is that meaningful?
Yes. These switches have a distinct action and it degrades before it fails. A cord that has gone soft, sticky or silent is a switch approaching the end of its life, and replacing it is a small job.
Is the pull cord expensive to change?
No — the part is inexpensive and it is a short job for an electrician. It is one of the cheaper outcomes on this page, which is why it is worth checking before assuming the shower has failed.
Technical review
Not reviewed by an engineer
No engineer has read this page. Severity follows what the manufacturer publishes, and we would rather tell you that than let a byline imply a sign-off.
Sources and how we verified this
We establish the facts from the sources below and then write the explanation ourselves. We do not copy manufacturer wording and we do not host their manuals.
- Manufacturer technical and service documentation
This page has not been reviewed by an engineer, and we would rather tell you that than imply otherwise. The severity rating follows what the manufacturer publishes: where they say isolate the appliance and call someone, so do we.