The previous owner of my house tried to install an electric shower. It has a copper pipe running through the ceiling and seems to be connected someway to the immersion heater.

yes you should certainly call an electrician a s a p, post a job and you should get a swift reply from tradespeople in your area , I would do a free survey if you were in my area regards Terry.

The first point of call would be the electrician, firstly to disconect the feed to the shower. I am suprised that your plumber didnt suggest this to you. Get yourself a good electrician round to find the fault, rectify and reconnect. I cant imagine it will cost much, ou could also get him to check all your other electrics at the same time.

Hi Maybe a good handyman can do this for you or a plumber, the cost would be about £60.00/£70.00. Graham

You need a qualified Electrician who is at least registered for Part 'P' of the building regulations, the circuit should be inspected and if unsafe disconnected completely. Until an inspection is carried out by the electrician and confirmed as incorrect the opinions of non qualified trades men may be helpfull but may also be totaly incorrect. A power shower run of the boiler hot water system may well work on a 13 amp circuit on a 2.5 mm cable A 9.5Kw shower though will require a 10mm cable and a 45amp isolating switch and be protected by either a 40 amp or 45amp breaker check the manufacturers Specification a 30mA Residual Current Device should also be in the circuit. To avoid this type of problem a full periodic inspection of the electrical system in a house you are about to purchase is essential to find a fully qualified electrician who can carry out a survey go to the NICEIC website. Surveys are complicated and a City & Guilds test and inspection course 2391 is usually required check out the electrician you are using not all domestic installers are qualified to carry out periodic inspections/surveys you often get what you pay for, a standard house full electrical system inspection takes many hours and prices would reflect that so if someone offers one for £50/£60 you know its not right, prices should start at about £150 for a 3-4 bedroom house with a 10-12 way distribution board a small price to pay for peace of mind on a multi thousand pound house purchase

Hi, if it blows fuses then theres a problem and an electrian should be called. Electrics are a skilled trade and should be left to qualified trades persons. Curious to know how familiar Mr handyman is with ohms law or power law ???? This does require urgent attention as it sounds very dangerous and it seems that you have no RCD protection. Good luck.

You should post the job on the site,thats what it is for!

Sounds like you have an electrically heated shower (cold feed only) which are at least 8.5kW needing a dedicated circuit with a 45A fuse. This is way more than 16A typical of a 3kW immersion heater. Sounds like a bodge job - don't use it. Pretty costly to fix as you need a new cable running from fuse box to shower. Also needs a modern consumer unit with an RCD in place of fuse box as water and electric don't mix. Call a Part P registered electrician (see NAPIT website for local sparkies) for a quote.