Remember when your mom warned you about never getting a hair dryer near the bathtub? I know mine did a good scare job on this one. In fact, even today I rarely see a hair dryer that my mind doesn’t conjure up a horrifying vision of an untimely bath-time demise. So the first time I showered under an in-line hot water heater in Honduras was rather like facing a childhood fear. You can see from the picture that these devices display a prima facie case of reckless product design. Just look at it. The outlet is actually in the shower. And for you electricians and handymen out there, I assure you that this is not a GFCI receptacle.
Notice the liberal use of electrical tape. Sometimes I wonder if electrical wire in Honduras only comes in 8-10 inch sections, because you almost never see an exposed wire that it isn’t spliced together from several smaller sections. But you can see that this hotel has a high regard for safety as they have covered the top part of the receptacle with tape. Man, I’m glad they did that. Somebody might have decided to plug his or her hair dryer in there.
Notice the liberal use of electrical tape. Sometimes I wonder if electrical wire in Honduras only comes in 8-10 inch sections, because you almost never see an exposed wire that it isn’t spliced together from several smaller sections. But you can see that this hotel has a high regard for safety as they have covered the top part of the receptacle with tape. Man, I’m glad they did that. Somebody might have decided to plug his or her hair dryer in there.
Aside from the apparent risk of electrocution, the other issue with these water heaters is around efficacy. The key to having a warm shower is to keep the water pressure low. If you turn the knob all the way up, the flow of water through the showerhead exceeds the heater’s ability to keep up, and you get a cold shower. So the trick is to reduce the water pressure to the point that the heater can keep up with the demand. The only problem with this is that the heating element in the device is controlled by a pressure-switch. That means that too little pressure will cause the device to shut off all together. Each time the heater switches on, you can see a green light flash inside the device. This of course reminds you of the fact that you are basically playing with a hair dryer in the bathtub. If you ever use a shower with this type of heater, I’ll give you a piece of advice. If you are having trouble achieving the desired result, and then you finally get the water temperature at a reasonable (by that I mean not ice-cold) level, do not touch the knob again. Just finish your shower as quickly as you can and be thankful that you’ve survived the ordeal. If you hit the sweet spot and get a hot shower, consider yourself blessed.
2 comments:
Heh, heh, heh! Very funny and oh so true.
I had a similar experience in Honduras. We even had to have one of our repaired while we were there b/c it wasn't heating. I wanted to leave well enough alone b/c it didn't look all that trust worthy to me anyway, but my husband insisted. After a long day of being rained on, mud from head to toe, tired and ragged, I wearly climbed into the shower and didn't bat an eye towards the electrical system.
Hope your True-hee-yo plans are coming along.
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