I'm not an electrician but I have had two experiences now with a possible danger concerning showers with pull switches.

Three years ago I smelled a very weird smell while my electric shower was running. I'd describe it as a musty / fishy / sharp / unpleasant smell that comes on suddenly.

I guessed something might be wrong with the shower. When the electrician came and showed me the inside of the switch I was shocked, It was all burned inside and apparently this can be dangerous as the electricity can arc.

We had the switch replaced and were told that as showers become more modern and more powerful, the load is greater and that this overheating in the switch is common. You have to be careful how you pull the cord. Be positive but gentle.

This week I smelled the smell again, very suddenly but not quite as bad. This time the damage to the switch was very slight when the electrician opened it, but the same trouble had begun.

If you look at my photo, the blackening at the end of the screw indicates the problem.

I am writing this post to alert anyone who smells this odour from their shower to get an electrician to look at it right away.

Personally I think the pull switch is a bad design but many of us are stuck with them.

I was told the odour is created deliberately to alert people to problems.

So don't ignore a fishy smell from your shower and consult an electrician immediately.

Rain, are you saying the shower is somehow operated by this pull switch - or am I not quite understanding the situation? If that’s the case, I have never heard of such a thing. Perhaps it is peculiar to other countries (beside the US).

In any case, hope they are able to correctly address the issue once and for all.

Ive not heard of showers with pull switches either - am not sure if this is because we dont have such things in Australia or because we do but known by some other terminology

Im in England, and never heard of a pull switch for a shower.....
an electric light yes, but not a shower..
Our new Tritan shower is operated by pushing a button...
My iron started to smell awful recently, smoke started to billow too, so beware of irons also !! (unplug asap)

Rain wrote: I'm not an electrician but I have had two experiences now with a possible danger concerning showers with pull switches.

Three years ago I smelled a very weird smell while my electric shower was running. I'd describe it as a musty / fishy / sharp / unpleasant smell that comes on suddenly.

I guessed something might be wrong with the shower. When the electrician came and showed me the inside of the switch I was shocked, It was all burned inside and apparently this can be dangerous as the electricity can arc.

We had the switch replaced and were told that as showers become more modern and more powerful, the load is greater and that this overheating in the switch is common. You have to be careful how you pull the cord. Be positive but gentle.

This week I smelled the smell again, very suddenly but not quite as bad. This time the damage to the switch was very slight when the electrician opened it, but the same trouble had begun.

If you look at my photo, the blackening at the end of the screw indicates the problem.

I am writing this post to alert anyone who smells this odour from their shower to get an electrician to look at it right away.

Personally I think the pull switch is a bad design but many of us are stuck with them.

I was told the odour is created deliberately to alert people to problems.

So don't ignore a fishy smell from your shower and consult an electrician immediately.

Sorry, I am no help,because I have never heard of pull switch for showers.

We have a pull switch on our shower. We pull the on the cord and a light comes on to show the power is on for the shower. I’m always wary of that fishy smell from electrical appliances: it means there’s a problem.

Thank you, Rain. It’s good to make people aware of these things.

Yes, both my showers are of the same design as Aida's. The square switch has a long cord and it is positioned on the ceiling outside the actual shower booth, but nearby. The red light comes on when you pull the cord to show the shower is ready to use.
After pulling the switch on, you step in the shower and actually start the motor and pump by pushing a button on the shower unit itself. When finished, you push the button to stop the shower, get out and then pull the cord for the red light to go off. It's all fixed now with a nice shiny new switch. I am thankful for my keen sense of smell.

Have been using showers with the switch located in the ceiling operated with a pull chord at various times in my life, never had a problem with them. I know people who have replaced the shower for a more powerful one and forgot to upgrade the switch to take the extra power being consumed, so it did eventually failed.

yes pull cords are popular in the UK Rain ,a lot of the trouble is caused by the shower it'self , the steam rises to the pull cord and is making the switch Damp ... my advice to you would be to replace it with a switch outside the bathroom ... even though you have this pull chord you'll find it should still be safe just as long as your mains is up to British standard ,if so a cutout in the mains box should happen if it gets overloaded , thus preventing any fire ......

I’ve not heard a pull cord shower before , it doesn’t sound like it’s a good idea
Can’t it be changed to a regular shower .
My works from the combi boiler .