What Happens When You Use a SUICIDE SHOWER HEAD in the US

The Suicide Showerhead is one of the strangest electric appliances ever created, still in use today in hundreds of thousands of homes. But WHY? I wanted to learn more about this unusual appliance & share my findings.
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Disclaimer:
Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, I cannot guarantee against improper use or unauthorized modifications of this information. Silver Cymbal assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. Use this information at your own risk. Silver Cymbal recommends safe practices when working on machines and or with tools seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of Silver Cymbal, no information contained in this video shall create any expressed or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage, or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or from the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not Silver Cymbal.

[@SilverCymbal]

Thanks for watching. PLEASE LIKE & SUBSCRIBE - I don't recommend buying one of these but you can see them for sale here: amzn.to/3Nmsgdr

[@anthonyking4512]

When you didn't include a decent temp measurement I deduced it wasn't worth much.

[@jackforshaw4439]

Hi from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 we have had Combi boilers here for over 50 years. Blows my mind that they are still a new thing in the USA

[@nberedim]

At 2:10 you make a comment that has to be commented upon. Yes, "Positive" and "Negative" do not strictly mean anything in AC circuits, but "Phase" and "Neutral" do. You always put the switch on the phase and not the neutral, so that a device can not become energized even when it's off. Now, this device does seem to disengage both sides of the resistance (and that's good design when dealing with 50A) so there is nothing to worry about in this case.

[@testemunha]

Inverno: Winter. Verão: Summer. Not about temperature, but recommended season adjustment. And you never install in angle, but totally horizontal. Not positive and negative, but phase and neutral. That shower is one of the cheapest, and there is a joke here in Brazil about not being warm enough in Winter. Best ones came even with a small plastic rod attached to a potentiometer to adjust temperature "live", not possible with that one on vídeo. God bless you all! Jesus Christ came in flesh and is Holy and Blessed!

[@quantumtechcrypto7080]

FYI You gave possible mis information as there is a positive and negativeside to alternate current especially with a high amperage load. Small amperage won’t matter but high amperage should be connected correctly as stated in manufacturer instructions

[@hapasiuhengalu7586]

I used one of these until I was 14 years old and moved from Costa Rica to the US It’s funny, I used to watch old US sitcoms translated into Spanish. I would hear characters complain all the time that someone had “used up all the hot water” or scream that the water was cold when they got in the shower, and I never understood why In my head, everyone had one of these shower heads

[@tufab3494]

As a brazilian I thought the same lol

[@thomaslove6494]

That is actually pretty damn funny... 🤣😅

[@JXHNDRX]

@@thomaslove6494 this is true 🤣 "use up all the hot water" was always baffling to me growing up in Trinidad and Tobago

[@vixeythevixen]

i was always thinking when i was a kid about that when this stuff happens in simpsons like "this is so dumb, why would they pre warm the water, i'm glad i can stay a lot of time on the shower"

[@aiodensghost8645]

@@vixeythevixen because most of us Americans are impatient as all hell. But now that I've seen this I want one because heating water is a solid 1/3rd of my electric bill and this thing is looking like a godsend for reducing that.

[@Guiggs17]

Engineer here who lived 30 years in Brazil, where this type of shower was invented and 99% of the houses have one of these. The "suicide showers" got the name because the early versions were really dangerous, they could get too hot really fast and the resistance could fail easily because they were made of chrome and nickel. So this Brazilian refined the idea and came up with a version using different metals and allowing temperature control. Despite of the name, those showers are really safe, even in Brazil were most people doesn't install it correct ( most houses doesn't have grounding at all ) you have a greater chance of dying from a cellphone charger exploding then dying from a shower. It's not a problem at all. So, a few observations. - Electricity will always chose the less resistant patch, and your body will always have more resistance than the coil, unless it became defective and that's probably the one time you are at risk. - These showers have plastic housing for extra safety, the old ones was metallic being more dangerous. - The shower have 3 settings inverno = Winter, desligado = off, verão = summer. Around here, everybody knows that you shouldn't change the lever position with the shower on, because it can create some arc and you can be electrocuted. We do have some models with a long lever that allows to change the settings without risk. - We do have some fancy models were the heating coil is isolated from the water, adding extra security, but they are very expensive and rare. - The little tingling can happens in places having brackish water and/or bathrooms with metal pipes. The greater amount of salt of water can allow a little bit of current to pass to the human body, but it does not harm. Also, in places it metal pipes, fittings, drains and valves, we can have the same issue because of the lack of grounding. - Finally, a waterproof wire connector is not required, since the connection will be always be made at high heights, normally above 2meters.

[@fliegeesser4665]

Yes, I lived there so some time, and this is how it is most places. Never once did I get any “tingling” while showing.

[@localterrorist3155]

Don't you think if the shower head had a silicone shell outside the plastic it would help prevent arcing?

[@biamino]

99%? Source, please.

[@fliegeesser4665]

@@biamino how many houses have a shower? Every house I went in had a variation of that shower

[@Froggability]

I saw similar in Central America with a nude visible nichrome element

[@MarcusBuer]

Brazilian here. The unit you tested is actually very simple, cheap and low wattage. Here in the south of Brazil we have temperatures down to 0ºC (32ºF) -right know the temperature is at 14ºC (58ºF)-, so we use stronger units (mine is 220v 7800W), some with a TRIAC circuit to adjust the heating without having to decrease the water flow. The correct connector for it is a ceramic terminal block, sized to the gauge of the wire (6~16mm² / 10~6 AWG), that should be installed inside the outlet faceplate (not exposed to water). As long as you have a good ground (we often use a ground bar dedicated to each shower head) it is quite safe. But you should turn the water off before changing the season selector on top, to avoid electrical arcs. Oh, and we also have small electric heaters similar to this one, to connect to individual kitchen taps.

[@localterrorist3155]

Yeah but the amperage it takes is crazy, let alone if the resistor in the shower head or fuse went out that's a full on electric shower

[@scoobertmcruppert2915]

@@localterrorist3155 Good thing that not a thing that happens.

[@EnricoDias]

I'm also in the south and everything you said is true, but gas heaters are very common here. It's way more confortable to have the heater automatically control the final temperature, regardless of the water presure, flow and initial temperature. It's also super cheap if your building is directly connected to the gas network.

[@gabrielv.4358]

@@EnricoDias I didn't knew we had heaters in Brazil. I'm from south too.

[@parden3743]

@@EnricoDias I had both types and I like the electric I have now, it heats in an instant, while the gas ones I had to wait. I can control the temperature with precision using a rotating thing, don't know how to call it, while the gas ones always had heat and cold water to control. Mine has a good pressure, never tried full pressure, and I can change the angle of the head. It isn't too much expensive, but is worth it.

[@otaviobizariferreira]

Here in Brazil we really have this device and the photos shown are reality in some places. Honestly I've never heard of anyone dying from the electric shower, but gas inhalation deaths do happen, which makes the suicide shower seem funny. One thing that helps make the shower safer is that the water and sewer pipes are all PVC. Metal and copper pipes are used only in air conditioning. Another point is the reality that some houses do not have grounding. Another point is when the power connection is at 110V, the ground wire is connected together with the neutral wire. But when it is connected to 220V, (as is the case in most homes) grounding is not used and another benefit is that the electric current is reduced by half. Just a note, you should never change the shower temperature with the water on. This severely damages the electrical contacts and runs the risk of arcing (due to high amperage) and ending up creating bad contact at the terminals. I hope I could have contributed with some information.

[@flayncel]

some showers don't even let you switch the temperature with it on, I know I was used to switching mine without turning it off but recently switched and found out the one I got now locks the switch while it's on so you can't change it

[@a.c.4054]

Right? It's not the electric showerheads that kill Brazilians, it's the way we vote. No wonder our country has more murders than almost 80% of the world combined. We vote for commie thieves who defend criminals. This is what a country committing suicide looks like.

[@Henrque123]

I always thought it was a myth, so I often change temps with water flowing. But honestly nothing ever happened with me as I don't use high temps (although with high wattage showers/temps I could see it light up inside for a second..)

[@EnricoDias]

220v is usually used to get more power, so the current isn't half. Most 220v showers consume 7500W.

[@gabrielv.4358]

ALL the houses lack grounding, you mean, lol.

[@ricardoams]

Better installed than 99% of my entire country. For real.

[@SilverCymbal]

That company should include waterproof connectors in the box. It's still an amazing bit of engineering,

[@dallimamma]

@@SilverCymbal ::: Great idea!

[@GustavoBeta32]

Da pra instalar de qualquer jeito que vai funcionar, ninguém nunca morreu 😂

[@six8810]

@@GustavoBeta32 se morreu vc tbm não saberia

[@GustavoBeta32]

@@six8810 seria uma benção kkkkkjjj

[@luizmenezes9971]

As a brazilian, It was hilarious how terrified they are of this humble shower.

[@caioalbues7611]

kkkkkkkkk coloquei nesse video e fiquei pensando "ué mas esse chuveiro é normal é o que eu tenho em casa não entendi"

[@idkanymore3382]

brazil is saddest country

[@sailor5853]

Vai entender a mania do brasileiro de usar chuveiro elétrico e dormir com o ventilador ligado. Vocês tem tudo gato na casa é? Haja energia.

[@luizmenezes9971]

@@sailor5853 Electrical showers are less of a hurdle to install and maintain than having a boiler like americans do. And with natural gas at 20 dollars a bottle, electricity is a lot cheaper. Also, sleeping with fans turned on helps to keep mosquitoes away.

[@blitz-625]

As an HVAC tech that has a good understanding of electrical. I’d be like hell no on using this. I was like wtf, when he said places don’t use a ground.

[@theguywhoasked3833]

As a brazilian i am kinda shocked to see people calling them suicide shower heads, since in almost every house i go to has these shower heads (especially in the low income houses) and i never heard ONE person dying or being injured because of this shower head That shower head literally carried showering in brazil on its back

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

But in reality brasil or brazil or brazioli isn't even a real place? No?

[@theguywhoasked3833]

@@chrisakaschulbus4903 shhh don't expose our secret

[@luizgustavodelimapreviero4895]

Little Correction: The position of high temperature reads "inverno", not "invemo", which stands for "winter" in portuguese, probably the letters "r" and "n" fused together during production, appearing to be an "m". As expected, "verão" means "summer" in the low temperature setting. This shower head is almost certainly brazilian, since the writings are in portuguese. Here, they are hugely popular as we rarely have piped gas in our homes.

[@SilverCymbal]

Yes, 100% right. I spent so long trying to see why I couldn't the the translation and you are right, if you look at the pic the silk screening through me for a loop. I am so glad to have you confirm this.

[@williansoaresbatista8612]

@@SilverCymbal that shower is original? if not you erased the logo and/or buy at "Brazilian eBay" (mercado livre) And the"invemo" is not correct in Brazil-Portuguese language... ...well i tink that shower is not original Search for electric shower, brand's like corona, fame and (principally) Lorenzetti are the best Please make unboxing video of that shower (if possible) Sorry my bad english, is really bad

[@iax2sip]

It really reads "invemo". The QC (quality control) people did a huge mistake by not correcting it. Made in China, poor QC and pretty sure no certification from UL, INMETRO or any other one.

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

Made up places and made up googoo languages. Like you don't see me or other nice educated folk talking like that.

[@urgetodrive]

You gotta review their other product... it's a toaster that you toss into the bathtub to heat up the water.

[@SilverCymbal]

Now if you watch all my videos you will know I already did that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6XJp6eArtqWfsU

[@TimBowermeister]

@@SilverCymbal Haha

[@kenlompart9905]

🤣🤣🤣

[@jr42a1]

Gringos in the US need their hands held by attournies lookin for law suits. These are safe and no law suit needed. Leve your attourney at home and practice safe common sense. Trust me,your life will be happier. Just install it properly.

[@TrippinBusa]

That's wild

[@jessicanicolebelmonte6252]

I grew up in Paraguay in the 1970s and 1980s. We got our first electric shower (as they are called there) in late 1979. Before that we used a shower bucket with a capacity of about 15-20 liters. So "cold" showers were the norm. For a warm shower we heated the water on the stove and dumped it in the shower bucket just before showering. Now a days the electric shower is usually run on a dedicated 25A circuit (at 230V). The plus (+) and minus (-) signs on the connecting cables have a very specific purpose: you want your "switch" to be on the "phase" side of your heating element, not on the "neutral" side. If you get the polarity wrong, you run a very high risk of getting shocked as soon as you turn on the water tap. For new installations (since about 10 years ago) it is standard to have a big CFM breaker installed in the breaker panel, right after the main breaker, that feeds the individual circuit breakers. The neutral is connected to ground at the meter box by the electric company. And the ground circuit in the house is also connected to the neutral line in the main breaker panel. So it is rather common to connect the shower ground wire directly to the neutral line to prevent the CFM breaker from popping. Though this also depends on the mineral content of the water. We quickly learned to keep our hands (and other body parts) at least 30-50cm away from the shower head, in order to avoid electric shocks. With lower mineral content, less distance; and with higher mineral content, more distance! And yes, the higher your available flow rate is, you will be able to make a bigger temperature adjustment. Also, if your faucet is only a quarter turn to fully open you will have less ability to fine tune the water temperature than if you faucet takes two full turn to fully open. Complaint: For safety reasons the shower head needs to installed with the input pipe as close to horizontal as possible. With your inclined installation the shower head drains when turned off and you risk turning the heater on dry. The installation instructions caution to run the shower without electricity for at least 30 seconds after installation or maintenance in order to drain all air out of the heating chamber.

[@trevorsmith5524]

This situation is often called a loaded neutral.

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you for sharing this, this is very interesting, especially the switching and polarity info!

[@MoltenSamurai]

Man, scary, I’m glad to have freezing cold groundwater here

[@ricardounido]

The hose and sprayer he mention its actualy a safety feature... Has to be install in the wall away of the person.. When the mineral deposits clug the small holes of the shower the pressure open this plunge and release the water

[@forger9443]

@@trevorsmith5524 And if there's a problem with the neutral being grounded... guess what/who's gonna act as the ground.....

[@sanitman1488]

As a U.S. National whom has lived in Brazil and Costa Rica , I’ve used these shower-heads and can attest it does the job very well and never experienced any problems..

[@citter96]

I know those! Here in Argentina we call them "ducha brasilera" (Brazilian shower) that one you got there is a pretty cheap one but also one of the most cost-effective that there are, it doesn't give a lot of heat but better brands usually offer better experiences

[@choppergunner8650]

I believe it depends on the shower model. Here in Brazil, I remember once that my dad had a really, REALLY powerful shower head that we ended up ditching later, because the damn thing almost scalded your skin with boiling hot water. That thing was insane.

[@vitorvalter7963]

im brazilian and i can confirm that they are "safe" even on 240volt, and yes there is not a single case of death by this kind of shower at least not on brazil that is

[@SilverCymbal]

I appreciate the feedback. When I started this video I thought there would be many accidents but as you said their engineering cleverness seems to have created a surprisingly safe device.

[@lucas.tadeu021]

@@SilverCymbal Well, i think because we get used to it and depending on the installation it doesn't shock you. in my parents house its a 220v (fase + fase )and without a ground cable, in my bathroom its shock you slightly if you touch the register when its on, and on my parents its doesn't with the same shower head. In my uni apartment its 220v( fase + neutral ) with ground and i can say its safe, it only shocks you if you turn off the wrong breaker and proceed to install a shower head 🤡. And if your hand gets too close to the head sometimes you can fell slightly the current.

[@dinamosflams]

its safer to use it on 110v tho. since you have less tension trying to overcome resistance and you will NEVER experience eletric shocks on 110v 220 you might receive eletric shocks if the register is made out of metal

[@gaveintothedarkness]

I think it wouldnt be as sketchy looking if the wires were longer and were hooked up somewhere outside of the shower.

[@SilverCymbal]

I totally agree, every brand only gives you short wires like this, strange.

[@gsilva220]

It's all a matter of cost and liability. Giving you only 5 inches of cable also allows them to make the shower heads with thinner wire. Making them with an external connector would cost more, as it would be necessary to pinch the wire with a high strength mechanism to ensure a good connection. Some brands will give you a 20 inch long cable with 2-layer insulation and a plastic tube that hides the cable for a cleaner installation.

[@joseislanio8910]

He bought probably the cheapest one. The one I use came with an extra sleeve of isolation in the three cables (live, neutral and ground), the cables being longer than the distance from the wall, so I could connect it safely in a "closed outlet" (I'm not sure how to call it) with a ceramic conector. It also has its own grounding, not shared with the other ground installations in the house.

[@Ranerio]

@@SilverCymbal the wires are short because they are supposed to be inside a box in the wall , just above the pipe. Most of brazil has very soft water. Where the water is harder we get a bit of tingling when the showers are not properly installed. Most of the country uses these. And in second to that we use solar heating. A black panel on the top of the house and a cylinder to store hot water. But you need to make the second piping for hot water, which most homes just have one piping for cold water. It is a lot of fun to see someone describing so perfectly the dangers of ontle thing we take for granted and never really about. I have never heard of anyone dying because of these showers but of course it may be unreported. You got the cheapest and most sold model in the country. We can buy one like this in a neighborhood supermarket or so.

[@johanherrera6413]

It's all about money, that's the cheapest one there's plenty of mid to high range electric showers like those that come with plenty of safeguards, quality wiring and fancy designs.

[@Hold-my-beer]

Wow back in the 90s I spent the summers in Puerto Rico with my grandmother. She lived in the mountains and I remember using one of these shower heads. Seeing this shower head just brought back so many memories from fishing or swimming in the river, walking like a mile to the bakery every day for fresh bread, playing up and down the mountain with the neighborhood kids, and picking fresh fruit whenever we got hungry instead of going home to eat. Man I wish I could turn back time and relive those days.

[@Turbojonny5]

Me too

[@choossuck7653]

In no vitriol at all, why do so many puerto rican people move to USA? I always see that Puerto Rico is very beautiful. It seems like you would want to move there from the USA

[@Hold-my-beer]

It’s a very beautiful place. I was born in the US my parents were from Puerto Rico. My father currently lives in PR. I visit when I can every few years but it’s not really a good place to try and make a life. Jobs that pay decent are hard to come by, poverty and crime is very high, electricity and water get shut down daily, and when the island is hit by a natural disaster it becomes a free for all type of environment. It’s not like it was back in the 90s unfortunately. I love the island and I love to visit but it’s not somewhere I want to live or raise my children.

[@Turbojonny5]

@@choossuck7653 High drug-related crimes and high cost of living vs low wages are the reason to move from there. Otherwise,the place is literally a paradise. And this comment coming from someone that was born in the Caribbean but has been residing in the Northeast since the 2000s 😒 I am seriously getting fed up that we literally lose half a year worth of time due the crappy weather around Massachusetts.

[@elisaassis8153]

This is so funny! I’m a Brazilian girl! I grown up talking shower in this kind of shower and I’ve never heard about any accident, even with the bad installation that people used to make. Watching your video explaining something so common to me was pretty funny and curious hahahha I love it!!!! I love how the world can have a lot of curiosity and differences between cultures!!!!!

[@zrrifle.]

Lived in Central America a couple years - many times I've gotten an electrical shock using these if making contact with the head while showering. Had one explode on me at the end of its life cycle, getting burned with the sparks shooting out of it. Also, the lower the water pressure (and slower the flow), the hotter the water will be coming out of these. There were times the pressure would fluctuate and get so low the water would be scalding hot.

[@samuel90497]

I have 26 years, and never get shocked by an shower, and i see lots of bad installations

[@gabiferreira6864]

Why were you even touching the head of the shower while it was on? Of course you're gonna get shocked! Just turn it off before changing the temperature!

[@-rjbass95-19]

@@gabiferreira6864 often they are installed very low. For example I am 6 foot 3 inches. I lived in Peru for two years, where the average male is 5 foot 5. Needless to say I was shocked on multiple occasions.

[@alanmcguinn]

@@-rjbass95-19 100% agree. I'm 6`2" and went traveling in South America. I frequently got shocked because my head was much closer to the shower heads. One exploded on me in Lima after giving me a shock too. These may not kill people, but definitely aren't safe if you get too close to. Feels like someone is stabbing your scalp.

[@Wuqz]

@@-rjbass95-19 this is the one of the few situations where i can see these things being considerably dangerous.. peruvians are so short, especially women. My ex is 4'10, so I'm sure there's a bunch of installations below 5'5" lol.

[@brunocouto7118]

The word “invemo” is actually inverno, that means winter. Looks like your unit had an issue in the print on the shower head. The word verão means summer And desliga means off

[@SteveSilverActor]

My shower had one of those when I lived in Costa Rica back in '94. The only way you could get water that was somewhat warm was to make the water pressure weak enough to where it spent more time in the heating element. The climate is quite cool in the central valley there, especially in the mornings, and it was never very comfortable.

[@Enigma1990ad]

I'm Trinidadian and I have been using one of these types of shower heads for over 15 years and have never gotten electrocuted. It's ridiculously cheap and the element inside to replace is even cheaper and so easy anyone can do it. If it's shocking you then the electrician who did the work to run the connection to it had no idea what he was doing.

[@gustavoribeiro7437]

Great video! We've been using this kind of shower heads for, at least, 50 years in Brazil. Nowadays they seem to be much safer than the ones sold in the 80s and 90s. The model you have in the video is the most popular one sold here in Brazil and it's also the cheapest one on the market. Considering that most of the Brazilian territory is composed of tropical zones, it does the job!

[@theinquisitor3930]

I lived in Brasil for two years and every showerhead was one of these. It was nice to have the option of talking a shower for an hour or more and the temperature never dropped 😆

[@adamsfusion]

Another factor working in the benefit of safety here is that the water coming from the head isn't a solid, clear laminar flow. Rather, the water coming out is a turbulent flow full of individual drops that only maintain connection with each other momentarily several times as it falls. If a high voltage device were connected to the source, this is the sort of flow you'd want coming at you as the electricity will be far less likely to travel down that path.

[@KJMcLaws]

I used this in Mexico. Way better than 60°F showers. It made an already miserable experience more tolerable. They keep their water in a tinaco on the roof so in the morning, the water is the same temp as ambient air. I liked to turn down the water to where it just barely kept it powered and it would make the water actually feel warm.

[@schizeckinosy]

This is the comment I was looking for. You adjust the temperature with the water flow!

[@WardenWolf]

Sounds like it could be useful for RV showers, although tankless water heaters are more popular for that nowadays and can fairly easily be retrofitted to even older RVs.

[@trevorsmith5524]

I have a "point of use" tankless heater. It's meant to go under a sink. I've got it powering a whole efficiency apartment. Works great for a shower if the sink is off. It was cheaper than doing one for each

[@ericnortan9012]

@@trevorsmith5524 I'm an electrician, we install those a lot. Mostly commercial restrooms but I have done some residential installs for showers and under sinks.

[@h8GW]

Uhm, do RVs have a source to ground? I _really_ don't think this is a good idea if someone wants an outside shower.

[@myklelara]

The fact that you state most accidents happen when this shower head is not installed to the manufacturer’s recommendation, proceed to install in a manner not that of the manufacturer’s recommendation, and then just stick your hand in it with a little glove just for a video, shows how confident you are in your build. Props.

[@darylloth3237]

Great review. Do not change the temperature with water running. It is better to move the temperature switch when there is no water pressure engaging the contacts. Always run enough water so that a good electrical contact is made. If it is right at the pressure that causes the contacts to barely touch you will get electrical arcing and could cause damage to the unit through overheating.

[@MassimoTava]

I used these for many years as a kid, they are safe but I have felt tingles when turning water on or off. Most of South America is 240v but many cities and few countries are 110v. If you want to watch another video on this, DiodegoneWild made some good ones.

[@coreybabcock2023]

Yep

[@james10739]

I'm assume you probably couldn't get it hot enough with only 120v and a not huge wires

[@MarcusBuer]

​@@james10739 110v/127v usually tops at 5500W / 50A. The appropriate gauge would be 10mm²/ 8AWG. For 220V they top at 7800W / 36A, so you can use thinner cables. The appropriate gauge would be 6mm² / 10AWG.

[@james10739]

@Marcus Buer I mean he ran 12awg and that's about what it looked like was on the unit and I guess for as long as you are going to run it for 8awg would be fine but thats still pretty big wire to run to your shower

[@milesparris4045]

I used to live in an apartment in Texas where the main water was just a few inches below the asphalt in the parking lot, and in the summer the water coming in was close to 90°. The hot water line from the heater ran through the vaulted ceiling roof, and when I would first turn on the hot water in the bathroom it was hotter than the water coming from the heater set at 140°.

[@PatThePerson]

Having hot water closer to the point of use is more environmentally friendly because you don’t need to waste a gallon of water to get hot water. That or a system that takes water from the outlet and sends it back to the water heater through the cold inlet so it can preheat the water in the pipe when you plan to use it.

[@MrPir84free]

A recirculating system seems like it would make sense; but many builders would choose not to include such a system because it would add to the cost of building a home; and many builders will do almost anything to shave costs. Retrofitting after the fact is expensive; easier and cheaper to just flush the pipes. With rapidly rising utility costs, well, it's probably cheaper without. I did check Amazon on pricing of mini-hot water heaters for inline use; so retrofitting the master bathroom, which is about 110 feet away might be surprisingly cheaper than I thought; but still a PITA to rework AFTER the fact because everything is buried within the walls, or under the slab. Electrical might still be a significant design configuration issue however.

[@englishtree]

10 years and 10,000 showers later, still working for me!

[@DrivenDynamicsTV]

being from the US, i've never heard of this before. that being said, now that i am aware of what it is and why other countries may use it, i'm extremely interested in reading the experiences of those from other countries in the comments! nice video, as always!

[@hg-sx5nk]

It's the standard in several countries in South America, so I dare to say at least 300M people use these type of showers everyday. The tingling sensation is often felt when you have to open/close a metal faucet, there's probably a current loop between the water (a bad conductor) e the faucet (good conductor to earth). Accidents do happens, but they are rare and tipically related to someone who try to change the off/winter/summer switch with the shower on (not recommended). The shower shown on the video is a very cheap one, USD15 or 20. There are better products that include continuously adjustable temperature and even a pump for places with low water flow.

[@MarcusBuer]

Brazilian here. The unit he tested is actually very simple, cheap and low wattage. Here in the south of Brazil we have temperatures down to 0ºC (32ºF) -right know the temperature is at 14ºC (58ºF)-, so we use stronger units (mine is 220v 7800W), some with a TRIAC circuit to adjust the heating without having to decrease the flow. The correct connector for it is a ceramic terminal block, sized to the gauge of the wire (6~16mm²), that should be installed inside the outlet faceplate (not exposed to water). As long as you have a good ground (we often use a ground bar dedicated to each shower head) it is quite safe. Oh, and we also have small electric heaters similar to this one, to connect to individual kitchen taps.

[@minacapella8319]

Similar here. As a usian I've never heard of it but learning about it here and the people who use them is interesting

[@gabiferreira6864]

If you don't try to change it's settings (winter/summer/off) while it is running, there's not much risk of getting shocked. Literally, we've been using these for decades now and there's barely any accidents, even in areas where people don't know how to properly wire them.

[@MonkeyMod]

Ikr

[@kaboom362]

Never a dull video. Never seen one of those before. Thanks to you. I now know they exist. I must admit. They look a bit sketchy but if the need arose.. I'm sure I'd get over it.

[@elorenzo98]

These things have been used in my family for generations. Nobody ever hurt nor shocked. Nowadays you find the high resistance ones that actually get pretty hot, more than what I can bear. So even though they look scary , these showerheads are actually cheap to make, cheap to maintain and more eco friendly than the huge tank system or gas boiler.

[@carlosjuniorfox]

Here in Brazil, you can find those showers almost in every home. Here it's just called an electric shower and we don't see those showers as dangerous. I don't know about any case of somebody dying while taking a shower with those here in Brazil, but a got a shock from the faucet sometimes when the shower wasn't well grounded or not grounded at all. For Brazilians, gas-heated water scares us more than electric showers, and in some houses, the resident omits it, installing an electric one in the place of a gas-heated one. But there's a reason. It's because, in the past, heaters were placed in the bathroom and unlike electrical ones, we have many reports of people dying while taking a shower because of many reasons. Since poisoning by CO2 from leaked gas brewing all the place. About the nomenclature, "verão" means "summer", while "Inverno" means "winter" and that nomenclature was supposedly for been used in those modes over the described season, but practically this wasn't the case, meaning that referring to "summer" for low and "winter" for high it's just an old tradition that nobodies have broken yet.

[@robelissa3015]

This is the same type of shower-head we have in our house. it Zapped me multiple times and it really traumatized me 🙂

[@choppergunner8650]

Probably badly installed

[@woppini]

Im shocked that people use it

[@FuckTheState]

😂😂

[@daniellauck9565]

I am from Brasil. Here these suicide showers are very common. The white one you are using to demonstrate has words in Portuguese , like desliga=off, verão=summer and inverno=winter. When I was a kid, we don't keep the water flow so high, just as minimal. Due this the water temperature is higher.

[@Werk4Cash]

What a great invention this is, props to whoever thought of an electric heating shower head!!

[@t.d.harris1311]

This why I love KZbin, videos on everything from apples to zebras, but your rat, mice video was the best. I went around my house and found the hole the mice was coming inside the walls. Thanks for all your most interesting and helpful content, stay safe brother.

[@SilverCymbal]

So glad you like the videos. I can't overstate how bad the mice problem was in this house. It is over for me and I have gotten a lot of feedback about it helping others too. So glad its working for you too. Thanks again!

[@tom5cox]

stayed at a B&B in mexico couple years back. place had hot water issues. owners installed these in every room. worked fine but often wondered when the JOLT was coming...(thanks for the video)

[@97TRAKIN]

My grandparent's house had one of these in the Caribbean. The housing was made of metal and it sometimes gave a little tingle. Their fuse box was an actual fuse box with screw in type fuses in it.

[@Andrea-xs4ny]

I lived in South America and had one of these suicide shower heads. The water in the kitchen was also on-demand. I think it's pretty common down there. By the way, winters where I lived were COLD, so hot showers were definitely appreciated.

[@mikefooyc8237]

There's more advanced version found in malaysia following UK standard. Multiple layers of safety encased in a minimum IP55 rated square box the size of a small medicine cabinet. Inside it's got a flow sensor(reed switch with a magnetic ball usually), over temp cut off, ceramic filled stainless steel tube heating element inside a small PA6 case(like a hot water dispenser) then everything is connected to a built in GFCI, building codes also require gfci at the breaker box. Since the case is rather roomy, some units have centrifugal booster pump inside. I hate it since it's noisy, much prefer a high performance booster pump located at the mains water inlet. Heating power is adjustable via triac diac circuit (like a light dimmer) on plastic stands. Knobs and buttons are oversized to form a cover with a long plastic pin at the back to interface with the circuit board. Final fail safe is the plastic shower hose. Every couple of years despite multiple redundancies, someone gets electrocuted. Maybe they had bad grounding, bad main gfci and the more sensitive built in gfci, and maybe they switched out the plastic shower hose to a fancy metallic hose. Why don't we have a central hot water heater? Water from the mains is plenty warm enough for washing. No need for huge tank of hot water sitting there, dedicated hot water piping and expensive mixer taps. Just turn on and have warm shower in seconds, for as long as you want without worry of running out of hot water. There's virtually no risk of scalding since it always starts cold then heats up rapidly.

[@juniorross3396]

Would these types of shower heads even work with a gfci? aren't they designed to trip when the current passes through the ground wire?

[@jhamm15]

I’ve used this head in Lima, Peru and it definitely was not grounded. It was just connected to a breaker box nearby. Occasionally you’d feel a tingling sensation. I don’t think there was grounding in electrical in the house since all the outlets were 2-prong. The sucky thing is that you have to turn the faucet to a lower pressure to get hot water.

[@wtbman]

Yep. Experienced the Peruvian suicide showers as well. I made sure when in a new apartment to ground them to at least some rebar in the structure of the house before use. You could tell which ones were problematic when previous users wrapped electrical tape around the shower knob. That's where you'd get shocked.

[@BLUE_OCTOBER-TRIX]

Nope wouldn’t trust it

[@haraldhelfgott195]

Right. Grew up with these in Lima - never again. Local models were supposedly better insulated than the Brazilian imports, and certainly heated water more (Lima weather is not Rio weather). Still, it's enough to hit the shower head to get a shock - and goodness help you if somebody in the house flushes the toilet!

[@hassanbazzi3545]

So neat. I remember we had one installed in our house in the late 70,s. We used 220V. The only problem we those are the installation and have to be professionally done. Thank you for sharing

[@paulemmm2538]

I have been to Brazil twice; they are in every household and work very well.

[@suburbanacreage]

No idea this existed! Dicey as hell

[@FuckTheState]

Nah, they are extremely safe.

[@JBB685]

I’ve often thought about a faucet like this while standing at the sink waiting for the hot water to get there. Didn’t know they already existed, much less were so popular. Thanks!

[@AlexandreMS71]

Electric faucets in the sinks are pretty common here in Brazil. I have one that is rated at 5500W and is necessity in the south.

[@davidwilken3584]

Went to Costa Rica a few years back and this is what was installed in the shower. Sketchy wiring at the best. Took the shortest showers ever in my life. Didn’t want to die there. 😂

[@steveyaussy2832]

As a retired master electrician I have seen these throughout Central and South America. Suicide shower head is rightly named. I haven’t seen one installed with GFCI protection or proper sized conductors. I’ve taken hot showers using them, but was very careful as I thought staying alive was more important than a hot shower.

[@ricardoiarossi]

Never ever heard about a death caused by those showers… its been used for decades here in Brazil. GFCI? Most of the homes doesnt even have ground\earth wires. But still, 0 deaths.

[@jr2904]

@@ricardoiarossi then you're all very lucky

[@ricardoiarossi]

@@jr2904 not really, there are 200 milions of Brazilians taking shower every day. What makes it safe enough that no one ever died, I dont know, I agree that it doesnt look safe at all. But if it were not, we would need more than lucky, dont you agree?

[@flayncel]

@@ricardoiarossi i was thinking about this while taking a shower a few days ago lol and I think the fact that it's usually high up means kids don't get to touch it, and when we're tall enough to reach it, we already know better and aren't dumb enough to touch the dangerous parts. I just looked up (obviously in pt-br) about deaths caused by these showers, and there seem to be only a few articles that are YEARS apart, so yeah I would be surprised if the amount of deaths by suicide shower got into the triple digits, i guess we brazilians are just built different 🤷‍♀

[@ricardok5593]

GFCI is too expensive down there. People can't afford it.

[@FuckTheState]

I grew up showering with these. They are extremely safe. Now in some cases people get the tingling sensation due to a high concentration of minerals on the water combined woth a lakc of a ground wire. Some people unexplicably connect the ground to one of the “hot wires”. Usualky nothing happnes but it’s dumb af.

[@Sick_Fuck]

I also feel that tingling sensation when i have an open wound.

[@iair-conditiontheoutsideai3076]

Definitely not safe get a real tankless water heater

[@raized943]

@@iair-conditiontheoutsideai3076 "Definitely not safe" - literally everyone uses it in Brazil, with no deaths. Only way to hurt yourselr is if you reach up and grab wires that are exposed while soaking wet.

[@iair-conditiontheoutsideai3076]

@@raized943 I bet you throw a space heater in your bathtub right? What an idiotic thing to shower with 240 above your head

[@bryanbrunner2961]

I have lived in Puerto Rico for 38 years and these heaters are common here. I have taken thousands of showers with them but one time one exploded and burned while I was taking a shower. I removed them all from our showers and we now have a solar water heater.

[@Saaj2]

It is worth putting the clamp meter on the ground wire to see how much current it leaks to ground. I imagine it would vary based on what minerals are in your water supply but would be interested to see.

[@mericm]

Great video! We use these in Kenya 🇰🇪 Personally I've been using a similar instant shower daily for more than 20yrs. My house is properly earthed. Never had a single tingling/ shock experience. They're affordable and easy to maintain (the heating elements are replaceable).

[@igorc.k.3184]

Brazilian here, lemme share some things about this: First of all, dads are the same throughout the world, and they're not paying someone to do something they can do for free. That means the number one technician for this kind of shower is your own dad, so you know the deal. I've seen and heard about some failures regarding the top part of the shower, all of them related to poor wiring. I've seen melted wires shorting, which resulted in overheating and partial melting of the shower. I've also witnessed one of these f'ers blowing up the top part after a violent short circuit. That happened in our beachside home, which received less than adequate maintenance. My dad was showering and it simply blew up in blue sparks, also melting the top of the shower. He didn't get hurt, but he ran away naked from the bathroom, which resulted in a lifelong joke about the event.

[@briandjordjevic9969]

Cool and scary. 50 amps on 12 wire

[@throttlebottle5906]

he's lucky the poor 12awg wire didn't become the primary heat output source. 🤣

[@JBlooey]

I visited family in Quito, Ecuador for two weeks. Nearly shat myself when I saw this in my grandma's bathroom. I practically cried tears of joy when we visited Mindo and our cabin had a water heater!

[@Rovsau]

Always wondered about those things. Thanks for the detailed review!

[@SilverCymbal]

Happy to help!

[@billylacharity3443]

If they were able to get something like this to work on 20 or 30 amp, and it got decent temps, I could see it being useful for camping with a tent or a trailer that does not have a shower. That or an outdoor shower for your pool if the area is too hard to run a hot water line to.

[@luiztosk]

here in Brazil we do have 30A versions but they run on 220V, not sure if you can get them there

[@wachocs16]

I'm from Argentina. We have one of those at the factory of my dad. It works really great, he sometimes showers there and there is no gas installation nor you want to wait for a tank of water to heat up I traveled to Brazil a few times, most "hotel houses" have them. Only one time it was REALLY bad installed. The ground surely wasn't connected and the water pipes made out of metal When you tried to change the water pressure it will numb you hand a bit, because you are grounding yourself at 220v over your heat you could sense a tingling on your toes against the ceramic floor

[@thomasaltruda]

I’ve used these in hostels down in central/South America and have gotten tingles when using it!

[@felypeforte]

I’ve got one of those, just a different model, but the installation is perfect. Great electrician.

[@localterrorist3155]

The danger of it not having a ground is if the source of power has too high of voltage it can overload the circuit, blow a resistor or fuse and potentially start a fire. Especially if there is a power outage from a storm, if someone happens to be taking a shower and a transformer is overloaded that someone could have a gnarly unexpected shock

[@gabrielv.4358]

You made a great video! I find quite hilarious that it's called suicide shower. I've seen people installing the ground directly to the "negative" side, without any problems. The only problem I've seen it myself and is pretty rare, was when the water went out and someone was showering, and the safety valve failed, then the shower burnt itself really bad, but not making much smoke or mess, just a burnt shower. Edit: (I'm from Brazil btw) Edit 2: There is a "Electronic" type of this shower, which you can manually adjust the temperature, even while showering. Edit 3: Quite a lot of houses in Brazil don't have a working ground pin on the wall outlets. Edit 4: The shower shown on this video is from Brazil, given the text that's on it. Edit 5: Some showers are installed in line with a circuit breaker, in case something goes wrong, the circuit breaks.

[@garygellermann2689]

I used one in Panama and one in Grenada last month. Both gave a jolt if you tried to change the settings while in the shower. Lesson learned!

[@markarca6360]

I had seen one on a newspaper ad here in the Philippines. You should install an GFCI-enabled circuit breaker for additional protection.

[@keyvinle1]

These are dual voltage. You can get warmer water on 240v. You typically would only get shocked if one of the heating elements were broken, the hot side was flipped and you had an open ground. And even then most plumbing in central and South America is PVC, so you'd be pretty safe from a major shock unless the water was heavy on minerals.

[@danablack223]

That's absolutely false! Whoever is reading this please DO NOT PUT YOUR 120V SHOWER HEAD OVER 220V! 120v has a specific resistance built into and using it on higher voltages will at minimum fry your equipment, let alone fire and life hazard Potential!

[@keyvinle1]

@@danablack223 they literally have come with a 120/220v sticker on them

[@danablack223]

There is none. You might be mistaken for a 110-120V, which is an acceptable range, but there's definitely no 110,120-220V shower head

[@nocare]

Although its definitely possible that there might be a unit out there that says 120v/220v it seems unlikely because at one of the voltages it wouldn't be usable. The wattage difference between the two voltages is a factor of 4. So a 120v 5000 watt unit would consume 24,000 watts at 240V. If its 5000 watts at 240 volts you get a measly 1250 watts at 120V. As such you either get way too much heat or not enough. There is no way around this without having a circuit to either adjust the voltage or multiple sets of heating elements with different resistances for the diffrent voltages.

[@keyvinle1]

@@nocare I mean. You can always increase the water flow if it's too hot.

[@NatInTheHat49]

We have these showers in Kenya as well . My first time in Kenya as a brit I was shocked seeing these showers and the crude electrical tape over the exposed wires . The worst thing I've experienced is you sometimes can get a shock from the shower on off tap(fossit) if the ground isn't fitted correctly. I also had a small house fire from them I had two showers going at once in my house (8person family) and looks like it was too much power and the fuse box ignited luckily we were all okay

[@mrtechie6810]

Lol sounds safe. ;-)

[@mrfancygoat]

I didn't know you were from NH! It's really cool seeing people from my state. Keep up the good work.

[@SilverCymbal]

Thank you very muich, glad to be here, beautiful state

[@iarlohenrique7535]

it’s so cool seeing people saying that never has seen one of these, this is literally EVERYWHERE in brasil, and it’s safe, i never saw any accident with it, so dope.

[@MassimoTava]

Not a big deal but the labels on the switch translate to (winter, off, summer) or high, off, low. The shower makes the same noise as a coffee maker but louder. They may pull too many amps if you try to use it at 110v.

[@SilverCymbal]

So glad you shared this, I searched for so long and I think it was a printing error and should have said Vernmo

[@bforman1300]

Got zapped by one in Guatemala. It's awkward being tall in a country where few people get enough protein as children and therefore don't reach their growth potential. Had to crouch in the shower to avoid accidentally touching the shower head, even when I wasn't washing my hair. For the record, the water never became what you and I would consider 'warm'. I had to brace myself going in and kept my showers very short, but it was better than no heat at all.

[@diegoestrada56]

You are absolutely right about people in Guatemala not being tall, i would be considered average height in the U.S but here i am tall af, everytime i go outside i just tower over people, i feel like a giant when i known i'm literally not lol.

[@wayne3340]

I'm impressed that you gave this such a thorough and fair review. For Americans, who have never seen anything like this, and are generally against anything unfamiliar (I'm generalizing) it will look ridiculous, but millions of people use this type of shower every day. I have enjoyed a hot shower countless times while visiting Brazil, and never heard of anyone being hurt by one. I actually went to the Walmart in Sao Paulo when they still had one and bought a nice rain shower model to replace the old one at my in-laws house. I went to the hardware store across the street and with my broken Portuguese, purchased some Marrettes, electrical tape and Teflon tape. I did the install and hid the wiring inside the snap down channel on top of the pipe. It's still working good 6 years later. When we travel, it's important to remember that many things will be different than what we're used to. Great video, God bless.

[@ryuukeisscifiproductions1818]

I think my main concern with these as an American is not safety but efficiency. A 20 degree temperature rise for an over 5000 watt heating element is not particularly good, not when a similar wattage tankless water heater can achieve about double that temperature rise for the same amount of power consumed.

[@dansouza1623]

I grew up with one of those until I was ~19 years old. Even with dubious wiring, I've never had any electrical shocks from it, but had occasional little tingling shocks (missing grounding). Fun fact: sometimes the shower handle would be metal and I'd get a little shock from touching it LOL

[@chucksw1]

Most homes have this in Colombia, you can get a hotter shower with a lower flow of water,.. I'm glad we have gas water heaters here!

[@Duke_of_Prunes]

My wife's place in Bogota has those heads in one of the bathroom -- definitely an incentive to shower quickly 😳

[@CelgDelve]

In England, we sometimes have electrically heated hot taps and shower boxes, this is quite similar and is handy when the hot water tank from the boiler is empty.

[@haraldhelfgott195]

That's different (and yes, I've used both, having grown in Peru and lived in a rented place in the UK that had one of those). The UK devices I know go on the wall and are presumably very well-insulated. I got my share of minor (but extremely unpleasant) electric shocks hitting my head against one of these suicide showers in Peru in the 80s and 90s. Also, the amount of resistance in an electrical shower head does not change when the water flow changes. (Does it change in a UK shower box? No idea, as water pressure in my flat was consistently good.) Water pressure in many places where these showers get used is quite low, so it's enough for somebody to flush the toilet or even turn on the tap for water flow to become low enough that you will get scalded. The device can even get damaged because of the heat. Perhaps these shower heads have improved, but it's not reassuring to hear "it's safe if installed well". Right now I'm staying in a university guest house in Uganda with Brazilian suicide showerheads. (Yes, it's a Brazilian brand.) I've been taking cold showers. Today I woke up before dawn, and thought I would give in and try to take a hot shower. There were sparks and a burnt smell. I will keep on taking cold showers.

[@adrianoaraujo3193]

​@@haraldhelfgott195Death by electric shower here in Brazil has never been heard of, but by direct gas installations. No one dies from an electric shower here in Brazil, it's almost impossible, accidents and discharges can happen, I've never seen death. Already the gas..

[@haraldhelfgott195]

@@adrianoaraujo3193 That's a different issue: Brazilian gas-powered showers are also a little frightening (I used one in 2008). I find it very unlikely that there are deaths by electric shower elsewhere in Lat. Am. but not in Brazil. More to the point, electric shocks in the head are both very unpleasant and potentially very harmful; there's a reason why they are a classic torture technique.

[@SpikerDragon95]

Im from Costa Rica, we use those showers and they work quite well, as long you make a good connection

[@mahakaalkalikavatar3449]

Thanks man for making this video, I have one similar to this which I bought decades ago from Philippines and I do not remember if I ever used it ever!! Sunce we have a tank heater already installed in our bathroom here in india aside with this shower, So cutting long story short that I cleaned it last month and thinking of using it but now I'm quute sceptical about my decision. I think it will go straight in our garbage bin instead, Cheers dude and God bless you.

[@robertkeaney7047]

Used one when I visited Elias Fausto Brasil. My first thought was, "this would never fly in the U.S." Yup. Got the tingles when I reached out for that nice chrome water valve handle. Maybe it wasn't the hottest shower ever, but I can tell you I was wide awake after that!

[@LumberjackPa]

I felt a tingling when I first saw those wires near the shower head 🤪. Wow, um yeah not doing that. Thanks for sharing though.

[@Argonwolfproject]

I certainly wouldn't use one of these that wasn't run through a GFCI, regardless of how professionally it was installed.

[@smlgd]

A few things I think are nice to mention - you're not supposed to change temperature with the water flowing, that can make the thing arc and burn something (usually the heating element, those tend to burn rather easily). There is another type, the electronic ones, that use a TRIAC and a potentiometer to control the flow of electricity to the heating element, and those are made so you can safely change the temp while showering - if you think that one draws a lot of electricity, well this is a weak one lmao. It's 5400W, the top end ones reach up to 9000W, they obviously require thicker wires and AFAIK they're only made for 220V never 127V - in Brazil, the regulatory body ABNT actually has standards defined for showerhead installations, and they forbid using outlets, you should connect them directly to the mains wires, using 5 or more twists (or a connector like yours, but always if the max current is within its specificiation) but a waterproof connector is not required. Also they must have grounding, a dedicated circuit with a dedicated circuit breaker with proper nominal current, AND a RCD (residual current device) like the GFCI you mentioned IS MANDATORY, and on compliant installations they're usually at the distribution board just by the circuit breaker. Thing is, as you said, many places especially on poor areas (or just old homes really, I once lived in a rented house that had no EDB, just a single circuit breaker connecting the mains to the grid) where people can't afford to hire a properly trained electrician or can't afford the more expensive stuff like proper gauge wires, breakers and RCD. If the installation is compliant then it's a perfectly safe device, the RCD combined with the ground wire should trip if it gets risky but even without them it's very unlikely to result in injury, as the body is usually made out of plastic (even the shiny metal looking ones are really just painted plastic) and the air gap between the droplets means the resistance from the wire to someone's skin is usually very high, unless you're directly touching the showerhead - in fact here people see the electric shower as the "safe" option as we've never heard of accidents caused by it but there's always the occasional gas leak explosion that while obviously not common always make the news when they happen. So people are usually more afraid of gas than electric - as a plus, some advanced models also include a booster pump that runs on the same electrical connection. They're very handy for single-story buildings where the water column pressure isn't enough for a whole lot of water.

[@paique7904]

I live in Brazil, actually i have a gas water heater, but a good eletric shower works perfectly, this one that you buyed it's the cheapest one (and yes we use eletric tape for the wires almost in every installation). In most of the apartments/houses that I have lived in, the shower cable installation presented overheating problems, but in some cases it is much more practical than a gas heater that if you have a problem you need to call a technician, as for the shower you just have to buy the resistance and change it, the only disadvantage I see is the power consumption, as I said it is very easy for the wire to melt if not installed correctly.

[@Mhattrix]

The hose is not for cleaning yourself but just another safety measure popular with these, as you can see in all screenshots, all suicide showers have them, it's supposed to pop open if the main shower is obstructed for whatever reason so it doesn't fill the shower head with water (and thus reaching the electrified parts)

[@bombdiggitydave3881]

Nice updated info and good correction of the hose and small sprayer real purpose. Thank you

[@juliogonzo2718]

I figured it was to be used as a bidet lol

[@oasmodeus3989]

To say that the existence of electric showers in Brazilian homes is 99.9999999% is not an exaggeration! I have NEVER seen any other type of shower being used around here

[@DanielsPolitics1]

In the UK we have showers with electric heating as well. But they isolate the water from the electricity, and keep the electricity in a box on the wall. Oddly, some only cost about £60, which is less than $70 US at the moment, so a safe one wouldn’t cost all that much more, and would also boost the pressure, as our electric showers include water pumps.

[@haraldhelfgott195]

Right. I'd trust one of those English devices more, though I don't know how well they cope with very low water pressure.

[@TheImpracticalcowz]

A big KZbinr from NH! Love to see it!

[@lbpdluis]

ive been using one of those for +10 years, no never had any issues with it

[@michaelshepherd733]

Hmm.....nice......crazy that I'm 56y/o and I never heard of a shower head like that.....I like it and would use it

[@AndersonRodrix]

Os americanos morrem de medo de chuveiro elétrico kkkkkkk

[@Lou-li5mv]

I used those frequently while traveling south America, you'd usually get a small tingle to an uncomfortable bite from the shower knobs if you wanted to change the amount of flow, so sometimes these metal knobs were wrapped in tape or it was just recommended to shut off the shower head with the circuit breaker before using the handles. yeah the breaker was installed within reach of the shower for this reason

[@vargas4224]

Its interesting to see something that here in my country, CR, that is so normal and common, being in almost if not every home, be reacted like that.

[@youdontknowme5969]

wow that's more power than the heating element in my clothes dryer 😲 of course it's heating moving water rather than moving air

[@SilverCymbal]

Yes same as my oven, its only on a 40 amp breaker and weighs 200#

[@coreybabcock2023]

I seriously think these shower heads are not built to withstand the constant switching and those contacts Will arc and burn up they didn't even touch firmly flat against each other the high setting the 2 contacts was little bit wonky not straight and flat

[@MarcusBuer]

@@coreybabcock2023 Brazilian here, to avoid arcs you need to turn off the water (to shut off the power) before switching the season selector.

[@zoefaith120]

Buyer beware......

[@ducknorris233]

This reminds me of a inline heater they sell for spa tubs. As it sound the heating element is installed into your spa tubing and while it can’t heat the whole tub it is made to help the tub from losing heat as bad. I love the idea but I’m a bit scared of the idea of the electric element killing me.

[@VictorDelPrete]

It’s absolutely freezing in south Brasil from June to September where I lived for a couple years. Everybody below the 1% had these shower heads. Turning the volume down to a very slow trickle is the only way to get hot water from them when it’s cold outside.

[@thesuperrangermudtruck]

As a plumber I’m annoyed people call it a “hot water heater” it’s not. It’s a water heater. If the water is already hot you don’t need to heat it lol that’s what “hot water heater” means 🙄

[@KaceyGreen]

Like nails on a chalkboard

[@HD-jr4qu]

The way my hot water heater works is it heats the water, then keep the hot water hot. So technically it is a hot water heater

[@thesuperrangermudtruck]

@@HD-jr4qu but the only way it heats the water up is when it’s not hot anymore thus heating it back up. Maybe not cold water unless it’s new but it’s also not hot anymore if it’s heating the water back up. And people call tankless water heaters hot water heaters too… which In they’re exact nature is not the case. It only heats up the water as you use it so the water is always cold until being used.

[@KaceyGreen]

@@HD-jr4qu heat and maintain are the same function, it's not a hot water reheater

[@cejkwo100]

No thank you, I’m not putting anything electrical in my shower!

[@davidduarte5218]

Nice to see you can get these in the states I wonder if can purchase the 220 volt version uses about 32 amps. I live in Brazil now ,so this is a very common shower head but seldom do you see a 110 version being used.

[@villalazalejandro]

I remember when we got the first one of these in the early 90's am 38 and still have them, one time I did felt that tingling sensation at my aunt's home (almost everyone have them) when I picked the soap, it was in one of those racks that you put in the shower tube, so apparently it was not properly isolated, but electricity coming from the water itself, never