Kohler K-1658 240V Steam Generator and Error 5

How NOT to install a steam generator.

As many people who know me well can tell you, i've been litterally obsesed with getting my steam shower going. I'm going to go into more detail about the experience in building a steam shower from scratch, but this posting is focused on my experience installing a Kohler K-1658 240V Steam Generator and most importantly, the err5 message the control panel gave me that nearly ruined the whole project.

I'm not going to repeat here what is already in the installation manual, the one thing that i learned about on my own was the placement of the steam outlet in the shower. When building the thing, the most convenient place to plumb the outlet was about 6 feet above the floor of the shower, about 2 feet from the ceiling. When I took the inaugural steam the first night, i discovered my mistake when the laws of thermodynamics spanked me once again. The location of the steam outlet created a super heated cloud of steam at the top of the shower. Water condensed so quickly on the ceiling that the sloping of the ceiling was ineffective and boiling water rained down like crazy. 

I sat on the cold tile below and suffered for a few minutes before accepting this wasn't right. The next day i relocated the steam outlet to 6" above the floor near the hinged side of the door which i perfect. Having the steam start at the bottom and rise up keeps things circulating. All is well, and i had my first great steam bath. 

Fortunately, I was also mistaken on the placement of the control panel. I thought it went outside the shower, but you definitely want it on the inside. During the steam you want access to the control panel - and it's steam proof. You want to kill the steam or turn it up while in the chamber. So, i used the old hole from the misplaced outlet for the control panel and all is well.

Then...  ERR5.  Googling around and the manual says the water flow to the unit it blocked or debris has gotten in the unit and clogged up the works. Well, i dissembled things, cleaned thing, tested the water flow - everything seemed perfect. I even went as far as to take the unit apart and put it back together before giving up. Then, I replaced the unit just to get ERR5 on a brand new generator. 

I would at this point blame faucetdirect.com – I would not recommend this supplier since everything they ship is in the manufacturer packaging which is definitely not meant for UPS or FexEx shipping. Everything they sent me including the $2000 glass steam door was literally coming out of the packaging because there is zero Styrofoam or anything like that. The steam generator is just in a cardboard box. Order a pencil from Amazon and it comes with better packaging. I did order a few things from http://www.steamsaunabath.com/ and they were great. If I had to do it again, I would order everything from there. It’s a shame their website is a little drab and doesn’t represent the quality of the company. Great service and everything they shipped came in a factory seal and well packaged. My steam proof light was like opening a new can of tennis balls.

I was about to replace the control panel thinking it was defective when, as a last ditch effort, i removed the steam outlet to make sure it wasn't blocking the outflow of steam. Same error, so I put it back on. When tightening the steam outlet, i repeated the mistake of tightening it all the way, then loosened it a little so the little divot for putting scented oils in was facing upward. Error 5, then i re-tightened it and accepted that the way the threads lined up meant that in order for this thing to be tight, the oil divot was at about 7 o-clock. Steam!

I ran the unit three times through a full cycle, and took a great steam shower all with no problem. My best guess is that the loose fitting of the steam outlet caused some kind of pressure back build that slowed the inflow of water.  I can't explain the actual physics here, but making sure the steam outlet was tight cleared the misleading error 5.

Cheers!