I don't understand the last post to this thread? Thermasol offers a 5-year replacement warranty on all their controllers. Why would you pay to replace it? Maybe you had it more than 5 years? If so, then it's too bad it failed but how long do you expect it to last? I doubt you could expect a car to last reliably with no problems longer than 5 years, so why expect that of your steam shower. I have a PRO-395 that I installed 14 months ago. It just failed tonight. Not sure if it is the controller board or the heating element, but it stopped producing steam. Called tech support and they are shipping me a new replacement unit tomorrow and paying for the install, all at no cost. I am going to call them tomorrow to talk to them about the fact that it failed so soon. They are supposedly the best and charge a premium for their product. I am curious how they will explain that it failed so soon. Will update this post if they say anything interesting. Update: Spoke to them this morning and they are sending me a new unit, and pay for installation charge. One other thing. Someone in the tread above talked about making their shower with a 10 ft ceiling. Don't do that! That is just dumb, and will affect the experience of a good steam. If you ever want to make your steam shower bigger, do it in the length or width but never in the height. My house has 10 ft. ceilings, but my shower has a 7.5 ft up to an 8 ft. ceiling and that is plenty high enough. The 7.5 ft part is over the bench so the fact that it is lower there makes no difference because you are sitting down.

"A couple of questions/concerns I'd love to run by you: the power to the generator was on when we plugged the control into the wire and affixed it to the wall...(I'm guessing that is not biggie)." Ah, that was the problem. Connecting the controller to a powered generator can cause a lock out. "I do not see a power switch on the unit - is there one, perhaps at the back?" Nope, no power switch on the unit. To unpower the unit you need to unplug the generator or turn off the breaker. "The cable is NOT in a conduit (as I read it's suggested). Do you foresee a problem?" If there is a pigtail plug that got wired onto the unit that got plugged into an wall outlet, then you don't need conduit. If, however, the generator was "hard wired" with individual conductor wires (should be three, 2 power/black and one ground/green), then those three conductors should be in conduit, or some sort of sleeve. "The generator is plugged in - it's either a 3 prong or 4 prong (I forget)." Well, there you go, no need for conduit! "Far as I know, the plumber did NOT flush the system. how is this done?" He doesn't have to flush the generator, but he should have flushed the water supply line that feeds the generator AFTER all his connections were made up but BEFORE it was connected to the generator. The water supply line should have a "threaded union" that connects it to top of the generator. That can be unthreaded, a bucket put under it, and the water supply valve opened. The goal is to flush out any debris in the supply tubing to wash out bits of copper, solder, flux, etc, junk left over from any soldering that was performed. There is a debris screen in the unit. But it helps to flush the line beforehand. "We did not want to turn on the steam immediately after installing the head because of the silicone - we wanted that to fully dry. Also, the glass is not in yet so I assume he cannot run the power flush." Correct. You need the glass up before you power flush. "What is or where is the "power flush valve"?" They should have left you the installation/instruction manual. But the power flush is sort of like a "self-cleaning cycle" for the generator. It'll wash out mineral deposits, etc. There are guidelines on how often to do it. More often if you have bad water. The power flush valve is on top of the generator. "Is "flush the system" synonymous with "power flush"? No. I wrote "flush the system" which is sort of misleading. I should have written "flush the supply line". As described above. "Power flush" is the generator deep cleaning itself. Aw heck, I went and looked up the manual for you in case they didn't leave you one. You picked an excellent generator by the way. Get that shower glass up so you can enjoy it!

I did decide to go with the SteamSpa. The unit has just been in use for about a month, and we've used it 5-10 times so far. So far, so good! It is quiet and starts up quickly. I like that it has a reservoir in the steam head for my essential oils, so I don't need an accessory part. Time will tell, but we are very happy with it so far.

Thanks for the comments. all I can say is when i put my nose up to the edges of the glass where there is silicone, I can smell the odor I am referencing. Same with the fixtures. Very strange that Thermasol who makes steam generators would recommend a silicone type that isn't approved for use in a steam shower? With all of the ineptitude I have experienced through this process, I suppose it is possible but this is what they told me they include with their steam control and steam head for sealing inside the steam shower. Heinkel is closed at the moment but I will call them tomorrow to ask about the Loctite SI 595. As for waiting 30+ days before steaming, the build out, tile and glass install were complete prior to April 15th. The only thing that is one month old is the seal around the fixtures inside the steam shower as the plumber originally used water-based acrylic seal, which I know isn't approved for steam showers so I called Thermasol to get a silicone rec, removed the acrylic myself and hired someone to appy the silicone around the fixtures; that part was done about a month ago. I am still smelling silicone along the edges of the glass and around fixtures. I did not smell a smell until after the glass was installed so I do not suspect it to be a thin set or mortar issue. I first used the shower in late May and the steam shower 2 weeks ago for the first time; the smell was too intense to continue. Does anyone have advice on how to air out cured silicone smell from a steam shower?