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Is electric kettle worth fixing ++

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  • 28-06-2024 5:42pm
    #1
    Woodcutting
    Registered Users Posts: 105 ✭✭


    My electric kettle won't boil as it should. I starts stops, I have to Press the switch again. On and off but it eventually boils. I got a new one, I'm wondering if the old one can be fixed given the intermittent nature of problem. I don't want to dump it if it could be fixed cheaply.

    Anyone know what might be wrong with it?



Comments

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    #2
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    Recycle it



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    #3
    Ezeoul
    Registered Users Posts: 3,018 ✭✭✭Ezeoul


    No. Buy a new one.



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    #4
    Jim_Hodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,814 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge


    But a new one and leave the old one in for recycling.



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    #5
    Water John
    Registered Users Posts: 21,500 ✭✭✭✭Water John


    There are a lot of community repair shops in the UK, but don't think they have taken off here. They repair and/or show you how to do it. The three are reduce, reuse, recycle. So if possible we should reuse more.



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    #6
    Woodcutting
    Registered Users Posts: 105 ✭✭Woodcutting


    Ok, thanks all. Sorry about the ++ in the title. Don't know how I did that



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    #7
    JVince
    Registered Users Posts: 1,170 ✭✭✭JVince


    I have a dualit toaster. It's over 25 years old. Elements are easy to replace. I don't think I'll ever need to buy a replacement unit.

    Last year they brought out a new classic kettle that has a replaceable element. It cost €170. Expensive, but I expect it will outlast me and I reckon I'll be around for another 35+ years.

    But the bog standard kettles simply are not worth fixing as the parts are probably more expensive than a replacement.



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    #8
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    It was a thing repairing them years ago

    Used to do it a lot if I recall



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    #9
    elperello
    Registered Users Posts: 15,094 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    Don't recycle it yet.

    Keep it as a backup for when the new one stops working.

    It's a kind of sods law that they always give up the ghost at an inconvenient time.



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    #10
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122315436#Comment_122315436

    Thats dodgy logic keeping broken equipment as a back-up



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    #11
    Tails142
    Registered Users Posts: 2,117 ✭✭✭Tails142


    I had a kettle with a faulty switch, was a bit loose but working fine otherwise. It nearly burnt my house down as it stayed on after use, was the thermal cut out that actually turned it off and made me think it had come to the boil. Once the thermal cutoff cooled a bit, it would boil again.

    Boiled dry overnight and kept heating the whole time until I happened to be walking by and heard it click and I just happened to decide to investigate. Whole thing was red hot, base melting.

    Dump anything that is faulty, that's my advice. Not worth the risk.



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    #12
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122315466#Comment_122315466

    The smartest minds are generally brainless when it comes to electrical work

    Something I've learnt over the years



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    #13
    JVince
    Registered Users Posts: 1,170 ✭✭✭JVince


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122315436#Comment_122315436

    A bog standard pot on a hob is the only backup you need - brilliant in a power cut if you have a gas hob.



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    #14
    Odelay
    Registered Users Posts: 3,848 ✭✭✭Odelay


    Does it almost boil and then stop? if so it could be limescale. remove by adding limescale remove, boiling and leaving overnight.



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    #15
    ...Ghost...
    Registered Users Posts: 3,679 ✭✭✭...Ghost...


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122317650#Comment_122317650

    Vinegar eats the limescale in minutes. A quick rinse out and no funny anti-scale flavour from your tea.

    Stay Free



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    #16
    orchidkey
    Registered Users Posts: 43 ✭orchidkey


    Can the thermostat be replaced in kettles? It's a common fault where boiling kettle does not cut out. Seems a waste to throw out a whole kettle for something so trivial.



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    #17
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    They used to be a simple fix back in the day

    Replace the heater/stat unit



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    #18
    o1s1n
    Registered Users Posts: 35,003 ✭✭✭✭o1s1n
    Master of the Universe


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122315463#Comment_122315463

    Reminds me of my mam keeping backup things 'just in case'.

    Harks back to a time where you couldn't just pop into Lidl and buy a kettle for the same price as a bag of potatoes.



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    #19
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    Well hopefully the circle is turning back to repairable electronics and electrics

    Big business would simply destroy the environment with disposable items



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    #20
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,474 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122315397#Comment_122315397

    In those days an electric kettle was expensive, compared to the cost of the element. Nowadays the quality just isn't there, for many electrical items. I still repair, when I can, but getting spares is difficult, and expensive. (Most likely because I only do 'one offs' and my 'box of spares' is nearly obsolete.)



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    #21
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122382802#Comment_122382802

    The replacement back then fitted pretty much all models

    The trend is probably back to repairing items now. There's new regulations re phones and stuff.to enable repair



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    #22
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,474 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    I hope you're right, I hate the throwaway culture. The last item I repaired was a TV with a blown Schottky diode in the PSU. These were very expensive in small retail quantities so I ended up cannibalizing one from a TV going to recycling. It was a right PITA. I'll probably restrict future repairs to replacing blown electrolytic capacitors.
    (I tried replacing an iPhone screen, but it was beyond the limits of my eyesight even using a magnifying glass. A younger family member had no problem fixing it.)



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    #23
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    Ya I knew a couple of tv repair guys .One was also my electronics lecturer . I did electronics and an apprenticeship at different times

    Used to do a lot of repair work on crt displays when I worked in electronics

    Manufacturers/Big business will simply destroy the planet if allowed to do so . Hopefully the wheel is turning full circle back to the days of repairing stuff



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    #24
    L1011
    Registered Users Posts: 69,006 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383420#Comment_122383420

    For things like TVs and also things like kettles; it never will go back to the old days.

    TVs - miniaturisation and integration mean there's very little to repair.

    Kettles - mass production has made them so cheap that it would never make financial sense to do so.

    For expensive appliances with obvious wear parts (bearings, seals, sensors etc) it should be a legal requirement to provide parts and also try ensure genericisation of parts.



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    #25
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    The separate power supplies is an obvious one when buying displays . They can be replaced easily

    Is there not sections of a display unit which can be manufactured so as to be easily replaced after failure



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    #26
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    On the cost of appliances

    There's the issue of waste when dumping a plastic kettle not merely the cost

    Not sure how hard it would be to go back to a universal element unit that can be replaced. There's the issue of sealing and leaks if making them repairable. The one-off units would have a better seal which they now do



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    #27
    NewClareman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,474 ✭✭✭NewClareman


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383484#Comment_122383484

    There is a happy middle ground, between repairing everything and repairing nothing. The EU could go much further in limiting electronic waste. All it would take would be mandating a minimum lifespan for different items. It is simply shocking to see the level of items, some relatively new, in our local recycling centre.



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    #28
    elperello
    Registered Users Posts: 15,094 ✭✭✭✭elperello


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383717#Comment_122383717

    And they won't let you take them away to try to fix them.

    I saw a Goodmans hoover left out beside a neighbour's bin. It looked very new so I took it home.

    Cleaned out the clogged filters and it's flying it



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    #29
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122383883#Comment_122383883

    Jaysus the vaccums and electric showers are a joke

    I never bought an instantaneous electric shower for my own place when I was a REC . The units I was replacing were nearly as good as new.

    Filters and shower heads blocked or heater tanks full of limescale or TCO replacement also



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    #30
    drury..
    Registered Users Posts: 1,208 ✭✭✭drury..


    Was the bagless vacuum another joke invention I think it was Dyson ?

    The big cylinder vacuums with the bag and wheels last an age before changing the bag and the suction is great



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    #31
    L1011
    Registered Users Posts: 69,006 ✭✭✭✭L1011


    Pretty certain consumer bagless wet/dry units existed pre Dyson; my parents certainly had one when I was a kid. His design was also based on pre-existing industrial units.

    The first Dyson vacuums just moved the required replacement from the bag to the filters; which were not cleanable and had to be binned and replaced.



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