Electric kettles failing

[edexlab]

I got called to have a look at a socket an old customer is having trouble with tonight
Basically they have had 4 new kettles in 3 months and all have packed up, these are not cheap makes they are spending £50 + each time and have returned them all and tried different models ,

Eventually they thought maybe it's a power issue and called me,

So I went to check the circuit, which tests as normal nothing to raise an eyebrow at all..........
I replaced the socket anyway just as a precaution although nothing seems wrong with it.

I tested the voltage for over an hour just to see if there was anything unusual happening and again nothing out of the ordinary.
The only thing I noticed was that the kettle they had was rated for 220v to 240v whereas local voltage was 245v which I can't see would be an issue surely???
Seeing as the UK is largely still 240V+\- a few volts,
I have suggested if it carries on that they can request their supply is monitored to check if there are large fluctuations
Anyone had similar issues ????

 

[overskilled]

How often are they brewing up?

 

[DuaneMHunt1976]

It's 6am so I might not be thinking right
Any factories or big power eaters about
As I worked for one company who was touchy about the power and we had a spike for when a factory shift change, the factory had.shut down and we were next.to the substation

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Power issues would be much more likely to trash electronics rather than a kettle. Firstly exactly what went wrong with each kettle? Was it the same problem with each one? I would suspect coincidence,or if the kettles are of the type with the plug in base they are spilling water into it.
I rarely get a year out of a kettle,and I don't buy cheap ones....they are all junk. But you need to establish what the problem was with each failed kettle to reach a conclusion.

 

[DuaneMHunt1976]

I only get cheap ish one ones £10-20 and last a few years with descaling
Wonder how many cuppa you lot are making to kill them off so quick.

Would boiling dry kill it off quicker.

A fault with ours at the moment, the lid pops up so it keeps on boiling and the kitchen becomes a steam room, wouldn't be shock to see a naked fat guy, thank god no mirrors

 

[edexlab]

They like a brew but they're out all the time doing what retired people do!
They are careful people so I don't think it's misuse /water spill etc
Limescale isn't an issue here we've had cheap and expensive kettles and they seem to last the same for us ie several years.
Just strange how they've gone through so many in a short time!

 

[edexlab]

No it's a residential area very little industry in this town

 

[DuaneMHunt1976]

I'm wondering how you kill a kettle. Just the fuse or the element inside.
I guess the last bit of work done before all this happened.

Try a different socket for now

It's a pitty can have a device hooked up, to read what passes the cable to the kettle all day long till it dies, and records it.

 

[edexlab]

They've lived in this house for 4 yr
The workmanship of the circuits wasn't great, that's how I met them, putting another blokes mess right, but everything was checked and tested afterwards, so can't see this being the problem especially as I retested it yesterday.
Idk what the problem was exactly just that they all stopped working and we're returned to manufacturers

 

[Spoon]

I'm wondering how you kill a kettle. Just the fuse or the element inside

Don't forget the bimetallic strip thermostat.

 

[Clive P]

Hi,

I nearly posted this a while ago but changed my mind. At my dad's place, Warden assisted Bungalow he has issues with kettles boiling over. Fill a kettle, allow it to boil and then it overflows with boiling water. This is on a number of different kettles and I have been unable to find any problems with the wiring! The local Authority Electrician has also checked out everything and neither of us can find anything untoward. The kettles are not overfilled, it can quite happily boil 10 times then cause a fountain of hot water. Cheap kettles? I don't know, but the kettle should switch off with it's temp sensor, are these cheap and nasty? Anyone else had a problem?

Regards.

 

[Spoon]

Hi,

I nearly posted this a while ago but changed my mind. At my dad's place, Warden assisted Bungalow he has issues with kettles boiling over. Fill a kettle, allow it to boil and then it overflows with boiling water. This is on a number of different kettles and I have been unable to find any problems with the wiring! The local Authority Electrician has also checked out everything and neither of us can find anything untoward. The kettles are not overfilled, it can quite happily boil 10 times then cause a fountain of hot water. Cheap kettles? I don't know, but the kettle should switch off with it's temp sensor, are these cheap and nasty? Anyone else had a problem?

Regards.

I may be wrong but I thought that water would boil at a constant temp for kettles (at 1 atmosphere of pressure). Shouldn't get hotter than 100 deg C.
If sometimes it boils over I would say it's down to overfilling or something in the water itself, not the kettle or electrics.

 

[Clive P]

Hi,

Thanks Spoon, definitely not overfilled; I've seen it happen myself. As to the water that was one of my initial thoughts, but surely water is water?

Regards.

 

[Spoon]

maybe there was something in the kettle, cleaning product or something, that made it overflow. Hard to tell mate.

 

[DPG]

Agree with Wirepuller - surges big enough to trash a kettle would have wiped out other more sensitive electronic equipment by now I would have thought. Daz