How to get the element out of a cheap kettle

[wetdog]

I had to fit another element to my boiler so I thought I would take some pictures. I know it has been done before but theres always someone new who's not sure so here we go...


here's the boxed beauty, £4.78 from a well known supermarket



and here it is out of the box



The element inside. This one is wet because I tested it before taking it apart



remove these two screws from the underside and pull off the plastic cover



remove this screw and pull off the top part of the handle



you can either cut the wires at the dotted line or, as I will show you here, wiggle out the two wires with the little light on the end from the red switch



remove this screw to release the wire loom and switch from the kettle body



now remove these three screws and keep them safe



take the element out of the kettle and don't forget the translucent rubber shroud. These are the bits you should have now.



pull the black wire out of the hole and cut the red wires so they are about an inch long



now strip off half of the insulation from the red wires



twist the two ends of the wire together and wrap in insulation tape



now for the protective shroud. If you have an old mastic tube then use that but I didn't so I used an old plastic bottle and cut a piece out of it roughly 6"x2"



wrap it round the element back, cut to size and tape the ends together. Make sure its a tight fit.



cover with more tape to fully secure and you're done! ready to insert into your boiler



finally, make sure the plug you use has a notch in the end as shown, this means it is rated for heat - note, computer leads don't have this notch and are not suitable.

[floydmeddler]

Excellent guide. Making me think about putting some protection around mine.

I didn't join the wires together. Instead I pulled them out and put in a single smaller piece instead.

Would put a photo up but, 'Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached' whatever the hell that means!

Cheers

[WishboneBrewery]

Good stuff
Are those Normal Pozi-drive screws in the Tesco Kettle?

[Mike8578]

All the screws are Phillips head. I actually left the switch and light on, and just duck taped them to the side of the boiler for now. I find it useful to have as we brew in the garage off extension leads, so with it being a bit darker it's easier to see which ones are on.

I haven't made a shroud yet though, but thanks for the top tip on the mastic tubing. I have a n umber of those sat in a box somewhere that will doubtless have gone off by now so they may as well come in useful for something!

[Blackaddler]

For a neat protective shroud, I found that an old silicon or mastic sealant tube [310ml size] is a good tight fit.

This kind of tube...


Just cut the end off with a hacksaw. If it's too tight a fit, heat the plastic first. I used a blowlamp!

[floydmeddler]

For a neat protective shroud, I found that an old silicon or mastic sealant tube [310ml size] is a good tight fit.

This kind of tube...


Just cut the end off with a hacksaw. If it's too tight a fit, heat the plastic first. I used a blowlamp!

Brilliant! Cheers

[thankyousam]

I can confirm that the Asda SmartPrice kettles are similar to this, just a few differently located screws. The big difference is that the switch mechanism is intergral to the fitting - it doesn't have those big red wires. The switch lever (which incorporates the auto switch off plate) can be taken off and the plastic that protrudes upwards can be cut/sawn off (to make it round) as the lever releases a spring switch, so the element is always on with the lever removed. The light has two yellow wires into the black plastic surround. I've left mine attached to let me know when the element is on.

The Asda one needs a 38mm hole in the wall of the boiler. The Wilkinsons £5 kettle I bought needed a 40mm hole, so it went back as my holesaw didn't have a blade that size!

[Deebee]

Hi all.

I have the following elements?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a299/ ... C01881.jpg

Will i need to cut the wires or will i be good to go as they are. Build day is nearing ( just as soon as i have a day off.....)

[Blackaddler]

There's no need to cut the wires, if you don't want to.

[thankyousam]

Hi all.

I have the following elements?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a299/ ... C01881.jpg

Will i need to cut the wires or will i be good to go as they are. Build day is nearing ( just as soon as i have a day off.....)

I left mine attached, just so I can see when the element has power. You might want to remove the metal discs that stop the element at 100 degrees C before you fit them to your boilers though. I have cut the whole switch mechanism off mine, to give a round base like the Tesco ones. You'll see there's a little white rod behind the base of the switch which breaks or makes the circuit.

[Chard]

ok i followed this kettle hack and its gone well so far. the two things i wanted to ask are...

1. there was some kinda white paste inbetween the element bach and plastic front. is this just some kind of thermal paste to help trigger the cut off? if so am i safe just wiping it off?

2. i was looking at the base and wondering if theres any way to hack out that black plastic bit with the lead thus saving me a tenner on the propper replacement kettle leads. i was gonna explore myself but 2 of the 5 screws are strange screw heads. has anyone tried this?

[Naich]

The white stuff is indeed thermal paste to couple the thermal switch to the element. It's a safety feature, so unless you have trouble with the switch tripping when it's not supposed to, it's probably best to leave it as it is*. There is another non-resettable thermal switch, which I think is the springy plastic bit, just above it. The small copper sheet probably provides a thermal path (stainless doesn't conduct heat well) from where the element is attached to the stainless plate, to this switch. I'd guess that it melts if the temperature gets high enough, and cuts the power. There is a datasheet for the mechanism here, but it's a bit short on detail.

It's probably best to use a proper kettle lead though. The connector in the base is designed to come off easily when you lift the jug, which is not what you want. You can modify a normal screwdriver to fit the security screws by using a hacksaw to cut a slot in the blade, but it would be better to spend a few quid on a proper lead.

* This is the overheating safety switch, which should only trip at temperatures over 100C, which will only happen if the element is not immersed in water.

[Chard]

ok i think i get it. so really all i need to do to ensure a good rolling boil is to take the little metal disk out of the switch mechanism? is that right?

im gonna have to get a third kettle now though as one f*%@ing screw at the top of the element wouldnt unscrew. intead the thread just gave way and is now stripped. i could get pliers in there but that wont help the situation. its infuriating as the kettle still works fine but all because of one screw its useless to me. maybe ill reassemble it and return the sucker and say i only needed one! then ill get another kettle from another tesco direct

[Naich]

ok i think i get it. so really all i need to do to ensure a good rolling boil is to take the little metal disk out of the switch mechanism? is that right?

Do you mean the one in black plastic bit which screws on to the element? If so, no. It's a safety thing, in case the kettle (or HLT) boils dry. As long as the element is immersed in water, it should never get hot enough to trip out and turn the element off. If you mean the one behind the red switch and you intend to keep using it to turn the element on and off, then no That one is tripped by steam blowing past it when the water is boiling, so it will not turn the switch off unless there is steam blowing past it. But it's probably best not to use this switch at all. If you cut the two red wires (as shown in the pictures above) and join them together (preferably using a heavy duty connection block rather than just twisting the wires together), you can plug a kettle lead straight into the 3 pins on the black plastic thingy and use the socket's switch to turn it on and off. Leaving it on should produce a rolling boil.

[Chard]

ha ha im doing well so far then. what if i want to keep the little led? thats the main reason im asking.