Quite. No one in the meja seems to realise that making a device which can be dismantled for repair easily is going to make it more expensive to make. Perhaps not a problem with a washing machine, but would be for low cost items like kettles and toasters.
And reading that meja, you'd think early TVs rarely broke down - and if they did were cheap and simple to fix.
Mine has not suffered that way, and I am pretty sure it was a relatively cheap one.
That element design seems pretty robust to me. When I first saw them I thought the contacts looked a little undersized, but they seem to last very well indeed.
I have another one that I bought for a project I never completed, so I have all the bits (somewhere).
The trouble is that SWMBO and I put it down opposite ways!
(Mode=teaching granny to suck eggs) The best tip I know of to preserve long life in a cordless kettle is always to make sure it is switched off before removing it from the base. It's pretty common to find that the switch contacts are plated to resist pitting from arcing but the base contacts are not - with the inevitable consequences. (Mode/)
Nick
"Dave Plowman (News)" snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk> wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk:
And often the fault was a poor connection - which could have been avoided by minimising them. .
Yeah but, I?ve never had one fail due to arcing. It?s always seems to be the element that dies first these days.
Tim
I've never had one fail, full stop. I think I had to fettle a switch once to keep it latching.
Sure, if you've got all day because the filter slows things down. But then again, maybe it would push all the fur off the filter with the reverse flow.
Or maybe I should just clean the filter now and again. ;-)
I bought an earlier Russell Hobs kettle for use at another location. It failed after about a year so out or warranty. I had to pay them a further £18 for a replacement which to be fair has lasted quite a number of years. Certainly the kettle that failed was made in China.
I would certainly like to be able to download a manual for my washing machine that would tell me how it works. If it stops mid cycle I would like to know what it is waiting for. The last I bought can be controlled via a mobile phone using NFC. I have never seen the point of this, but if I could connect the machine to my wifi and then get full diagnostic information I would find that useful.
Michael Chare snipped-for-privacy@chareDO.Torg.uk> wrote in news:s75nj2$ou2$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Just understanding the logic is a big help. Plumbers and Boilers comes to mind. Many only seem to be able to relate to an old type of system. Even a motorised valve seems to flumox them.
Do you mean the one you push down to switch it on, or the one inside the base that isolated the contacts when there is no kettle on the base?
There's also arcing of the contacts between the two parts.
It's not clear which contacts break first.
Within an hour of reading this thread my Daewoo glass electric kettle failed! The fault was in the neutral connection in the base which I fixed by opening the base up and bending the spring. Opening the base was tricky because the screws had special slots with three radial grooves spaced 120 deg apart. They really didn't want anyone to fix it.
John
The first thing the "right to repair" enthusiasts should do is ban entirely any screw that doesn't have a slot, a crosshead, hex or an allen screw. All others have no mechanical justification.
I don't disagree, but shouldn't every serious DIY-er have a set of so-called security bits in his toolbox to deal with all those weird screw heads?
Indeed so. I have at least 2 different sets
I have two sets too, but both are bits to go into a holder and too many designs place the screws at the bottom of deep holes that the holder won't fit into. A full set of proper screwdrivers with all the possible ends would be extremely pricey, so I am on the lookout for a set of long bits, giving the depth required.
Jeff Layman laid this down on his screen :
Our latest has its filter hinged to the lid, so it would hinge out of the way when filled via the spout - unfortunately the outlet on our tap is too big to properly fit the spout.
Lid is hinged, with a latch - you have slide the latch, to release the lid to open.
It's a good job I can look after my own heating system - I can't see the average plumber understanding the motorised valve and timer/stat per room, with mains operated valves, battery powered stats and 12V switching via relays, with my own, home made PCBs.
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