Kettle base standard ?

[dr.s.lartius]

I have been given the base upon which a fairly modern kettle stood, with it s cable and 13A plug. It has a protruding round shrouded socket in the cen tre, which is to convey power up to its kettle. Tests with a meter show th at the base should work, if a working kettle with a compatible hole in its base were put on it.

If the socket is of a standard size, so that most centre-fed kettles of tha t size will work with it, I am minded to keep the fitting; otherwise, I wil l dispose of the base or find some other non-electrical use for it.

So: are the centre connections on such bases standardized (and, if known, w hat is the standard called? URL?)?

[tabbypurr]

its cable and 13A plug. It has a protruding round shrouded socket in the c entre, which is to convey power up to its kettle. Tests with a meter show that the base should work, if a working kettle with a compatible hole in it s base were put on it.

hat size will work with it, I am minded to keep the fitting; otherwise, I w ill dispose of the base or find some other non-electrical use for it.

what is the standard called? URL?)?

Sounds like you have a long list of things you should throw away. Sometimes the space is of more value than the item.

NT

[Johnny B Good]

They do seem to have standardised these circular kettle docking bases over the past decade so if you're planning on buying a new CookWorks 3KW jug kettle from the likes of Argos for around a tenner some time soon to replace your existing incompatible kettle, it might be worth holding onto.

However, in all honesty, there's little to go wrong with these docking bases so hanging onto a 'spare' on the off chance it might prove useful in the not too distant future will just add one more item of clutter to what I imagine is an already growing pile of "Things that might be worth keeping hold of".

If you're planning on buying a potentially compatible kettle in the next fortnight or so, you may as well hang onto it until you can at least confirm its usefulness as a 'spare'. If it does prove to be incompatible, you can then at least dispose of it without any further thought of its potential usefulness going to waste. :-)

Unless you're particularly well organised (anal) about how you squirrel away such 'useful spares', the problem is tracking them down when, typically many years later, the need to retrieve one finally arises.

[Tim+]

How is anyone going to be able to buy a kettle that *isn?t* supplied with its own new base?

Tim

[Brian Gaff]

No idea what its called, but they do seem to be standard as a Moorphy Richards fitted a Swan, both Jugs, thing is I was told that a pillar box red base and alight blue kettle made them puke. I don't care. The other issue is that the outside can be a different design looking a bit naff as well. I do wish that Jug kettle makers gave you about another half metre of mains cable though. Its far too short as it is in my view, and being so thick is a safety hazard able to tip over stuff if its a stretch to the socket. Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

Johnny B Good has brought this to us :

I'm rather obsessive about having and keeping spares...

When a new small appliance is bought, to replace an older item reaching end of life, I keep the old one as a spare. I have an old spare kettle, toaster and coffee machine. These are all kept together in a top cupboard. Jean managed to mislay the coffee maker's filter a few weeks ago (???). No problem I had an identicle machine in the cupboard so was able to borrow that one, until it surfaced.

I keep a spare 3-port valve actuator for the heating system, ready to fit, as that is the most common failure on our heating system - ready to plug in. I have lots of copper pipe, various fittings solder, flux and blow lamps. Lots of cable and flex, nuts and bolts, wood and steel. Spare IC's, transistors, caps, diodes etc..

I rarely have to wait until the shops open, to carry out a quick minor repair. Nowt wrong with keeping a few spares :D

[Harry Bloomfield]

Brian Gaff explained :

Kettles, toasters and coffee maker leads are made deliberately short, so you cannot catch the excess lead and drag the boiling hot water over onto you. It shouldn't be a stretch to a normal over worktop socket. We have ten outlets above the kitchen worktop, plus several at low level.

[Dave Liquorice]

Moderm kettle base mechanisiums are better, when you lift the kettle the main kettle contacts are tripped open or the supply to the base connector is disconected by proper contacts. On early ones this didn't happen and if you lifted/fitted the kettle with the switch on the on position the switching was done by the base to kettle slip rings and the consequent arcing, normally around the same place, knackered them.

As for keeping the base, probably not worth it as a spare. But stripping it for copper and brass and shoving those bits into large jars to weigh in at some future date has some cash value.

[Bob Eager]

Hear hear. SWMBO is now disappointed if I don't have a spare for something!

[Bob Eager]

And many have a cable tidy in the base, for excess cable. I use that to keep the visible cable as short as possible.

Conversely, you might find that there *is* extra cable waiting to be liberated...

[Max Demian]

And, I would have thought, the base is the least likely part to go wrong.

[Jethro_uk]

I used to be the same. Then about 3 times in a week, I went for something I had stashed only to discover it was somehow broken, or unable to work.

Nowdays, once a replacement is sourced, it goes.

Even now, I've got stuff in boxes that I *know* will never be used ...

[Harry Bloomfield]

Jethro_uk laid this down on his screen :

As have I. Every so often I have a drastic sort out of obvious surplus spares, surplus manuals, books and clothes etc..

[Dave Liquorice]

Similar here, if something fails they expect if fixed within 24 hours. Yet I still get moaned at for having too much "junk".

Overlord of the Stuffed Attic

If it moves, I'll keep it. If it stands still, I'll keep it. If I want it, it's up there somewhere. If I've not used it yet, it's not been kept long enough.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Dave Liquorice has brought this to us :

lol

[Johnny B Good]

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Nice to know I'm not alone in making that very point. :-)

[Johnny B Good]

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly with that philosophy but I thought I'd offer you the benefit of my experience of hoarding "Useful Spares" and give you a way by which you could throw away the spare base without any misgivings as to its potential (imminent purchase of a modern cordless jug kettle which just might happen to be compatible).

If it proves to be incompatible with the new kettle, problem solved - just throw it out! If otoh, it *is* compatible, then despite the ruggedness of the supplied base being such that it'll outlast the kettle it came with, then at least, if you do decide to hang onto it as a spare (against your better judgement imho), it does have the charm of not taking up as much shelf space as a whole electric kettle (although it'll consume a significant amount of space in terms of boxes of electronic components and the like - your call).

I've hoarded the previous cordless jug kettle (and its base), against SWMBI's wishes but that at least uses exactly the same base (except it's black rather than white). I *think* I finally slung the previous "Emergency Spare Kettle" (not cordless) as a concession to my SWMBI's sensibilities (but I can't swear to that for certain).

It's bad enough hanging onto stuff that might be a useful spare for stuff you already possess but, if it's a speculative spare for something you might purchase in the future, I think you'd be better off just simply getting rid of it or possibly scrapping it for small parts that you might be able to repurpose.

[John Rumm]

Hence the availability of a spare one without a matching kettle one presumes!

[Andy Burns]

Don't think they're an actual standard, but Strix seem to be a commonly used manufacturer, e.g.

[Rob Morley]

I have maybe 30 boxes (large shoe box size) of PC components I no longer used, that I sorted and labelled years ago but have hardly had need of since - stuff like video accelerators (remember them?) 10baseT networking gear, dial-up modems, CPUs, TV cards. I should salvage the gold content (or give then to someone who will) but they're all usable (in some strange scenario) so I can't throw them away ... :-\

I expect need for house space will win in the end, or I'll build a shed.