I've an elderly relative who has been seen to be filling her cordless kettle whilst dipping the base of it in an already full kitchen sink and then plugging it back onto its stand, dripping wet.
a) What's the risk b) Are there "safety kettles" which might reduce any risk
Cheers!
Matt
Make sure it's on an RCD circuit, or failing that, fit an RCD socket for it. (A plug-in RCD will get removed first time it trips.)
We had problems with a couple of elderly relatives and kettles. Although both had used electric kettles for years, both reverted to putting the electric kettle on the gas hob, which wasn't so bad with the classic old Russell Hobs metal electric kettle as it was with the plastic kettle which replaced it. In the end, had to get a gas hob kettle for one, and the other ended up heating water in a saucepan IIRC.
Water in the works and potentially a live leakage current. Most are cunningly designed so that water can only get on one side wet unless you are very creative but it could go with a good pop and blow the fuse.
Look carefully to see where the water can get to. It might not be as disastrous as you think although electrolytic action will corrode the contacts and lead to premature failure...
Better to make sure the kitchen ring main is on a RCB so that if the worst happens it will trip and need to be reset manually.
A physically smaller kettle might help - you can get 1.2L ones.
That is what I got my parents because they always filled their big kettle and with a weakening grip it looked seriously dangerous to me. They really only need to boil enough water for two cups of tea/coffee.
I've never had a problem with this at all, being blind I probably do this at least once a week. The connection system is pretty well designed. Brian
One of the issues i have with modern kettles is the design of the spout. I ended up filing a notch into mine so I could locate it onto whatever I want to pour the contents into, instead of it slipping and dousing everything in boiling water. Also the filters in them get blocked maga fast and I now wash them in the washing machine with some older clothes!
Brian
Presumably she has got away with doing this. Normal (slightly impure) water and electricity don't mix. The water just ensures that you get a more severe shock, which is why people get killed when their electric fire falls in the bath.
If you can't persuade your relative not to do this perhaps you should get her a kettle that works on a hob. Or maybe fit a mixer tape where the spout is high enough to fill the kettle when its bottom is above the level of the draining board.
If possible, how about filling it using a jug? I know that the need for persuasion and requiring them to remember to do so makes this highly dependant upon the person's acceptance.
most likely be impossible to change the filling habits, short of either using a gas hob kettle, or fitting one of those boiling water taps (with the risks involved) or a wall mounted boiling water dispenser thingy.... that needs filling from a jug i presume,
The breville hot cup type things sit on the side, and you take the unit off the dock to re-fill it, so will have the same problem as a kettle.
i guess it depends on the design of the cordless kettle to how much of a danger there is, my kettle has a circular contact in the middle of the base for power (as it's a round kettle designed so you can twist it about on the base with the power lead going the direction you want i guess) it has some sort of spring loaded shroud that covers the live contacts in the base when the kettle is off the base, and i imagine they would shed the last few drips of water from the kettle's connection being dunked in water,
And as you put it on the base holding the plastic (and presumably dry) handle, the worst that could happen is a flash over and trip the rcd,
But maybe the square type jug kettles that fit onto the base with 3 pins sticking out of the kettle stand more chance of being a problem, but then again, as long as the kettle is just placed onto the base with one hand, the operator is unlikely to get a shock.
Now the type of kettle where you hold it with one hand and plug the lead into it with the other.... i wouldn't be that happy doing so after the socket had been dunked in water,
I think that it probably true, but I would still fit an RCD so that if the worst happens and someone ends up touching water in contact with live that they do not get a lethal shock.
I suspect most today are configured as kettle live on a central rod, neutral on a concentric cylinder and then a plastic guard around both.
The base has a small hole in the middle for live that only opens after the neutral cylinder mates with the base and plenty of plastic inbetween to keep prying fingers away from the hot bits.
I suspect you could get water in by spilling it directly on the base but mostly it would result in current flowing from live to neutral.
Poor old soul!, if you do fit a RCD do remember to tell her how to close it;!...
No-one has mentioned wall-mounted "kettles" yet. They pose a (different) scalding risk, and are "unfamiliar". I'd be inclined to stick with a cordless kettle, as long as the circuit is on an RCD of course.
A fair point - the reset needs to be either on the plug for the base or somewhere else that an elderly person can easily reach it. My parents mains fuse box is uncomfortably hidden in a small cupboard under the stairs and requires a supple contortionist to work on it. The access aperture is roughly no wider than 16" wide and 20" high.
You're right, and that's something I want to steer away from.
RCD protection, checking that it is a round based connector and the reassurance from here that there isn't really a sizeable risk seems to be a good place to leave this.
Thanks!
Which, in the case of a few stray drips, will probably flash to steam.
The typical plastic jug kettle tends to drip a few drops when replaced on its dock after filling it through its spout. Most of the time, ime, these land well clear of the central connector socket and I've yet to see a kettle drip score a direct hit.
The bases seem to well designed in that the socket allows rapid drainage for any such stray water ingress. I guess the only way you're likely to see water being flashed into steam from the socket is by deliberately pouring water into it.
However, just a month or two before Comet unsurprisingly went bust, I bought one of those 'ever so nice' Pyrex Goldfish Bowl' kettles which, despite it's nice looking 'form decided by fashion' appearance proved to be somewhat lacking in the 'function department' as well as rather more hazardous in use.
In this case, it was even more awkward to fill through the spout and not much better when popping its lid open. Water spilling past the spout would find its way into the plastic base and then spill out a good tablespoon's worth all over its docking station.
I took it back for a full refund a few days later but came up against a "Store Manager" who seemed to be wilfully ignorant of his obligations laid out in the SOGA. I gave up and tried again a few days later when a different "Store Manager" fulfilled the SOGA obligations without any undue fuss. The contrast between those two experiences could hardly have been any greater. I wasn't in the least surprised when Comet went bust a month or two later (Googling had provide me with all the background I needed to eliminate any such surprise).
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