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It's a kettle - a rubber one, which did make me ponder whether it was a good idea to have a floppy rubbery thing full of boiling water.  But it does seem quite solid.

The electric aspects are what you'd expect from a grey import - or even a pink import.  There's a ground connection, but it was supplied with a less than ideal cable.  The thermal control is just a bimetallic switch that keeps the flask heated as long as the switch is on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6iDNP3QPxc

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Pink rubber kettle teardown - not terrible

It's pink, it's rubber, it's a kettle - it's a pink rubber kettle. I think the point of this is that it is rugged while also being easy to fold down for storage and travel. It's not a fast kettle at just 600W (I measured 700W on the local 245V supply) but for a single cup of coffee it could be acceptable. They are apparently available in 120V or 220V versions. The cable is copper coated aluminium, and the one shipped is not polarised and has no earth/ground wire. That's unfortunate, since the kettle does have an exposed metal ring around it, and a common failure mode with heating elements is to leak current to the casing. There is an earth wire internally, so with a proper IEC style lead it should be grounded. The temperature control is by a thermal switch on the heater plate, but there is no auxiliary thermal fuse to protect against its failure. Many certified devices like this have the extra thermal fuse in the opposing lead for double protection against a fault in the element causing current flow to ground causing uncontrolled heating. The thermal switch did cut off the heater just as the water started boiling. It cuts in and out as needed, so make sure you switch off (and preferably unplug) the unit if leaving it unattended. The black inserts around the screws are high temperature plastic to offer some protection against the plastic base melting. The heater block is welded onto what appears to be a thin stainless steel dish that is folded in at the sides to grip the silicone rubber flask tightly. While I don't generally recommend grey import products for safety reasons, this unit seems fairly serviceable for use by suitably intelligent people. The fact it cycles the heating on and off as needed does suggest it could have uses for heating other liquids for technical purposes (wax maybe?). The thermal switch could be swapped for a lower temperature one if required too. The keywords to find this on eBay are "foldable electric kettle". If you enjoy these videos you can help support the channel with a dollar for coffee, cookies and random gadgets for disassembly at:- https://www.bigclive.com/coffee.htm This also keeps the channel independent of YouTube's algorithm quirks, allowing it to be a bit more dangerous and naughty. #ElectronicsCreators

Comments

Curtis Hoffmann

Aww. I wanted the water filling action! More filling of the water, BigClive!

Anonymous

When we travel, my wife MUST have her hot water bottle to help her physical issues. I spotted one of these on Amazon and purchased it. Ours is a more squat design versus you taller design. It folds down and packs very well. It isn’t used much, only when traveling, but serves its purpose. Wife was pleased! I won points! Looks like using a proper old computer style cable with a good 3 pin plug would be a good idea to make use of the earth wire. I will check mine to see if the earth lead is connected inside.

Anonymous

something about the baseplate inside was a bit sus....

bigclive

I think it's a rough casting, with the pretty bit being the stainless steel plate attached to it.

Mike Page

600W at 220V which is the supply in China.

Nani Isobel

I was just thinking an old chunky computer cable would work. Tossed all mine long ago :(

Nani Isobel

I'm surprised it's possible to make something that boils water out of rubber.

Seán Byrne

Looks like it's missing a thermal fuse in case the thermostat gets stuck on.

Mike Hanley

Silicone is good for 200 deg C, even silicone sealant which I used for a chemistry experiment at around that temp!

Anonymous

Try your local thrift store, if you have any such places. Where I live in the US there are always old computer power cords for a pittance.

bigclive

Hopefully the copper coated aluminium cables aren't creeping into the thrift stores.

bigclive

It is. And it should be on the opposite leg of the supply as an extra precaution against a heating element ground fault causing rogue operation.

NN Thomas

Clive : aren't you concerned about DEHP? If it isn't real rubber it could be a plastic with DEHP added to make it flexible.

bigclive

This feels like silicone, but without lab testing it's hard to tell the exact composition.

Anonymous

Presumably if that is a self resetting thermal switch, if left connected the kettle will keep bringing the water back to the boil.

bigclive

It does, which is bad news for an unattended kettle, but good news for a modified wax melter.

Anonymous

What's amusing to me here is that for all my time in IT we called them "kettle cords" and now they're being discussed in relation to a kettle they're "computer cables"

Wim

Those elastomers usually have a smell, which gets stronger when heated.

Phil Collins

The author Robert Rankin once made a bondage teapot, but this is the first fetish kettle I’ve ever seen.

Anonymous

It's a hot wobbly pink thing!

Dave Frederick

I kind of like the rubber kettle idea and construction beyond the provided cable of course but then my main consideration would be how well the "rubber" would be a healthy or at least not some sort of industrial tire compound? LOL

Anonymous

I feel with the thermostat cutting back in (rather than being a cut off) it would have been better to have the indicator wired so it was on while the switch was on even if the element was held off. Too easy to leave it powered up and gradually boil dry. Better ones of these are popular with the campervan crowd as they take up little space and the power draw works for light duty site hook ups or inverters.