BigYin
Regular.
So, I'm new to the AG brewing game, and this is my first how to guide, so feedback is welcome :
I thought I'd restrict this to specifically the Tesco Value cordless jug kettle, currently selling at £5.99 Clicky, and I'd do it as cheaply as possible. *Edit Jan 2012 - tesco kettle link and price edited as old one no longer valid - can't be certain this is the same one, but it is the same capacity and does have an exposed element*
This method keeps the LED that shows when an element has power
The only other materials you should need a tube to cover the electrics (I used the tube from an old silicon bathroom sealant since it was free), some electric insulating tape and a single 13 amp rated cable block. I also cannibalised an old plug for the cable holder.
The tools needed to follow this guide precisely (and you don't HAVE to do that!) are :
small phillips screwdriver
stanley knife/craft knife
Soldering iron and solder
wire stripper (or use the knife!)
pliers
drill with 4mm bit, a 38mm hole cutter, and a 1mm drill bit.
I have an excellent 16 piece set that is a good investment at £27 - either invest in your own or borrow!
First things first, we need to strip all the bits we need from the kettle.
The kettle :
Remove the two screws from the base - keep these.
that allows the panel to be removed - pull it away and up and it will release.
Now undo the screw you can now see at the base of the inside of the handle.
The handle can now come off by pulling it out and up from the base - the outer handle and the kettle lid will come off.
At the switch, the led can be gently pulled/slid out from under the switch, and then undo the small screw at the base of the switch.
Now, undo the three screws at the back of the element - be very carefull to keep these screws and their washers.
Each screw has a locking washer and a wider washer.
When these are all undone, the element and the back are free to be removed from the kettle.
Carefully remove the clear silicon seal that is on the kettle body - keep it and don't damage it!
Note on the back of the element and the opposing piece of the back plate there is a white paste - this is a heat conduction paste. I suggest you clean this paste off if you don't want it on your clothes, and bend that little plate up so it'll still be touching the back of the element when fitted to your barrel - it's an over heat protection thing - so since we want the element to maintain a boil we want to bend the wee sucker so it can't cut out during a boil.
Now put all that aside safely and lets get to work on extracting what we need from the base of the kettle...
The base :
First remove the three phillips screws on the base.
Now, if you have a star screwdriver, you can also remove the two remaining screws and the base will come off.
If you don't, this is the time to vent a little anger (and watch the fingers!) - Lever up the tipe of the longer end of the base and bend it back until it snaps! Like I say, watch the fingers!
Then repeat that with the shorter end.
This gives you clear access to the cable ends. They can be pulled off their connections, but you'll probably need some narrow pliers to get in and pull them off one at a time.
remove the cable from the base, and open out the little metal connectors - they have got to fit over the big pins coming out the back of the element back piece.
OK now it's time to do the electrics work :
First make up the plastic cover sheath. I cut a 3 inch piece off an old silicon sealant tube.
Drill a 4mm hole close to one end to take the LED. At that same end, maybe a bit further in, drill two 1mm holes to take the cable holder.
At the opposite end drill two 4mm holes right near the end, one at each side.
Offer up the element base to the end with these two holes and drill a 1mm pilot hole in the sides of the base piece, matching up with the holes in the cover.
Now slide the cover down the cable, the right way around - with the LED end closet to the plug - and forget about it for now!
Now let's work on the element back piece : cut the two brown switch wires about 1" from the base.
Cut the led wire right up close to the switch body - you need as much wire on the resistor side as you can get.
Strip 5mm of the wire insulation from the ends of the brown wires. Twist each end up individually and put them both into one side of the cable block. Tighten up.
Strip 5mm of the insulation off the end of the LED wire and fit that to the other side of the cable connector - it's a single strand wire so position it carefully under the screw of the block and make sure it's secure.
Now we are ready to attach the cable.
Note the markings on the element backing body - L, N and the arrow for earth.
Connect the brown cable wire to the L pin, the blue cable wire to the N pin, and the yellow and green wire to the earth pin.
They will be lose because the cable connectors had to be opened out to get on them. Get the soldering iron out, and one at a time heat the metal connector up until solder will run into/onto it. Let it cool and gently test it is now secure. Repeat for all three.
This take a while as there's a lot of metal to heat up each time. Alternatively you could buy a hot connection three pin female socket from Maplin which should fit directly onto the exposed pins - since I'm doing this on a budget and had two elements to attach, that's £5 or so I saved by doing a bit of soldering :thumb:
If you do use my soldering method, once you are done and the parts have cooled, wrap some electric insulating tape around each of the soldered pins to prevent the risk of an arc/spark between them in use.
With that all done it's time to fit everything to the boiler.
I used a 38mm hole drill to cut a hole centred 6cm above the base of the boiler.
Carefully tidy up the edges of the hole with a knife and fit the silicon seal taken from the kettle.
Making sure you don't disturb the silicon seal, offer up the element from the inside, and match up the back piece on the outside. Secure with the three screws with washers.
Now slide the cover into place and secure with the two little sharp screws kept from the very first step.
Pop the LEd up through its hole - you may need to push a screwdriver in to open the hole up a fraction if the led won't quite fit.
Use the cable trap to firmly anchor the cable in place.
Job done and time to check that the seal is water tight, and that the element works..
Remember the elements must NOT be switched on unless they are submerged.
Fill the boiler with water and check for any leaks.
I got it right first time *phew* and there were no leaks, so power on, and the LED's let you know which element is on.
I put hot water in it, and about 25 minutes later, 30 odd litres of water were boiling merrily away!
I thought I'd restrict this to specifically the Tesco Value cordless jug kettle, currently selling at £5.99 Clicky, and I'd do it as cheaply as possible. *Edit Jan 2012 - tesco kettle link and price edited as old one no longer valid - can't be certain this is the same one, but it is the same capacity and does have an exposed element*
This method keeps the LED that shows when an element has power
The only other materials you should need a tube to cover the electrics (I used the tube from an old silicon bathroom sealant since it was free), some electric insulating tape and a single 13 amp rated cable block. I also cannibalised an old plug for the cable holder.
The tools needed to follow this guide precisely (and you don't HAVE to do that!) are :
small phillips screwdriver
stanley knife/craft knife
Soldering iron and solder
wire stripper (or use the knife!)
pliers
drill with 4mm bit, a 38mm hole cutter, and a 1mm drill bit.
I have an excellent 16 piece set that is a good investment at £27 - either invest in your own or borrow!
First things first, we need to strip all the bits we need from the kettle.
The kettle :
Remove the two screws from the base - keep these.
that allows the panel to be removed - pull it away and up and it will release.
Now undo the screw you can now see at the base of the inside of the handle.
The handle can now come off by pulling it out and up from the base - the outer handle and the kettle lid will come off.
At the switch, the led can be gently pulled/slid out from under the switch, and then undo the small screw at the base of the switch.
Now, undo the three screws at the back of the element - be very carefull to keep these screws and their washers.
Each screw has a locking washer and a wider washer.
When these are all undone, the element and the back are free to be removed from the kettle.
Carefully remove the clear silicon seal that is on the kettle body - keep it and don't damage it!
Note on the back of the element and the opposing piece of the back plate there is a white paste - this is a heat conduction paste. I suggest you clean this paste off if you don't want it on your clothes, and bend that little plate up so it'll still be touching the back of the element when fitted to your barrel - it's an over heat protection thing - so since we want the element to maintain a boil we want to bend the wee sucker so it can't cut out during a boil.
Now put all that aside safely and lets get to work on extracting what we need from the base of the kettle...
The base :
First remove the three phillips screws on the base.
Now, if you have a star screwdriver, you can also remove the two remaining screws and the base will come off.
If you don't, this is the time to vent a little anger (and watch the fingers!) - Lever up the tipe of the longer end of the base and bend it back until it snaps! Like I say, watch the fingers!
Then repeat that with the shorter end.
This gives you clear access to the cable ends. They can be pulled off their connections, but you'll probably need some narrow pliers to get in and pull them off one at a time.
remove the cable from the base, and open out the little metal connectors - they have got to fit over the big pins coming out the back of the element back piece.
OK now it's time to do the electrics work :
First make up the plastic cover sheath. I cut a 3 inch piece off an old silicon sealant tube.
Drill a 4mm hole close to one end to take the LED. At that same end, maybe a bit further in, drill two 1mm holes to take the cable holder.
At the opposite end drill two 4mm holes right near the end, one at each side.
Offer up the element base to the end with these two holes and drill a 1mm pilot hole in the sides of the base piece, matching up with the holes in the cover.
Now slide the cover down the cable, the right way around - with the LED end closet to the plug - and forget about it for now!
Now let's work on the element back piece : cut the two brown switch wires about 1" from the base.
Cut the led wire right up close to the switch body - you need as much wire on the resistor side as you can get.
Strip 5mm of the wire insulation from the ends of the brown wires. Twist each end up individually and put them both into one side of the cable block. Tighten up.
Strip 5mm of the insulation off the end of the LED wire and fit that to the other side of the cable connector - it's a single strand wire so position it carefully under the screw of the block and make sure it's secure.
Now we are ready to attach the cable.
Note the markings on the element backing body - L, N and the arrow for earth.
Connect the brown cable wire to the L pin, the blue cable wire to the N pin, and the yellow and green wire to the earth pin.
They will be lose because the cable connectors had to be opened out to get on them. Get the soldering iron out, and one at a time heat the metal connector up until solder will run into/onto it. Let it cool and gently test it is now secure. Repeat for all three.
This take a while as there's a lot of metal to heat up each time. Alternatively you could buy a hot connection three pin female socket from Maplin which should fit directly onto the exposed pins - since I'm doing this on a budget and had two elements to attach, that's £5 or so I saved by doing a bit of soldering :thumb:
If you do use my soldering method, once you are done and the parts have cooled, wrap some electric insulating tape around each of the soldered pins to prevent the risk of an arc/spark between them in use.
With that all done it's time to fit everything to the boiler.
I used a 38mm hole drill to cut a hole centred 6cm above the base of the boiler.
Carefully tidy up the edges of the hole with a knife and fit the silicon seal taken from the kettle.
Making sure you don't disturb the silicon seal, offer up the element from the inside, and match up the back piece on the outside. Secure with the three screws with washers.
Now slide the cover into place and secure with the two little sharp screws kept from the very first step.
Pop the LEd up through its hole - you may need to push a screwdriver in to open the hole up a fraction if the led won't quite fit.
Use the cable trap to firmly anchor the cable in place.
Job done and time to check that the seal is water tight, and that the element works..
Remember the elements must NOT be switched on unless they are submerged.
Fill the boiler with water and check for any leaks.
I got it right first time *phew* and there were no leaks, so power on, and the LED's let you know which element is on.
I put hot water in it, and about 25 minutes later, 30 odd litres of water were boiling merrily away!
