Just Sharing This A smell like Germolene just inside the kitchen door : )

Spiff

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Good evening Gentlemen : )

A smell like Germolene just inside the kitchen door has been mystifying us for a few weeks.

We did some searches online with no luck.

This evening the kettle stopped working, please see attached pictures.

Alanna's has a new kettle coming for one of her Christmas presents, ( I am generous to a fault : ) but in the mean time I have fitted a new plug : )

I can smell it on my hands, better go wash them : )

The kettle is the other side of the kitchen, the smell was in mid air just inside the door very strange : )

I had sniffed the kettle before and just about everything else, but not the kettle plug.

God Bless Spiff : )
 

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jeallen01

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The smell was obviously the material of the Chinese plug - probably not actually UK certified! - "gently deteriorating" because of poor contact materials & tension, and thus excessive local heating (actually, there should not be ANY such heating in that area!) - and a "13A" fuse of some sort.

Would be interested to see a better shot of the fuse as I suspect it also isn't genuinely UK certified to BS1362 (the matching fuse specification to BS1363 for the plug itself).

Came across similar issues quite a few times when actually "working"!:rolleyes:

PS: if you want see "more of the same", check out the UK Electrical Safety First (ESF) website. - and @Spiff, maybe report your experiences there.
 
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Spiff

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Unfortunately I have disposed of the plug and fuse outside because of the smell : )

The kettle was originally from Tesco about three years ago, we decided to buy cheap a £20 Russell Hobs, as higher priced ones before did not last.

The plastic surface on this one has started to deteriorate badly in several places it looks a mess, which is why a new one Tesco brand £18 is coming at Christmas.

I am from a generation that repairs everything, but some things now are beyond it and low cost and frequent replacement is the more logical answer, sadly.
 

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Topper

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Yes, I sympathise, my wife insists on having colour matched toaster and kettle, it is a constant PITA wandering around trying to find ones that are actually the same colour. It is probably my fault because when I worked in printed carpet manufacturing some forty years ago, although I was a technician on the backing plant, I often had to 'cover' the colour technician on printing and I discovered I had a very keen eye for colour matching on the printed carpets and that skill has stuck with me ever since sometimes to my chagrin. We currently have a toaster that does not work on the LHS, the mechanism refuses to lock in position. It is less than three years old and I have already disassembled it twice and it is OK for a month or two then goes again. Last summer during the hot weather it also began making minor popping sounds so I took it to bits and discovered grease was shorting out the circuit board and discharging a capacitor but after I cleaned it up it was fine. Then and our kettle began intermittently leaking for no reason. We have been on the lookout for suitable replacements ever since however, stocks appear low everywhere as buyers simply stopped buying and manufacturers stopped producing. I wish you luck, we only seem to sell Chinese crap these days and their safety standards are appalling. On the other hand our microwave we have had for forty years and it is still going strong. it is built like a chieftain tank and our upright freezer that we had since 1978 only packed in 18 months ago. Unfortunately, the manufacturers cottoned on, so they no longer make anything to last.
 

Spiff

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Hallo Topper fortunately Alanna is not into colour matching : )

OK on Talkie the Toaster ( Red Dwarf in case that remark goes by you, would you like a toasted tea cake ?

I remember in the 1960s replacing the elements on irons, toasters and kettles in the radio and TV shop I worked at.

The thermostat on irons was set at 160 wool, never forgot that : )

They fit chips to everything now, even taps LOL

Our microwave is a Hotpoint is 1989 31 years old, one of the fridge freezers is 1980 40 years old, I have fitted several thermostats and one motor start relay.

The other one is a Ice Diamond, a really nice unit, a friends wife in the village had him change it because of a tiny bit of ice that forms in freezer bottom.

I offered to take it away being a kind soal.

The washing machine another Hotpoint is getting on, I replaced the mounts a while back.

God Bless Spiff
 
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The smell was obviously the material of the Chinese plug - probably not actually UK certified! - "gently deteriorating" because of poor contact materials & tension, and thus excessive local heating (actually, there should not be ANY such heating in that area!) - and a "13A" fuse of some sort.

Would be interested to see a better shot of the fuse as I suspect it also isn't genuinely UK certified to BS1362 (the matching fuse specification to BS1363 for the plug itself).

Came across similar issues quite a few times when actually "working"!:rolleyes:

PS: if you want see "more of the same", check out the UK Electrical Safety First (ESF) website. - and @Spiff, maybe report your experiences there.
Well it has the BS1363A mark on the plug. I have found many of these moulded plugs are suspect, especially on electric heaters, and get very warm to touch..
 
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Spiff

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Just a loose fuse, not good though.
 

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Just a loose fuse, not good though.
It would be wise to take the fuse out and close the gap between the two copper connectors to make sure the fuse makes good contact.
 

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I have replaced the plug as it had melted, please see first post images.

Plugs are free, at least all the ones I obtain are : )

I can say with honesty, that I have never purchased a 13 amp plug, people throw good ones away ::: )))
 

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I have replaced the plug as it had melted, please see first post images.

Plugs are free, at least all the ones I obtain are : )

I can say with honesty, that I have never purchased a 13 amp plug, people throw good ones away ::: )))
Yes, worth checking any other moulded plugs you have on high wattage items though..
 

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Over here, we don't have plugs with fuses....
 

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Over here, we don't have plugs with fuses....
Lol tell me about it, I stayed in my first Airbnb about 8 years ago in central Paris, it was their parent's apartment and the first time they had advertised it (the parents having been put in a care home). I gave them a good review but a whole list of 'issues' behind the scenes one of which was the only socket in one of the bedrooms was supplied through the wall using 'bare wires' (the rubber insulation had dried up and fallen off, whilst it ran along the wall for about three inches, it was behind a chest of drawers but a potential hazard if a young curious child was there.
 

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Over here, we don't have plugs with fuses....
@sonnetpete

As I'm sure you know, virtually all of Europe uses the radials system of wiring with the fuse/circuit breaker protection at the distribution board, whereas the UK, Eire and some small UK-practice countries use the ring main system with 2 levels of protection : fairly "coarse" (32A) protection at the distribution board level and then lower level (13A max) protection in the plugs on the appliance cables.

Both systems are safe when manufactured, installed and maintained correctly - but if not then .....:-doh
 
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