I have a small electrical kettle (it has a plastic case and metalic
heating element at the bottom). I have previously (1 year+ ago)
descaled it by putting cheap malt vinegar into it and then turning the
kettle on.

On returning from a 2 weeks holiday, I now find that every time I turn
on the kettle, there are tiny pieces of black debris falling out from
the metallic elements. I left the kettle dry before I went on holiday.
Surely can't be (just) lime-scale? I live in London (i.e. hard water
error), but normally put brita-filtered water into the kettle for
boiling. Other times, I may use half filtered and half tapwater.

What are these black debris? Are they toxic? How can I remove it
safely?

"peter" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a small electrical kettle (it has a plastic case and metalic
heating element at the bottom). I have previously (1 year+ ago)
descaled it by putting cheap malt vinegar into it and then turning
the
kettle on.

On returning from a 2 weeks holiday, I now find that every time I
turn
on the kettle, there are tiny pieces of black debris falling out
from
the metallic elements. I left the kettle dry before I went on
holiday.
Surely can't be (just) lime-scale? I live in London (i.e. hard
water
error), but normally put brita-filtered water into the kettle for
boiling. Other times, I may use half filtered and half tapwater.

What are these black debris? Are they toxic? How can I remove it
safely?


You have probably managed to strip away any plating that was covering
the element sheath, which is now corroding.

AWEM

What kind of plating would that be? I thought all electrical kettle's
heating elements are simply metallic (stainless steel?)

Does it mean my kettle is no good any more to produce any "healthy"
drinking water? Can those black stuff be removed with vinegar, acid,
etc.?

In article . com
peter wrote:
What kind of plating would that be? I thought all electrical kettle's
heating elements are simply metallic (stainless steel?)

Probably something like nickel plated copper. Steel would be crap at
conducting the heat into the water.

Does it mean my kettle is no good any more to produce any "healthy"
drinking water? Can those black stuff be removed with vinegar, acid,
etc.?

It's the acid that caused the copper to start corroding in the first
place ...

So I guess I need a new kettle then?

I had only used vinegar (hardly very acidic compared with limescale
removal acidic sachets?) a year ago to remove limescale.

Other than buying a different kettle, what tips are there to remove
limescale in the future if acid could cause the metal plating to
corrode?

peter wrote:
So I guess I need a new kettle then?

Why bother? Just boil it a few times until the black stuff
stops falling off.


I had only used vinegar (hardly very acidic compared with limescale
removal acidic sachets?) a year ago to remove limescale.

It's probably not that, then.

Other than buying a different kettle, what tips are there to remove
limescale in the future if acid could cause the metal plating to
corrode?

Why bother? Just rinse it out every so often, and make
sure any gauze filter is clean (use vinegar, conc. HCl,
or etc).

Being a DIY forum I reckon you should use a good ole hammer - preferably a sledge hammer!! That would sort it out good and proper!!

In article .com,
says...
So I guess I need a new kettle then?

I had only used vinegar (hardly very acidic compared with limescale
removal acidic sachets?) a year ago to remove limescale.

Other than buying a different kettle, what tips are there to remove
limescale in the future if acid could cause the metal plating to
corrode?

You can get a thing which looks like a scouring pad to put in the kettle
which works pretty well. Every so often you take the pad out and bash it
around a bit to remove the scale which has adhered to the pad instead of
the kettle. Then you put the pad back

Anna

--
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repair and conservation
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

In article
Chris Bacon wrote:
peter wrote:
So I guess I need a new kettle then?

Why bother? Just boil it a few times until the black stuff
stops falling off.

And if the black stuff is formed every time you boil water ...

I had only used vinegar (hardly very acidic compared with limescale
removal acidic sachets?) a year ago to remove limescale.

It's probably not that, then.

Probably not the primary cause, but the the original plating was
imperfect it most likely accelerated the rate at which it failed.

Other than buying a different kettle, what tips are there to remove
limescale in the future if acid could cause the metal plating to
corrode?

Why bother? Just rinse it out every so often, and make
sure any gauze filter is clean (use vinegar, conc. HCl,
or etc).

Because a build up of mineral deposits on the element impedes the
heating of water and allows the element to overheat, thus failing
sooner.

In article .com
peter wrote:
So I guess I need a new kettle then?

You might be able to find a replacement element for the old one, but
they don't seem common these days and I doubt it's worth it unless the
kettle is an expensive one.

I had only used vinegar (hardly very acidic compared with limescale
removal acidic sachets?) a year ago to remove limescale.

Other than buying a different kettle, what tips are there to remove
limescale in the future if acid could cause the metal plating to
corrode?

The best solution is really to buy a kettle with a concealed element -
these don't seem to scale up as fast and they're easier to clean.

In article
Anna Kettle wrote:
In article .com,
says...
So I guess I need a new kettle then?

I had only used vinegar (hardly very acidic compared with limescale
removal acidic sachets?) a year ago to remove limescale.

Other than buying a different kettle, what tips are there to remove
limescale in the future if acid could cause the metal plating to
corrode?

You can get a thing which looks like a scouring pad to put in the kettle
which works pretty well. Every so often you take the pad out and bash it
around a bit to remove the scale which has adhered to the pad instead of
the kettle. Then you put the pad back

I'd forgotten about them, the last time I saw one in use was when I was
sharing a kitchen. Someone kept taking it out of the kettle - when I
figured out who it was and explained that it was magic rather than a
little scouring pad, I got the distinct impression that he didn't
believe me.

Rob Morley typed


The best solution is really to buy a kettle with a concealed element -
these don't seem to scale up as fast and they're easier to clean.

That was not true in my case.

I had to descale my concealed element jug kettle every 3 months or so.
Then it started leaking though the water level guage tubes, so I threw
it away.

I am now using my 30-year-old Russell Hobbs; somehow, the limescale
flakes off rather than building up.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.