Phil Addison wrote:

SWIMBO bought a shiny new steel kettle, and now we can't listen to the
kitchen radio when its on (the kettle that is!!) because it makes such a
vigorous 'kettling' racket, and not just when it's near boiling. Last
weekend I talked to a guy in our independent appliance retailer and he
said they are all like that these days, its due to the trendy new
'concealed element' design.

The concealed element 'feature' is where the element is embedded in the
flat bottom of the kettle, rather than being the conventional 'bent rod'
style immersed in the water. I think the noise is due to the large flat
base acting as a kind of sounding board.

On a quick look it seems as if this style of kettle is all that's
available these days. Has anyone else come across this problem? Any
recommendations for a good quiet cordless kettle?

Phil

the only option not yet mentioned is to reduce the kettle power. A
series impedance will do that. A diode would roughly halve power use,
you'd want a 1kv 12A rated diode for long term reliability.

The other option is acoustic damping, which is quite doable with some
kettles. That way you could get all your wants, but would have to mess
with it to get it there. First thought for that would be an assortment
of large steel nuts sitting on blobs of high temp silicone, anywhere
and everywhere they could go without being visible, ie underneath where
most needed, plus some more in the handle area, and whatever you can
get into the sit-on base.


NT