How to Make a Cup of Tea?

[joanne2]

Great excitment at being on new boat at the weekend for our maiden voyage on her. Even greater excitement for me at having power on board and a new out of the box Electric Kettle.

However, every time the kettle was about to come to the boil, the fuse kept popping out of the fuse panel and we had to keep putting it back in to make kettle work again.

Why was this, can it be sorted or am I going to have put my nice new kettle back in it's box and get out my old gas hob one again.

Even worse, is my hairdryer not going to work?

Joanne

PS. We were hooked up to shore power at the time.



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[markc]

Your 240v system should cope with a kettle, providing there are no other demands on the power such as a heater, hob etc. The breaker may also be a bit sensitive - if you have more than one 240v plug circuit, try plugging kettle into the other to test it.

M


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[longjohnsilver]

No idea Joanne, but as to hairdryer??!! What's this coming to, next you'll be plugging in your leccy banket and making Nick wear carpet slippers! ;-))

Now let's get back to serious matters, have you let Nick take his dinghy to bed yet....................................................

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[jimi]

Hairdryers are very useful when it comes to sorting scrathes and scrapes in the gelcoat/forums/images/icons/frown.gif

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[hlb]

W have the same trouble Joanne. Although we have not yet sunk to the depths of using an electric kettle. Cirtainly if for instance we have a vfan heater going and Tutts desides to hoover the floor. Then the breaker pops out. A good reason for using the gas kettle and leaving the electric for mor important uses.............../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue> Haydn

 

[joanne2]

Actually I was speaking to someone at Byron's bash who does have their electric blanket on board which I thought was a great idea.

As for slippers, Nick has already insisted that we wear them due to the cream coloured carpet - Nicks Rule: 'No shoes allowed inside the boat!'

And do not go away on holiday without my hairdryer!!! What to be able to doll myself up when (if) we go out on the town.

The dinghy, I am pleased to report is now firmly secured to the back of the boat so no worries there.

Joanne

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[markc]

We also have lecky blanket on board - brilliant for the really cold nights and is also good for airing the bedding.

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[longjohnsilver]

Spose only raggies scratch and scrape their gelcoats, never been known on a stinkie ;-))

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[martinwoolwich]

Had the same problem when we first got our boat, check what other things may also be switched on. The biggest and most likely item (if you have one) is the immersion heater.

Kettle and immersion heater are likely to blow the fuse.

Hope this helps


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[tr7v8]

Joanne,
more info required like how many watts is the kettle and what is the breaker rated at (be marked in watts & Amps respectively either on or near it). If you are using an inverter rther than a genny to provide 240V then it could be using to much power just as it comes to the boil.
Hair dryer ditto how many watts is that? These are 240V toys and not 12/24V aren't they?

Jim
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[hlb]

Get real. Your talking to a woman.........../forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

<hr width=100% size=1> <font color=blue> Haydn

 

[tr7v8]

I spose' I thought she'd ask Nick?
Bearing in mind Nick will want a cuppa as well?

Maybe not....

Jim
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[Freebee]

I would say its quite simple the appliance draws more current than the fuel will allow. But I would warn againts upping the fuse rating until after you have the cables checked to see if they can take the current since the fuse is protecting the cable from overheating.

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[Observer]

Hi Joanne

Typical domestic electric kettle is c.2kw so 8ish amps. If you were also running the immersion heater/calorifier, which is likely to be higher rated, you could be tripping a (say) 10A or even 15A MCB. You would need to check the MCB rating of your ring main circuit. It may be possible to uprate the MCB (if that is the problem) depending on the inbound cable dimensions. Domestic ring main, for example, usually has 2.5sq.mm cable and 32A fuse/MCB (but I think most marina shore supplies are considerably less). We need a few more facts to advise better, like:

what is the MCB rating of the problem circuit?
what other appliances are connected or does the kettle by itself trip the MCB?
if other appliances are connected, try turning all off and bringing on one by one and tell us when it trips and describe all connected appliances?
what is the distribution board/comsumer unit rating?

Enough to be going on with?





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[Col]

Or................Mc Donalds do takeaway coffee!!

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[Robin2]

The kettle won't use more electricity just when it is near boiling. It is possible, if it (perhaps along with other electric demands) is just overloading an MCB that it takes some time to react and say's 'nuffs enuff' by coincidence just before the kettle boils.

On the other hand, is it possible that its the RCD (rather than MCB) that is tripping - which would indicate a fault in the kettle possibly due to steam getting in somewhere it should not.

MCBs trip when there is excessive current demand. RCDs trip when current is "escaping" somewhere that might cause an electric shock.

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