Help please with Goblin Teasmade 844

[squirrel]

Hi all this is my first post.

I'm not remotely mechanical minded but my husband can manage the basics. We're both retired now.

I bought this great machine about 18 months ago. My aunt has had Teasmades for years, and I've always coveted one, so decided to look...in particular for one with a china teapot (we like our tea!)

I had problems after about 6 weeks with leaks from the kettle, but managed to find an online site selling new rubber seals, and hey presto - like new again.

But over the last couple of weeks, something has gone wrong. I think with the balance system. I set it as usual, but the alarm goes off when it should have just clicked 'on' (a very rude awakening, that).

So far I've managed either to jiggle the kettle about until the noise stops, turn it 'off' and then on again, turn the alarm to switch it on again, or do the same thing when I set it at night but that option now no longer seems to work.

I have given it a good, external dust, and tried carefully to remove obvious dust from under the kettle plate. Haven't taken the base plate off underneath yet.

The kettle plate seems slightly 'loose', ie. can shift slightly back and forwards, though this might be normal?

Any helpful suggestions would be really appreciated, I really want my warm 'lie-in' back again.

[Mike Phelan]

Welcome (?),

It sounds like the switch operating the kettle weight isn't opening when the kettle has sufficient water so it might just be a mechanical fault. There should be a definite click when you put a filled kettle on.

The kettle platform is pivoted on the left-hand side and shouldn't be loose but just able to be depressed on the right-hand side.

A picture of the underside with the cover off might help.

[julie_m]

OK, here's how a Teasmade works. It's all done with switches.

The clock is driven by a motor whose speed depends only on the reversals of the AC mains supply. When it gets to the alarm time, a pair of contacts (the alarm contacts) join together, and stay joined for several minutes (at least long enough for the kettle to boil).

When the Teasmade is on AUTO, mains power -- switched by the alarm contacts -- is fed to another switch which is operated by the kettle platform. When the kettle is full of water, its weight tilts the platform down and operates the switch; which will send power to the heating element in the kettle when the alarm contacts close.

The kettle spout extends down inside, a few millimetres shy of the bottom of the kettle. As the water boils, steam pressure builds up above the water, forcing it out of the spout and into the teapot.

Eventually, so much water has been lost from the kettle that the platform rocks back and the platform switch operates. This disconnects the supply from the kettle, and diverts it to the buzzer and light instead. If the hissing steam did not wake you, this will!

There is also a plunger switch under the teapot. If AUTO mode is selected while the teapot is absent, power is sent straight to the buzzer and light as a warning to the user that they stand to wake up to an almighty mess as opposed to a refreshing brew.

The first thing you need to check, then, is the kettle platform and its switch. On most Teasmade models, the switch contacts are open and you can actually see them operating as you press and release the kettle platform. Needless to say, the Teasmade should be unplugged from the mains while working on it.

[squirrel]

Many thanks for your replies - haven't been able to read / reply before...(ill father).
Yes, I had sort of gathered the working principles - but it's helpful to ahve them so clearly explained!
of course, I hadn't previously examined the stability or otherwise of the kettle platform, but it is definitely 'loose-ish' and can be slid v. sloightly from front to back.
I will take the back off, have a look - and come back to let you know the results, posting a photo if neccessary.
I do miss the building steam / hiss - it's a much calmer method of waking than even an alarm clock - and certainly calmer than the buzz out of the blue!

[squirrel]

Well, I took the underneath / base cover off, and all looks fine, apart from a few bits of accumulated dust.

Yes, I see the contacts, and how they work. The 'bar' on the outside edge underneath the kettle palte does slide slightly, but this doesn't appear to make much difference - I don't think that the two pices of metal at each end of the bar need to be touching or apart? It does move one of the wires slightly, but only within its 'hole'.
If I have another problem, I'll post a photo.
But - your advice re. the kettle plate needing to 'click' was needed.
I tried placing the kettle in position as usual on the plate - and it didn't click. Then again, several times - and sometimes it clicked, and sometimes it didn't.

So last night, I set it up as usual, but just made sure I heard the 'click'.... (ie. made sure the kettle was well down on that corner) and all was fine this morning.

I suppose I should work out why the click isn't automatically working, and may try to see, just for my own interest - but meanwhile I think my problem is solved. (and I've seen the workings too, which was really interesting!)

Many thanks from both me - and my husband!!

[julie_m]

Glad you got it working! It sounds as though something is loose, broken or bent in the kettle platform tilting mechanism, and this is stopping the switch from engaging positively every time.

If you can post pictures of the insides, we might be able to spot the problem. If you can get an assistant to push down the platform in at least one of the pictures, that would help. If you can get pictures of the platform being pushed down and the switch both operating and not operating, so much the better.

It could be, of course, that you simply aren't putting enough water in the kettle, especially if you're trying to make just one cup of tea. Obviously you don't want to use so much water that you drown the teabag and end up with weak tea, but too little water won't operate the platform switch. In my student days, when I was running a Teasmade to make tea just for me, I simply put enough water in the kettle to click the switch, and then didn't put a bag in the teapot -- I just poured plain boiling water from the teapot into a mug with a waiting teabag.

[squirrel]

As it happens, we like really weak tea - and because I thought that the 'level' indicator meant that you had to fill the kettle to that point, that's what I've been doing (I assumed that it affected the balance mechanism). No instructions, see, since I haven't had it from new!

..and this morning, I was in luck: I haven't used it, until last night, since I went to set it and the buzzer kept coming on when I tested it. So I put fresh water in the kettle, and a teabag in the pott, only to discover that the unused teabag from last time was still there too - so very strong tea this morning. But, hurrah, lots still in the kettle - just pour it on and the problem was solved.

So does that mean I just need to put a little more water in the kettle than we actually need in the pot and it won't take so long?

I will try to achieve some 'working' photos - thanks for the helpful suggestion.

[Mike Phelan]

You need to put sufficient water in the kettle or there will not be enough weight to operate the switch on the platform; however putting too much water than the level indicator will soon make hot water come out of the small hole in the kettle lid and go everywhere, so that won't do.

We only use coffee in the morning, but why not just pour from the teapot as soon as possible so it doesn't brew too much?