Whistling Kettles & Maintenance

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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Jan 03, 2021 12:38 pm

My 10 year old Simplex kettle stopped whistling. It now makes a sadly muffled croak, not the sharp piercing sound that makes it easy to hear from any room in the house. Online searches haven't gotten me very far. I did find an official looking use and care guide PDF that says nothing about fixing this issue, but does warn against what would have been my next step--boiling some vinegar in it:
- Don’t use abrasive cleaners that may harm the exterior or interior finish of your kettle.
- Don’t use wire or other abrasive de-scaling products such as lemon or vinegar, which will cause damage to the pure tin or nickel plated lining of your kettle.
The ball in the spout rattles when I shake the empty kettle, so it's not completely stuck or jammed. I presume it's something to do with scale or rust or something keeping it from seating tightly enough to hold the steam in until whistle pressure is reached.

It's always and only been used with Los Angeles city tap water.

Suggestions for next steps?

I've already entered a query to the company, but am asking the smart community here because I anticipate a long time before I get a reply from them due to life in COVID times.
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Balthazar
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Sun Jan 03, 2021 1:22 pm

I've treated my whistling kettle with vinegar many times, but it's 18/8 stainless steel through and through (except the opening lid to the spout). I would think a fairly dilluted mixture of vinegar and water would be okay, but would avoid boiling the mix (shouldn't be necessary anyways).

A search led me to this page:
How to Clean the Inside of a Simplex Tea Kettle – Try Vinegar

When you want to get more serious than just a rinse because perhaps you have some nasty mineral deposits, you can use distilled white vinegar. But we’re talking about the inside of the kettle, which is lined with tin, so you have to proceed with caution!

Because the tin lining is susceptible to strong acids, you need to be very careful when cleaning it. The manufacturer’s recommendation is not to use any acid, but to efficiently demineralize; you need a little acid from somewhere to be able to do this on your own.

Don’t stress too much! Remember your chemistry lesson? The hard water buildup that you’re trying to get rid of will neutralize the acid when the two come into contact!

So, if you use a bit of distilled white vinegar (about 1/2 cup) mixed with the water in the kettle at either room temperature or slightly warmed and left it to soak for a bit, the vinegar would be mostly already neutralized by the time it got around to interacting with the tin.

Afterward, finish up by rinsing several times with fresh water and wipe dry.
They also suggest a couple of non-acidic products that you may try.

Hope you find a solution that works!
Last edited by Balthazar on Sun Jan 03, 2021 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Victoria
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Sun Jan 03, 2021 1:23 pm

Can you take apart the part where the whistle is? I just took apart my Kuhn Rikon’s whistle knob parts. It was easy because there is a screw, cleaned everything with a soft cloth and put it back together. Whistles like new again. If you can’t take it apart try soaking the whistle in a mix of white vinegar and water. Also make sure lid fits tight to build up pressure.
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debunix
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

Sun Jan 03, 2021 2:49 pm

Thanks for the suggestions. The lid still fits quite tightly, and there is really no visible scale there. There is a lot of scale at the fill line on the inside (that little pushed-out ridge is where it gathers), and I presume it's on the inside of the spout too.

Neither of the specific products linked on that page are still available.

And.....surprise....I see a whole bunch of variations on steel kettle 'limescale collectors' or 'kettle protectors' as I'm searching for non-acid descalers, that look like repurposed steel wool or dish scrubbers. Maybe these would be good for future use. Per previous discussions I decided not to try an iron fish in my electric stainless kettles, to avoid the risk of rust damaging the kettles' finish, but maybe here is a place it would help!
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debunix
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Sun Jan 03, 2021 5:09 pm

And....more careful review suggests that the lid is not seating smoothly. This might be a warp issue.
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Bummer. But it’s now all shiny and clean, and it does sort of whistle.
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C680FED9-AC54-4A20-AAAC-DF42F4FE13E9.jpeg (270.04 KiB) Viewed 4721 times
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Victoria
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Sun Jan 03, 2021 5:21 pm

@debunix I saw somewhere you can get replacement lids, probably happens a lot.

Here https://neweybloomer.com/products/repla ... kettle-lid
& https://neweybloomer.co.uk/collections/accessories
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debunix
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Sun Jan 03, 2021 5:30 pm

I'm now waiting to see how they reply to my inquiry.
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