Clothes Boiler/kettle

[wombil]

Hey Guys,
My brother in law gave me an electric copper boiler to take to the dump but I put it under the house about ten years ago.I pulled it out the other day and it looks like it could make a good kettle/urn/whatever.
This was made by United Metal Industries at Wooloongabba,(U.M.I.) in the sixties.They were later bought out by Metters,then Email.Model EWB/6-7920 but I can't find out anything about that.
It is stamped,240 volt, 4.6 Kw, 12 Gallons.
It has two 10 amp leads coming out of the bottom,obviously to feed the two elements.
My question to any of our tame sparkies, (I know there are a few here), is;
"Is it ok to just plug these two plugs into an ordinary power board or double adapter?"
I don't know what the bowl is made of but I don't think it is stainless steel.Looks like copper with some coating or aluminium,maybe.
Thanks for looking guys,
wombil.

 

[Rowy]

Hey Guys,
My brother in law gave me an electric copper boiler to take to the dump but I put it under the house about ten years ago.I pulled it out the other day and it looks like it could make a good kettle/urn/whatever.
This was made by United Metal Industries at Wooloongabba,(U.M.I.) in the sixties.They were later bought out by Metters,then Email.Model EWB/6-7920 but I can't find out anything about that.
It is stamped,240 volt, 4.6 Kw, 12 Gallons.
It has two 10 amp leads coming out of the bottom,obviously to feed the two elements.
My question to any of our tame sparkies, (I know there are a few here), is;
"Is it ok to just plug these two plugs into an ordinary power board or double adapter?"
I don't know what the bowl is made of but I don't think it is stainless steel.Looks like copper with some coating or aluminium,maybe.
Thanks for looking guys,
wombil.

View attachment 52234 View attachment 52235 View attachment 52236

It's past your bedtime Oigle. Go to sleep. I'll take it to the dump for you for 5 bucks.

 

[iralosavic]

I'm no sparky, but I would be aiming to plug each element into a different circuit on your house. Most houses are broken down into 16-20amps per (non lights, non oven) circuit. So while it 'may' be possible to run 4600w off one circuit, it will trip the breaker if anything else is sharing it.

Water service circuits were often a bit higher and dedicated...

EDIT: By the way copper is HEAVY and aluminum LIGHT. So you should have a rough idea whether it has a copper core because a boiler that size would be a lot heavier than it looks if it were made of copper. I have a 5 litre copper saute pan in the kitchen and it's around 5kg, whereas a similarly sized aluminum pan would be lucky to tip 1kg.

 

[wombil]

Hey Rowy,
Jock wanted to dump it with a mower and barbie.Mower and barbie still going so why not the copper.

 

[ryanclark111]

Hey

Im not a sparky but I do use a boiler as a kettle. Most home electrical sockets wont be able to handle that much current, if you plug them both into the same board you are going to be drawing a continuous 20A. The max load on all the circuits in my flat are 10A each apart from the one for the fridge which is 15A, which I need to run my single 2400W element on not to blow the fuse. You might be able to run it on two different 15A circuits but im sure someone more knowledgeable will know better. Might not hurt to get it tested by a sparky anyway.

Edit - beaten to it

 

[JDW81]

I've tried to buy a few of these of ebay, each of them ended up going for over $500. They seem to be popular little numbers. I'd love to add an old copper to my brewery.

 

[Rowy]

Hey Rowy,
Jock wanted to dump it with a mower and barbie.Mower and barbie still going so why not the copper.

I'd be a happy man if Jock was still going Oigs. :icon_chickcheers:

 

[winkle]

Hey Guys,
My brother in law gave me an electric copper boiler to take to the dump but I put it under the house about ten years ago.I pulled it out the other day and it looks like it could make a good kettle/urn/whatever.
This was made by United Metal Industries at Wooloongabba,(U.M.I.) in the sixties.They were later bought out by Metters,then Email.Model EWB/6-7920 but I can't find out anything about that.
It is stamped,240 volt, 4.6 Kw, 12 Gallons.
It has two 10 amp leads coming out of the bottom,obviously to feed the two elements.
My question to any of our tame sparkies, (I know there are a few here), is;
"Is it ok to just plug these two plugs into an ordinary power board or double adapter?"
I don't know what the bowl is made of but I don't think it is stainless steel.Looks like copper with some coating or aluminium,maybe.
Thanks for looking guys,
wombil.

View attachment 52234 View attachment 52235 View attachment 52236

Try giving Stillscottish a PM, he uses/used something very similar :icon_cheers:

 

[Maheel]

could be tin plated copper ?

does a magnet stick to it at all they wont stick to tin over copper or just tin or just copper
give it a rub up on the lip and see whats under the plating maybe or remove the drain and look at the cross section ?

some of the more modern ones are stainless but that one looks older

 

[wombil]

Yeah maheel,
looks like plated copper to me.

 

[Rowy]

Yeah maheel,
looks like plated copper to me.

How would you know Oigs.................you worked in an office all your life :icon_cheers:

 

[wombil]

Some office,but I know what a copper is. We used to cook the plum puddens in em.

 

[barls]

i use a similar unit in my brewery. i only have one element wired up atm as thats all i need to get it going. it brings 45L of water from tap temp to mash temp in about an hour.

 

[iralosavic]

If it's tin plated then $500 is a steal. It's practically solid copper if that's the case. Tin is, however, a very soft metal and is highly prone to wear, so be careful how you clean it and be aware that it also has a low melting point - although probably not relevant of only ever boiling.

 

[stillscottish]

Try giving Stillscottish a PM, he uses/used something very similar :icon_cheers:

Mine is Thermax brand, Stainless and only has one element. Cost me $10 on Ebay.

I'm still using it but a "proper" keggle is currently being constructed to take its place. I'll be sorry to see it go but it does make my sockets a bit warm h34r:

Cheers

Campbell

 

[NickB]

And your power points get hot as well

 

[stillscottish]

And my plug gets a bit floppy by the end of the session.

It's the friction from all them electrons. :unsure: