Re: My new electric kettle
Texas_Ranger
02/15/25 09:58 AM
I briefly considered checking plumbing supplies but I'd have to find a matching pipe thread size first, which might be difficult (European pipe threads are Whitworth and the nominal sizes are based on the ID of the pipe, so it's not exactly a straight comparison to a thread with known OD). Might be worth taking calipers to the DIY store if the new washer fails again but I hope it will last a while, the old one might have been the original one from the 60s.
Curiosity got the best of me and I checked, 1 1/4" rubber washers could fit a 1 11/16" thread with a bit of stretching. The one thing I'm not 100% sure about is the temperature rating of pipe fittings - household water pipes rarely see temperatures exceeding 60 C, whereas a kettle has boiling water.
And yes, I appreciate the irony that all-metric Europe uses Imperial pipe threads from the mid-19th century. I've never found any evidence to support my theory but I suspect the back story is that British companies built gas works including all the distribution systems and pipe work all over Europe in the second half of the 19th century and once gas pipes used Whitworth threads it made sense to use those for water too. The Germans tried to metrify the nominal sizes without changing the actual threads a few years ago but obiously those numbers are so unwieldy no one actually uses them. The only ugly exception to this rule is tap aerators, which are M24 fine thread if I remember correctly. Deceptively similar in size to 1/2" Whitworth but obviously not the same. That's why you can't connect your washing machine or dishwasher to your sink taps without using an adaptor (or use taps meant for appliances and garden hoses for your sink).