Reading your comment about jug elements reminds me of those porcelain electric jugs with a bakelite lid and a bare coiled coil element on a china former hanging down inside the water that were very common in Australia.... Do you still see them there?
Yes that's exactly the kind of jug I was referring to. They are still around (I use one along with a toaster with flip down sides exposing the live element). They disappeared from the shops probably about 20 years ago when small appliance manufacturing ceased in Australia.
I've heard of them being used with a broken or no lid; apparently the office tea lady sat an aluminium tea pot on top of the lidless jug to keep it warm...the bottom of the teapot ended up with two holes as it touched the terminals.
Then there's the story where one was used on DC mains that used to exist in a small part of Sydney. There was a complaint of "funny tasting water". The live heating element was of course causing electrolysis on DC.
As far as I can tell this jug design is unique to Australia (NZ too?) probably as a result to DC mains being so rare here. Needless to say, when I saw cheap elements on sale very cheap I hoarded a few for when the Nanny State bans them.
Paul, I'd be getting awfully off topic to go on about the crazy laws here, but Aussies (not their politicians) are still laid back and aren't happy with the situation.
Have you heard about the internet censorship that all of Australia is going to be subjected to? That's right, just like China.
Censorship
