It's pretty complicated for a kettle but it's great seeing some basic appliances being repaired instead of tossed.
I tried the same with a low cost grill iron ( to make sandwiches 🥪). With back in my mind that I not would buy another one but fix this one once it should break. The hinge broke and a few tabs that hold oneside metal in place. I glued it but after two weeks the it broke on another place. Could not live without tosties, have now a newer bigger one...I've tried...
I think mechanical failure is different than an electrical failure. Plastic and metal breaking is harder to fix than the electrical for a grill, which shouldn't be much more than a power cord, a resistor dial, a switch, and a heating element.
You are right, of course. Also repetitive thermal expansion comes into play here. We can compare it with repairing a broken heating element or other single part, instead of replacing it. My patience to properly glue it was also part of failure, hehe.
Celebrating/talking about repairing stuff, the right to repair stuff, and the intersection of tech and solarpunk ideals.
What does it mean to use what we have, including technology, to try to build a better, more environmentally just world?