Greg Daynes

Full Stack Software Design, Development & Management

Fellow Stagg Repair

Problem

The control knob on the base was not registering presses (which turn the kettle on and off). The kettle itself was working fine, and the temperature control was working.

Solution

The base is held together with 4 screws, and 8 clips. The clips are easy to release with a flathead screwdriver. The screws are hidden under the sticker on the bottom - Not the rubber pads.

In my looking for the screws, I removed the feet, which caused the rubber to tear. They’re easy enough to glue back on.

The rotary encoder is situated on a daughter board fixed with 2 phillips screws and connected with a ribbon cable to the main board. The cable disconnects from a JST port on the mainboard, but is soldered on the daughter board.

Rotary Encoder Details:

  • 5V
  • 20 pulses
  • 13mm x 14mm

I used these encoders from Amazon.

Desoldering the rotary encoder was straight forward, I used a solder-sucker and wick to remove and prepare the pads. I did have to have fairly high temperature on my iron around 740 to get the factory solder to warm up.

Re-assembly is disassembly in reverse, be mindful of the thin wires routing around the centre. Use a bit of Kapton tape to keep things in place.

Outcome

I can use my kettle again. I broke the display, but it works enough to not warrant a replacement base $100 USD from their parts shop, which when factored in CAD and shipping, is more than new kettle from a Canadian distributer.

I like my Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle, but I don’t think I will buy another Fellow product with electronics (I love the Prismo - Aeropress accessory).

Notes

The screws use a triangle security bit, which I didn’t have on hand, however a T-6 Torx bit worked well.

The LCD is fixed (more than solder joints) to the main control board, which turns out is very fragile. I managed to crack the LCD even while attempting to be gentle, I didn’t touch the board except disconnect and reconnect of the rotary daughter board connector. Beware.

I did not measure the stem prior to this repair, the donor rotary encoder stem was much longer. Beware of this and make sure to measure and find the appropriate stem. A long one of course workse, but the knob stands above the case now, and is easier for water to find ingress into the electronics.