Title: Silencing a Kitchencook teatime kettle
Date: 2025-10-13 18:00

My household recently acquired a [Kitchencook
TEATIME](https://kitchencook.fr/bouilloire/643-bouilloire-electrique-2200w-modele-tea-time-kitchencook-3662738007507.html)
kettle. It's quite fancy, with a handful of features that I don't really use
nor care about, but I'm quite content with its 1.7L capacity.

![kitchencook kettle]({static}/images/kettle.jpg)

Unfortunately, it
beeps __a lot__. Here is a non-exhaustive list of things resulting in a
dreadful unwanted noise: removing/putting the kettle from/on the base, when the
water is at the right temperature, when one turns it off/on, when one presses a
button, … sometimes even in the middle of the night for no apparent reason.
This is [fucking unacceptable behaviour]({filename}/rant/objects_stfu.md), so here is
how to fix it. Start by doing yourself a service and get yourself a
[screwdrivers kit from
iFixit](https://ifixit.com/en-eu/Tools/Drivers_and_Wrenches), as Kitchencook
apparently hates their customers and decided to use [Tri-angle
screws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Tri-angle) for the
base:

![kitchencook kettle base]({static}/images/kettle_bottom.jpg)

Once open, remove the 3 [phillips screws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_screw_drives#Phillips)
fixing the PCB to the base:

![kitchencook kettle pcb bottom]({static}/images/kettle_bottom_pcb.jpg)

The buzzer is the small cylindrical device on the bottom-left of the PCB:

![kitchencook kettle pcb]({static}/images/kettle_pcb.jpg)

It's a small [piezo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectric_speaker) from
ZFLY (Zhongshan Zhongli Electronics). The way piezoelectric speaker are working
is by having a small piece of [piezoelectric
material](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezoelectricity) fixed to a metallic
diaphragm, and to excite it via a small alternative voltage, so that the disc
will shrink/expand, causing the diaphragm to vibrate, and thus create sound.
Silencing the infernal machine is simply a matter of removing the diaphragm
altogether:

![kitchencook kettle buzzer]({static}/images/kettle_buzzer.jpg)
![kitchencook kettle neutered buzzer]({static}/images/kettle_buzzer_neutered.jpg)

I'd recommend taping it to the plastic somewhere on the inside of the base, so
that you can always put if back should you part with the device, and hand it
over to some unhinged noise-lover maniac.

You should now be able to enjoy your tea in a blissful silence.