Introduction
Many water heaters / kettles use systems from Strix. The one I got is sold by German company Ritter.
Be extremely careful when operating the PCB out of the box as it may contain voltages of up to 320VDC!
Tools
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Using Torx screwdriver, open kettle base and remove PCB
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One can see the five contact rings. From inside they are: Live, Sensor +, Sensor -, Neutral, Ground
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The PCB is not conformally coated, so water splashing around the base can potentially enter and cause damage.
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The design of the PCB is a bit unfortunate as the high voltage switching regulator is very close to the LDO and microcontroller.
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Line input
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Switching regulator
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LDO and MCU
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Red circle: Isolation gap between 320VDC and 4.4VDC is about less than 1mm
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Red arrow: Pulsed 320V (220VAC) switching regulator
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Blue arrow: 4.4V LDO supply voltage for MCU
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Using hot air, desolder the TSSOP16 microcontroller labeled "Y12"
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Unfortunately I was not able to source the microcontroller allone yet. But I could order the entire board for 25€ which is better than nothing. Thank you Ritter
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
