Saving an Electrical Coffee Maker by Making It Non-electrical

The Delonghi Alicia MK9 electrical coffe maker is, arguably, one of the best electrical coffe makers ever made. It's shaped like a conventional Italian coffee maker but instead of placing it on the kitchen hob (or fire if you are really old-fashioned), you place it on its own charger base.

The problem begins when one is mistakenly placed on the kitchen hob instead.

This instructable teaches you, should that happen, how to save the day! (or at least, how to get your SO not to send you to the couch for a week. Fair enough.)

NOTE: This instructable shall make use exclusively of stock photos because I was a bit busy to stop to snap pictures, and I'm oh so NOT destroying a new Alicia just to get nice pics. Deal with it.

Step 1: Destroy Your Alicia

Pictured is the bottom of the boiler of an undestroyed Alicia. Rest asured that once you put it on the fire it won't look so clean.

Step 2: Save Your Lungs.

Put off the fire!

The plastic the base is made of makes particularly obnoxious fumes when burned. This is the last imprescindible step of this instructable.

Remember those three nice, shinning, Plilips headed bolts you could see in the previous step? Well, rest asured they'll now be covered in molten plastic so you won't know WHERE in the base they are.

Step 3: Optional Steps

From now on, every single step of this instructable is actually optional; Feel free to take as many or as few of them as you actually need (or feel like) to take.

Try to repair the boiler's base.
Realize that the electrical contacts are embebbed into molten plastic, that the boiler no longer fits the charging base, and that trying to remove enough molten plastic to MAKE it fit again, yet leave the electrical contacts all three of a) able to fit in place, b) sufficiently supported NOT to fall, and c) with enough electrical isolation not to sort themselves, would be both of an exercise in futility and a deadly, inaceptable risk of electrical accident.
Decide to order a replacement boiler online instead.
Upon ordering, realize the replacement shall take 24 to 48 hours to arrive AND that neither you nor your SO have had coffee yet this morning.
Panic.
Decide to title-drop (Saving an electrical coffee maker by making it non-electrical) as an interin measure until the new boiler arrives.
The best way of doing so is to remove the plastic-encased base of the boiler, leaving the conventional aluminium boiler. To do so, the three bolts need to be removed. Have I mentioned the location of the bolts is now hidden by molten plastic? Yes I did.
Using a handsaw and/or a dremmel with a milling cutter, hack a line along the side of the plastic piece. Cut all the way through the plastic, but do NOT try to cut the whole thing through; the idea is just get a visual of the bolt's locations.
Once located the bolts, and using the aforementioned milling cutter, make three holes in the plastic over them so they can be removed with a Philips #2 head.
Add the excellent bolts to your ever-increasing "just in case" bolts and screws collection.
Just force away the plastic case of the electrical components. They are pluged to the metal part of the boiler at three places. Unplug the line and neutral by pulling them away. They will leave behind a metal plug encased in ceramic insulation, encased in a thick, cilindrical metal bulge. We'll deal with it later.
The third (earth) cable is riveted to the metal boiler, and very well riveted at that. Use a Dremmel's cut-off whell to grind off the rivet's heads.
Use the dremmel to cut away the ceramic insulation.
Discover that Delonghi used so good quality an insulator that the cut-off wheel explodes upon contact.
Nani the Fudge?
Explore the limits of your swearwords lexicon.
Try to use a new cut-off wheel to grind away the metal bulge that covers the plugs.
Remember that you have a belt sander in the next room.
Facepalm.
Using the belt sander, grind the plugs away. You won't be still able to get the base nice and flush, yet. Stop grinding as soon as the metal is gone and the ceramic material shows through.
Using pliers, "no more nice guy"-style, yank away the plugs, the insulator and the leads that go to the (hidden) inner heating element.
Laugh maniacally.
Put the belt sander away.
Realize there are still jagged metal edges around where the plugs used to be and that you just put the sander away.
Have a "I'm not setting that belt sander up again" moment and reach for the hand file.
Get the base (finally) nice and flush.