Cold Coffee...

[revs57]

G'day all,

Thought I would seek some feedback.

20 yrs ago when I first met my wife I was so impressed that here was a woman with an Alladin stainless steel vaccum flask that I married her...well there were other reasons but I figured if anyone cared enough about good coffee, that was a good starting point. #Over the years that flask has been a faithful friend. #I would preheat and fill that flask before many a jaunt around Queensland on the Harley...at times it was the only thing that kept particular parts of my anatomy from falling off on a mid winters overnight ride to central Queensland and beyond. #To stop and have a well earned cuppa is always a pleasurable thing to do particularly when your fingers are freezing!!!

Similarly years of boating, fishing and camping, the Alladin is always one of the first things packed, and every travelling holiday, it is always made up first thing in the morning with a fine brew.

But lately it seems to have lost its thermal capacity...I'm not sure why. #I still preheat it with boiling water, preheat the mixing container similarly, don't do anything different than I always have, yet I've found that 6 or 8 hours later the coffee is only tepid...luke warm at best. Nearly enough to spoil a great day!!!!

The only thing I can think of is perhaps the stopper is not doing the job as well as it used to...but It's not leaking liquid.

I always put the flask in the side pocket in the boat...maybe the chill factor has something to do with it but I would have thought it would have affected it those years as a travelling companion on the harley. #There are no moving parts so it surely cant wear out. I can see no reason why it has lost its thermal capacity.

Any Ideas???

How do you keep your coffee hot for long sessions?

Thanks

Rhys

[25_ponies]

Rhys, it may be that the vacuum between the inner and outer layers has been lost and it's filled with air. This would mean that it would still hold the temperature, but nowhere near as well as with the vacuum.

If it's a glass inner vessel, you might find there's a tiny crack near the neck that has allowed air into the vacuumed area. It may not be enough to leak liquid, so you may not notice it. This happened to an ancient one of mine.

Cheers,

Alan.

[lippa]

the older ones have a ceramic inner, acts as insulation. it can break and fall into pieces thus preventing it doing its job. try shaking it and if she rattle's, put 'er in the pool room, and think of ya memories!

cheers

lippa

[shubeej]

hey rhys,
i dont know if this is a fault in the aladin flask ,but a couple of week ago me and a mate went for an overnighter down the pin and of cause we took a thermos each mine being the aladin & my mate bought along a glass thermos anyway around ten that evening we decided to have a cuppa from my mates thermos & coffee was quite tepid & i sprouted off to him that you must preheat to keep things hot & how good my aladin thermos was ,alas when we cracked my thermos it wasn't much better .the funny thing is my aladin has just had its 21st birthday!
cheers shubes

[Owen]

Half a cup of rum will fix it.
Coffee won't be any warmer, but it'll feel like it is ;)

I have the same unit and it keeps the coffee hot at least a day.
Somethin's broke.

cheers,
Owen

[Mr__Bean]

Vacuum loss, time for a new one.

Can't complain about 20 years though, jeez wish it could talk, I'll bet it has seen some stuff in 20 years......

- Darren

[revs57]

Ahhh gents..the end of an era...no rattles but certainly is ominous...It used to keep liquid hot all day and night too...sounds like something else but we wont go there..how times change

Owen i like your solution (both ways ;)) but still wont keep the hot drink hot!

Yeah Scott...Straight to the pool room! Well at least a prominent place in the shed!

Some things are best just not said Darren...wink wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean ;) ;D ;D ;D

Looks like a new thermos flask...does that mean a new....?????...na we wont go there either ;D ;D I've just broken the old one in and don't wanna spend another 20 yrs training up a new model

Cheers

Rhys

[Noelm]

here is a simple test/check, a good thermos when filled with hot coffee/liquid, will remain cool on the outside, when they "bugger up" that is leak the vacuum the outside will become warm very quickly as the air is a reasonable conductor of heat (compared to a vacuum) get the idea??

[revs57]

Thanks for the tip Noel...i'll give it a try tonight when i get home

[timbacutta]

Looks like your in for a new one. The question is, do they still make them like they used to ? ::) Will you get 20 years out of your replacement. Here's hoping.

Jeff.

[scoota]

Rhys,
I asked a mate who is a bit of a know it all about Alladin flasks and told him your story. He reckons if you get 20 years out it with all the bumps and spills your doin well. He also said if his first wife had an Alladin flask maybe it wouldn't have cost him a house and the boat!
;D ;D ;D
Scoota.....

[revs57]

Hey Scoota, I reckoned the flask was a good litmus test...hasn't proven wrong but like Darren said if it could talk there's be a tale to tell

Gonna miss my old friend..like Jeff said, do they make them like that any more?

[Scalem]

Hi Rys

Over the years I got sick of looking at different brands of flasks, because the last one I bought had a lifetime guarantee, and the 1st time I took it out, it failed.

Lately we always have a stock of 2 minute noodles in the pantry, ready for those cold fishing trips where you are both hungry and need to warm up, but noodles need really hot water in order to cook properly. Attached is the little portable camper gas burner you can buy from any shop for up to $30.00. You buy the gas cartridges for 7 or $8 for 4 of them.

Just make sure there are no petrol fumes in the boat ( obviously) ;)

And the bonus is the carry case that comes with them. They lie flat, unlike the rotten thermos flasks which always seem to roll around the deck any time you hit a decent wave!!

Scalem

[Dirtysanchez]

Hi All,

Just be careful with those burners, they work well but can be dangerous. Recently I took my son to the park & there were some people with one on a park bench, obviously they didn't install the butane can properly, because when they lit it there was a large ball of fire and everyone ran a mile ! :o

Another option is you can buy 12v Kettles from camping shops too, so you could take your coffee with you and a bottle of water and make a fresh cuppa each time. They take a while to boil though..

[Scalem]

Hi All,

Another option is you can buy 12v Kettles from camping shops too, so you could take your coffee with you and a bottle of water and make a fresh cuppa each time. They take a while to boil though..



Fair enough, like anything, improper use can mean problems. Going 12 Volt can mean a whole new ball game too. I find they take heaps of power from the battery. In my early years of boating it only took one occasion of trying to zip start a 75hp 2 stroke to realize you really should be running a dual battery through isolation switch, especially if you start trying to heat water through 12 volt.

Mate, have you found any good ones in the market? The 2 brands I have tried were crappy and took forever to boil, and as I said, chomped through heaps of battery power. I guess these days I can try it again, but keeping one battery fresh for the motor.

Scalem

[Dirtysanchez]

Scalem you make a good point and I wasn't trying to bag your idea about the burner, they are good in the right hands mate.
I'd say if you had dual batteries with an isolator / switch you would be OK, but yes if you only had one battery you would want to be careful !

I hear ya on pull starting big motors, been there, don't want to do that again, I've endured the shredded skin between the fingers and the blisters, but we got the old ho started and got home thank god !!

Maybe Iced coffee is simpler ? :D

[Scalem]

Scalem you make a good point and I wasn't trying to bag your idea about the burner, they are good in the right hands mate.
I'd say if you had dual batteries with an isolator / switch you would be OK, but yes if you only had one battery you would want to be careful !

I hear ya on pull starting big motors, been there, don't want to do that again, I've endured the shredded skin between the fingers and the blisters, but we got the old ho started and got home thank god !!

Maybe Iced coffee is simpler ? :D

No problemo,

That's the thing about cyber chats. Sometimes what I say in written form can be taken a few ways, so I know you weren't bagging me - no worries ;)

The zip start didn't take any bark off my hands, but I remember thinking, I am starting to run out of puff after about the 10th attempt, so make this last pull count....

Since then using anything electrical is treated with respect. Even with two batteries, I could short a fuse or anything.....

Iced coffee anyone??

Scalem

[CHRIS_aka_GWH]

...

Gonna miss my old friend..like Jeff said, do they make them like that any more?



just make sure the NEW missus [smiley=gorgeous.gif] has an Alladin too ! ;)

chris