more flask talk

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 3leggeddog 25 Nov 2016
How do so called unbreakable stainless steel flasks fail?

I have recently thrown 3 out, all no longer insulating. Fill with boiling water they become hot to the touch within a minute.

What is used to seal the vacuum? Is it sensitive to washing or does it degrade over time
 Dave the Rave 25 Nov 2016
In reply to 3leggeddog:

Perhaps you've cracked the foam that insulates them? My first Vango had this. I just thought it was a crap flask. They're not unbreakable.
2
 TobyA 26 Nov 2016
In reply to Dave the Rave:

> Perhaps you've cracked the foam that insulates them? My first Vango had this. I just thought it was a crap flask. They're not unbreakable.

There is no foam in stainless steel flasks.

3leggeddog, you must have lost the vacuum somehow, but weird it has happened lots of times. I still have my 20 year old first steel flask, it is really bashed up but the vacuum is still intact and it works OK. It has one dink in it where I think the outer wall now touches the innner wall and it get warm there, but otherwise it still is OK despite all the dents.
 wercat 26 Nov 2016
In reply to 3leggeddog:

My wife has warned me to be very careful about washing them out. Really important to prevent water ingress into the thermal vessel surround via seams/joins in the casing as once this happens there is far more loss through conduction. Don't know whether this applies to yours but I've stuck to this advice
 wbo 26 Nov 2016
In reply to 3leggeddog:
Was it a good one or a cheapo? I've had this happen with very budget ones.

The Stanley ones seem good but the handles fall off
OP 3leggeddog 26 Nov 2016
In reply to wbo:

A variety, over time I have broken many. Sticking to cheap ones currently, they last 12 to 24 months. The dish washer may be what kills them off eventually but at under £5 a pop I amnot too concerned. More interested in the actual mechanism of failure, bit of a geek.
 Dave the Rave 26 Nov 2016
In reply to TobyA:

> There is no foam in stainless steel flasks
There was in my old Vango one circa 1993.

 Jenny C 26 Nov 2016
In reply to 3leggeddog:

I have had a couple fail (bought in the days when stainless flasks were an extravagance, costing cost £20+), both were replaced under warranty and the replacements are still in use 15 years on.

I have also had two (one in the old days, one recently) which were faulty straight from the shop. In one case you could actually see air bubbles as the water drained into the supposed vacuum cavity.
 TobyA 26 Nov 2016
In reply to Dave the Rave:

> There was in my old Vango one circa 1993.

Not a vacuum flask then I guess, more an insulated bottle?
 Dave the Rave 26 Nov 2016
In reply to TobyA:

> Not a vacuum flask then I guess, more an insulated bottle?

Potentially, but it didn't have glass so wasn't a bottle. It was more of an insulated flask minus a vacuum.
 angry pirate 27 Nov 2016
In reply to TobyA:

+1 on this. My 25ish year old Coleman flask is still keeping drinks hot though I always hand wash it. It also gets warm where a large dent makes the outer and inner almost meet.

I used to sell these back in the dim distant and the failure rate was pretty high. It was seen as par for the course by the manufacturers who replaced without quibble.

I bought a Thermos ultimate recently. It's pretty decent.
 Trangia 27 Nov 2016
In reply to 3leggeddog:

I think it is age and the vacuum seal goes. I find the supermarket own brand ones tend to fail quite quickly. Thermos is more expensive and lasts longer, but my year old half litre one is now starting to fail. I use mine about 3 or 4 times a week.

They also work better if you fill them up rather than half fill them

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