Quickest way to boil a kettle, in a car?

[Bob Eager]

I understand that there are worse places for a gerbil to get stuck...

[John Stumbles]

If the OP really goes off running in the midge-infested wastelands of the north with long-suffering spouse in tow on a whim, without time to fill a couple of flasks before he goes (though presumably time to take some cold water and cold soup :-) then he could do with something more than the standard wimpy cigar-lighter 12V immersion heater. How about (a) fitting inside the car a socket of decent current rating wired back to the alternator or battery terminals in heavy gauge wire (b) some sort of resistive heater to connect up to this socket. If the heating element were about 0.5 ohm, taking 30A at 14-15V (with the engine running) giving a power of about 400W then you could boil a cup or two of water in a reasonably short time (I'll leave calculation of the exact figures as an exercise for the reader :-). Question is how to make the element? What's the resistivity of stainless steel? Would a length of thin s/s strip bent into a U shape do it? Or a coil of thin s/s tube? Or some sort of closed end tube (like a test tube) with a heating element inside, embedded in ceramic (how?) or maybe tube packed with carbon making the resistance element (would it be low enough R?) and central electrode connecting to it?

Come on you d-i-y-ers!

[Rod Hewitt]

John Stumbles wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Quicklime and water?

[nick smith]

Long mains extension lead and 3 kW kettle ?

Nick

[Andrew Sinclair]

In message , John Stumbles writes

I take your 12V microwave and raise you one toasted sandwich maker...

'll get my anorak and bobble hat...

Andy

[David W.E. Roberts]

A bit late to join the fun, but:

(1) Esso stations are doing a deal on 1 litre SS flasks at the moment - about £2.75 each IIRC. If you are worried about the flasks cooling down then pack them in a cardboard box with a blanket or similar for insulation.

(2) I have a Halfords electric kettle which will boil water eventually (not quite as fast as an average camping stove - I tried it out in the Lake District and was not overwhelmed). I also didn't read the instructions properly (only use with the engine running) and ended up flattening the battery and having to send for an RAC man to give me a jump start (I didn't explainn how the battery came to be flat). This was about 10 years ago so I don't know if they still do the kettle, however you have been given plenty of URLs for similar products.

(3) Assuming you only want the drink to be comfortably hot then the DIY route would probably be to make an external heating coil out of 10mm copper pipe with an insulating jacket and space in the middle for a ceramic mug, then plumb this into the hot water feed for the car heater (which should already come through the bulkhead). However the car kettle and thermos flasks in an insulate box are both much easier and should be effective enough.

(4) Be a caring and supportive partner for your long suffering wife and hire a camper van so that her time spent supporting you can be relatively comfortable. She gets a fridge, cooker (to heat your drinks and soup), midge proofing, a bed, and loads of other comforts. With a bit of commecial acumen she could also provide hot food and drink for other competitors and contribute to the cost of the camper :-)

Cheers Dave R

[No Spam]

Have you got a source to substantiate such a statement?

[No Spam]

Just look up "calorifier" - boats use them all the time for hot water supplies.

[Rob Morley]

You certainly should not overboil or reheat water to make tea - something to do with oxygen in solution? I don't think actually bringing it to the boil makes much difference. And you should of course always pour the milk in the cup first, then the tea. Unless you make it the Indian way by boiling everything in a saucepan for a few minutes :-)

[Mary Fisher]

Or don't add anything, that's the way we drink tea.

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Hurrah!

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

I worry about Lobster's sanity. Sounds like a Good Thing to do with a gerbil ...

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Yes but crawling around in that space is hard on the knees.

Mary - with experience.

[Mary Fisher]

Or another man.

Or anything ...

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Yes.

But he seems to be enjoying the thread to much to give in just yet. Long distance runners have a lot of staying power ... :-)

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

If Spouse saw this he'd whip his pencil from behind his ear and start making marks on a dismantled cardboard box ... :-)

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

...

Best idea yet :-)

Mary

[Lobster]

Owain, you're welcome, and thank you Mary: really no need.

[OK then... Said gerbil (Horace by name, IIRC) was being exercised on the kitchen table circa 1973, when Sis laid a thermos flask on its side. Horace, when presented with a small orifice, duly did what gerbils do best (ask Mr Gere) and promptly scrabbled inside. Having duly explored the interior of the flask, he tried to climb out, however, due to the geometry of the flask neck, he was unable to get his paws past his snout and over the rim of the flask edge in order to gain enough purchase to pull himself out. So he lay there, eyes and nose protruding from the mouth of the flask, ignoring all our suggestions to stick his bum out of the opening so we could pull him out by the tail, and all the while getting hotter and hotter and hotter...

Had it been 30 years later I would doubtless have posted an "Urgent - Gerbil crisis! Help!" post to uk.d-i-y. Even now, I still can't think of a better solution. So when, after about an hour's incarceration, Horace looked as if he was about to reach his sell-by date, drastic action was clearly called for. I removed the plastic outer shell of the flask and tentatively broke off the little glass 'nipple' which would have been used to originally form the vacuum. BLAM! the flask instantly imploded, and Horace flew up into the air, landing somewhat surprised on a pile of a million tiny glass fragments. Fortunately he was entirely undamaged by the experience - physically, anyway: not sure how it affected his psyche.]

And yes, I've taken great care never to break a Thermos flask again.

David

[Mary Fisher]

GREAT! I've often wondered what would happen and even more often been tempted to do it :-)

Pity. Not my favourite animal. Does anyone know how they taste?

Well the story was worth remembering, thanks :-)

Mary

[Lobster]

Better than wasps any day though... David