Boiling water in a plastic bottle

Soooooooooooooo.

Has anyone tried this? I'd like to know just how hot you could get the water. And the difference if you were to heat it in an open plastic water bottle vs. in a sealed plastic water bottle.
 
Rusty Toyota said:
Soooooooooooooo.

Has anyone tried this? I'd like to know just how hot you could get the water. And the difference if you were to heat it in an open plastic water bottle vs. in a sealed plastic water bottle.
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I've done it....once. The bottle started to pinhole at around 150F. Show here at 148F. I wouldn't wash dishes with the resulting hot water.
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Have anyone think about this: if water can be boiled in a plastic reusable bottle, why does it melt when we pour hot water in it?
 
We did it for fun once. Open bottle standing upright in the flame. Didn't have a thermometer, but the water was "steaming" and there were some bubbles. I spilled some on my hands and there's no way I could wash dishes with it and not end up with first-degree burns! After it cooled enough to taste, it was pretty nasty with "plastic" flavor.

Cool trick, tho!

J-
 
ironraven said:
Thomas, one can find plenty of studies that suggest that saccharine can cause cancer, and a few that suggest that high doses of vitamin C can cause miscarriages. (And it can, you just need to drink a couple of gallons of it and it would do a decent job of digesting you.) Hell, tylenol can cause, in a tiny number of cases involving insanely large doses, liver damage in embryos. We are talking about probabilities that are so slight at the exposure levels of a normal human that they don't count- the EMF off an electric blanket has the same odds of causing birth defects.

If the risk was as real as your side in this make it sound, how come there are so few test tube and artificial insemination babies with defects? There was lexan involved in all of them. This is the "aluminum causes Alzheimer's" scare all over again.

And we do agree that the best route is hand washing. It is the easiest way to put this whole issue to bed- read the tag, follow the washign directions. Failure to RTFM should be painful.
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The aluminum/alzheimers scare was not supported by multiple university studies. On the contrary, it was Alar all over again: no science.

Here, the only studies I can find that pronouce Lexan dish washer safe are industry-financed. That would be tobacco all over again.

The last lexan bottle I handled had a "Dish Washer Safe" label. "Course, it was made in China.

I think "Make up your own mind" is a completely reasonable position.
 
darkhawk424 said:
Have anyone think about this: if water can be boiled in a plastic reusable bottle, why does it melt when we pour hot water in it?
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I'm guessing that when you pour in boiling water, the air outside can't cool the plastic as quickly as water can in the described scenario...but it's just a guess, I guess.

I'm thinking that a more successful attempt would involve burying the (full) bottle in the dirt surrounding the fire with just the cap protruding. If you didn't need to reseal the bottle, you could always cut the opening large enough to admit hot rocks to be dropped in. Or heat up pea gravel in the fire and dump it in. Putting a plastic bottle into flames (regardless of thermodynamic laws) just sounds like it's doomed to failure more often than success...

As for the 'cap on or off' argument, moutaineers have been using pressure cookers for years to melt snow and boil water at altitude because less energy (fuel) is required that way. I don't know if it's because it reaches 100 degC faster or if a lower temperature is required to boil water under pressure...
 
ive done it, but like others didnt get the rolling boil. i had the cap on, and no explosion either. the caps on water bottles probably aren't sealed tight enough to hold in the pressure sufficient to cause an explosion. ive done it twice with the same result.

once the pressure reached critical, the seal on the cap just failed and steam and water leaked out.

also, use the coals instead of open flame. the coals will heat the bottle more evenly.
 
I just tried this. There is a point where the fire (coals, etc) is too hot and the water inside can't cool the plastic fast enough. However, over the right heat, evenly applied, works just fine. If done right you get water to standard boiling temperature at sea level, which is what this whole thing is about.

Another thing I did learn about this forum.... if you don't cross your t's and dot your i's there are several waiting to pounce and show their superiority.
 
I thought that I recalled a thead about disinfecting water by placing it in clear pop bottles and exposing it to strong sunlight. I can't find the thread, but a Google of SOLDIS got many hits. One: http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/specia...?siteSect=2401&sid=5451211&cKey=1105088968000

Apparently, as little as six hours makes a big difference, but it helps to periodically shake the bottle so the water inside the shadow of the cap is also exposed. I know from personal experience that the water treated that way can get too hot for comfort on your skin. 'Course, no sunlight and . . . . .
 
All the other idiocy aside, the fool in that video wasn't really going to DRINK tea that weak, was he? :eek:
 
There is the chance of a dry ice bomb effect spraying 150+ degree water all over you, but those plastic bottles aren't meant for heat, they do release toxic chemicals (carcinogens:eek:) and there are always metal canisters available that are made for heating.
 
65535 said:
they [plastic bottles] do release toxic chemicals (carcinogens:eek:) and there are always metal canisters available that are made for heating.
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I agree about having a metal container.

Most plastic beverage bottles are made of PETE (AKA "PET" [polyetheylene terephthalate]), and I can find no science supporting PETE as a source of carcinogens IN NORMAL USE. They seem safe if washed in automatic dishwashers, exposed to sunlight, or exposed to freezing temps. See, for example: http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_2087970719__langId-en,00.html

I don't plan on using a pop bottle in an open fire, but someone might check on the byproducts of burning PETE to see what might be in the resulting fumes.
 
65535 said:
There is the chance of a dry ice bomb effect spraying 150+ degree water all over you, but those plastic bottles aren't meant for heat, they do release toxic chemicals (carcinogens:eek:) and there are always metal canisters available that are made for heating.
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That's probably true, but in an emergency I wonder if whatever amount is released rules out doing it.
 
Well all I can say is that if I got only one water container, i will not trust this method. i would rather boil water in a tree bark then risk my only container in this method. however... if i got tons of it... i do not think i will mind... only thing will be the taste of the water
 
As far as Chinese made products are concerned. How's pet food that kills, lead in childrens toys, electronics melting down, tires exploding, etc. Can we really believe what they put on their labels about product safety?

The daughter placed a nalgene in the dishwasher and washed it. She used it for carrying water and mixing baby formula while away from home. I threw it away.

Survival means just that. Not survive to die from cancer or poisoning later on from your actions when in the survival situation. Get yourself a metal cup and boil your water in it.
 
I think the point of boiling water in the plastic container is that you don't have a metal cup or container at the time.
 
well if the temp reaches 100°C boiling or not

the critters are killed

so its a good thing to remember then
 
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