Bongo Fury

That's the one.
Coil heater thing

kelv wrote:That's the one.
Coil heater thing

If you get one of those, buy yourself a chocolate teapot to go with it We've had one knocking around for some time (the 12v coil heater, not the teapot), but never really tried it out until a couple of weeks ago. After what seemed an age we ended up with a lukewarm mug of water with a limp teabag in it.

dvisor wrote:

kelv wrote:That's the one.
Coil heater thing

If you get one of those, buy yourself a chocolate teapot to go with it We've had one knocking around for some time (the 12v coil heater, not the teapot), but never really tried it out until a couple of weeks ago. After what seemed an age we ended up with a lukewarm mug of water with a limp teabag in it.

Must be faulty - mine is now nearly 24 years old (yes, really - I bought it while I was at college before I went to France for part of my course in September 1985) and still boils water in about 2 minutes. My parents have a newer one which is less efficient but still boils (just takes longer).

Are you saying that yours was so useless the chocolate teapot was useful for once

Hi Alison - I think yours is the mains voltage version? Mine's the 12v.

dvisor wrote:Hi Alison - I think yours is the mains voltage version? Mine's the 12v.

Sorry, didn't read your post properly

None of this would be an issue of course, if everyone just drank Pepsi or something

I used one of the element type, that fitted into a little handled jug and hooked onto the car door. It was many years ago when my children were small and babies formula was given warmed up and the others wanted hot orange etc. It done a good job of boiling the water on a long journey, but it took too long for a short trip, but who would need it on a short trip anyway ?
I agree a flask is the best solution, if you don't want to boil a kettle on the gas.

Why not get a large steel thermos type jug and fill it up before leaving home? We do and have coffee and tea up to six hours later. No worries - no hassle.

Couldn't agree more about using a flask - surprised it took so long to get suggested.

However I would go for a glass one. They stay hot much longer. Keep it wrapped in a small airline type fleece blanket for added insulation and protection.

If we are using gas, or a mains travel kettle (on hook up), we always pour any unused hot water into a flask to reduce the re-heating time when camping. Hot water bottles are also an efficient way to keep warm at night and we always camp with one.

I totally concur that 12v kettles are a waste of space.

So are 12v vacuum cleaners, fan heaters, hedge trimmers, lawn mowers - in fact any device where a mains one needs in the region of 1000 watts in order to do the job half decently.

The only thing running off 12v that works that hard is the starter motor and just look at the cables it needs and compare its duty cycle as well.

we have a 12v kettle, it took over 90 minutes and still didnt boil, then I remembered we didnt have the bongo anymore no only kidding, we got one, used it once, threw it away. well actually we didnt throw it away, it now compliments the bongos ash tray as a flower pot in the memorial garden

Fit a 1000w inverter then you can use a small 800w 240v travel kettle (With the engine running for a few minutes on cool down as you come to a stop) As tried & tested for years by Freewheeler
Or as already mentioned fill a flask, worked for me for two weeks pootling around, boiled a kettle full on the gas stove or leccy if we were on hook up just before setting off, bung it in a big flask & that'd do me for several stops during the day.

missfixit70 wrote:Fit a 1000w inverter then you can use a small 800w 240v travel kettle

Given what that set up would cost. it would be cheaper to drive to the nearest Starbucks (wherever it was) and buy a cup.

Depends how much you're gonna use it, around £90 for a decent 1000w inverter, big enough to boil a small kettle, run a small hairdryer, straightners, chargers etc. As I said it's worked for Freewheeler for years, more than paid for itself by now, don't knock it till you've tried it

missfixit70 wrote:Depends how much you're gonna use it, around £90 for a decent 1000w inverter, big enough to boil a small kettle, run a small hairdryer, straightners, chargers etc. As I said it's worked for Freewheeler for years, more than paid for itself by now, don't knock it till you've tried it

You can buy a 1000w gennie for about that and far more efficient, even more than running the engine to keep 1000w going.

That's a possible option I guess bit bulkier than an inverter though, just passing on the info on a set up that works as on opiton for people to consider. Weigh it up against the cost of buying gas for a burner etc. It's all about what works for each person.