Aluball

[moff000]

Whilst using my aluballs tonight one of them has got damaged. I knew that people have had the same issue but i actually have been careful and i've probably only used them a handful of times which is a bit annoying......
One of the sections has torn. Has anybody found a way of doing a makeshift repair?

 

[chandra]

Either glue it ( which may not be healthy), try to stitch it, or go ahead and use it, hope it doesn't get worse, and strain it after your done to catch anything that slipped through. I've never repaired an aluball but I have McGuyvered lots of stuff in my life.

 

[Tfin]

I had this same issue happen to me the other night. I'm sure its not the best (or maybe even safest) but I put a bit of super glue on both the inside and outside of the tear. I let it sit overnight and is still sitting at home today. When I get home from work today I'm going to give it a try. The stuff cures pretty hard but I don't know if it will last against all the shaking. Will let you know my results tomorrow.

What I did when I first realized it tore (could see root particles in the shaker) was to dump the liquid into my traditional prep strainer bag and filter it that way.

If my patch doesn't last I guess I'll have to order a new one.

 

[moff000]

I'll try the glue method. If that doesn't work i won't be buying anymore. :-(

 

[Sam Handwich]

I have heard of this too but have never experienced it. I'm still using the 1st ball I purchased back in November of last year and have shaken the crap out of it every day since. It has probably been filled and shaken 300 times. I wonder why it happens to some but not others, manufacturing tolerance issues? I certainly have not been easy on mine. I do have 2 new ones on hand as spares and would happily buy more if needed.

 

[Tfin]

I did run mine through the dishwasher several times.....wonder if that weakened or stretched the mesh somehow?

 

[moff000]

Mine haven't been through the dishwasher and i've only used warm water also.
like i say i've been careful not to shake the crap out of them as i'd read people have had this happen.
Back to traditional prep for me.

 

[Groggy]

you can try something like this adhesive, that is food safe.
Amazon product

 

[Edward]

@moff000 I've got loads, if you need one I'll send you one when I get back to London. I don't think it's a regular thing, I've been using mine for ages and never had anything like that happen. The shaker itself breaks at the bottom if you shake it empty to get the last of the liquid out. You have to spin it round the sides. That's a different issue though

 

[moff000]

@moff000 I've got loads, if you need one I'll send you one when I get back to London. I don't think it's a regular thing, I've been using mine for ages and never had anything like that happen. The shaker itself breaks at the bottom if you shake it empty to get the last of the liquid out. You have to spin it round the sides. That's a different issue though

That would be great!
Maybe one of then had a flaw?

 

[Edward]

That would be great!
Maybe one of then had a flaw?

Yes, could well be, there are reports of problems. I suppose I've been lucky with mine.

 

[verticity]

In my experience, rips are much more likely to happen if you use 2 balls at the same time. I think this is because the ridges in one ball poke into the mesh of the other ball...

As far as repairing: spot-weld some mesh over the tear (if you happen to have a spot welder)

 

[verticity]

If you do use glue, you should use a food safe one like the one @KrunkyMonkey recommended.

 

[Tfin]

Well I used mine last night after my repair job. It was better than when the rips happened but I still got a few root fibers that came through. My patches look like they held so there may be still a small hole that I didn't get sealed up. I didn't need to strain it though.

Guess I just need to be more careful with my shaking.....I had been doing it quite vigorously. Will probably order another one at some point.

 

[verticity]

...

Guess I just need to be more careful with my shaking.....I had been doing it quite vigorously. Will probably order another one at some point.

Shaking vigorously is good: that makes the grog more potent. I think the AluBall just has a finite lifetime, due to the flexing of the mesh while shaking...

 

[Squanch72]

I turn the shaker bottle horizontal. That way I don't slam them against each other or the top and bottom of the shaker bottle. Seems to make them last longer and still makes a strong shell. They can only really hit the sides of the shaker bottle this way.

 

[Tfin]

Yeah I kind of admit to beating the crap out of them.....probably need to ease up a bit.

 

[blindy107]

I bought two. One is torn and it happened early. I rarely used two at once but I shake it like a beast. And I overfill them religiously.

 

[moff000]

I used the aluballs tonight. I filled them as normal and then tied a stocking around the knackered ball!
Job done!