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Life span of an Aluball ball ?

Plantacious

Kava Enthusiast
From your experience, and/or typical expectations given, what is the expected or normal life span of the individual ball, before it begins to break down ; whether the mesh screen tears, or otherwise ?
 

JohnMichael

Kava Synchronized
I think that the official lifespan of an Aluball is 2 to 3 months of daily use. My experience of rinsing after each use with very hot water and then wiping dry, is that the ball will last most of the year before clogging up. I don't have a problem with it breaking or tearing. Once the mesh is more than 20% blocked by KL wax you need a new aluball.

From your experience, and/or typical expectations given, what is the expected or normal life span of the individual ball, before it begins to break down ; whether the mesh screen tears, or otherwise ?
 

Plantacious

Kava Enthusiast
I think that the official lifespan of an Aluball is 2 to 3 months of daily use. My experience of rinsing after each use with very hot water and then wiping dry, is that the ball will last most of the year before clogging up. I don't have a problem with it breaking or tearing. Once the mesh is more than 20% blocked by KL wax you need a new aluball.
Thanks, interesting perspective.
My one and only issue that occurs, is the mesh screen tears a slit through it. Thus allowing powder to escape from it.
I'll know it needs to be replaced, because when I open the balls to retrieve the used makas, there's little or none left. And the drink has a lot of extra powder in it.
If this is not common, then I wonder if there's something that I am doing wrong.
 

F3TU5

Kava Enthusiast
I think i bought the original version and its still going strong. I've probably used it 200+ times but i've seen a lot of people who didn't get anywhere near the same uses
 

Plantacious

Kava Enthusiast
I think i bought the original version and its still going strong. I've probably used it 200+ times but i've seen a lot of people who didn't get anywhere near the same uses
Are you referring to just the container, still going strong, or the ball/balls inside, as well ?
 

F3TU5

Kava Enthusiast
The container isn't the best and has leaked since i got it. But yeah the ball inside is still good. I'll go grab it later and examine it more finely to see if its wearing out anywhere.
 

Plantacious

Kava Enthusiast
The container isn't the best and has leaked since i got it.
Yea I have that issue. Even after carefully and tightly closing both the large and small caps on top, they tend to leak when shaken. But usually, if I loosen it back up, and then tighten back up, that leak at the time will stop. Even though it's not really any tighter on the 2nd try.
Just a seemingly random act of loosen and re-tighten seems to do it.
 

Blergs

Kava Curious
I think that the official lifespan of an Aluball is 2 to 3 months of daily use. My experience of rinsing after each use with very hot water and then wiping dry, is that the ball will last most of the year before clogging up. I don't have a problem with it breaking or tearing. Once the mesh is more than 20% blocked by KL wax you need a new aluball.
Old post but thought I'd add a tip for those that come across this post;
Soak the AluBall in isopropyl alcohol for an hr or few, then shake up , rinse, then shake up again but with water, dry, done.
Works with bongs so (though I use a tbsp of course salt too for that) .
Only do the isopropyl alcohol very rarely if needed if mesh blocked though, because I'd think doing it often would/could degrade the plastic etc.
 

OzKava

The wonderful kava of Oz
Kava Vendor
Australian Importer
Old post but thought I'd add a tip for those that come across this post;
Soak the AluBall in isopropyl alcohol for an hr or few, then shake up , rinse, then shake up again but with water, dry, done.
Works with bongs so (though I use a tbsp of course salt too for that) .
Only do the isopropyl alcohol very rarely if needed if mesh blocked though, because I'd think doing it often would/could degrade the plastic etc.
Or you can put them in an Ultrasonic cleaner with warm water and a drop or two of dishwashing detergent. May take several cycles to clean them, but it's a gentle process, no harm done.

Yea I have that issue. Even after carefully and tightly closing both the large and small caps on top, they tend to leak when shaken. But usually, if I loosen it back up, and then tighten back up, that leak at the time will stop. Even though it's not really any tighter on the 2nd try.
Just a seemingly random act of loosen and re-tighten seems to do it.
You can stop the leaking by putting a small freezer/polythene bag over the mouth of the bottle and then screwing on the cap. A bit messy and should be unnecessary, but at least you can use the Alubottle.

Ozkava

KF approv - Forney logos with bowl 02-09-22.png
 

Kava Mike

Kava Curious
I have some that are nine months old and still going strong with nearly daily use.
I have found that the most important things are to not use hot water, which will deform the plastic, and also do not use too little of water in the bottle. My second and third washes are full alu bottles.
 
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