Fri Mar 10 '17 Announcement
almost 8 years ago
– Fri, Mar 10, 2017 at 05:11:05 AM
Hello again backers!
2 parts to the update due to IGG update size limit. This is part 1.
Comms
Thank you for your patience. Some messages and comments I don’t answer as I’d rather just wait 1-2 weeks and give you the full story than piecemeal.
There are lots of back and forth discussions with he factory and they often take 1-2 weeks to reply. I am not joking. With me chasing every day. It’s just the nature of the beast. Factories are like ocean liners. They are big and move slowly but are able to carry big things.
Factories are in the business of making the same thing 1000’s of times. It takes months to set up a consistent process to do so. During the process set up there is a lot of trial and error, testing, finding problems, having to go back to a step in the process, fix it, etc.
When testing - you have to make 20-100 parts, test them all for consistency.
Factories work with metal - lathes, mills. Waterjet presses, etc. Large machines which are time consuming to set up, work with, adjust.
All this means slow work, slow progress - and as a result - slow coms.
Just bare this in mind next time you’re frustrated when you’ve not had an update for a few weeks.
I am not in the business of tricking people nor do I quit after having come this far nor do I ever accept problems and failure as final. So if you’ve not had an update - please don’t send angry “where’s my stuff!!??!” emails or comments.
Just wait for the update.
I am a perfectionist (in a good way) and am not going to go and start making 2000 flasks until I know they are good enough to start making. If we do, and a problem comes up - you will all be very unhappy and we won’t have time or money to re-make another 2000 flasks.
Remember also that crowdfunding is not Amazon - you’re not pre-ordering. You’re financially backing a project/startup. You’re then coming along for the ride and there’s no getting off the ship if you don’t like the slightly rough seas.
That said and out of the way..
...See next update for part 2 (IGG update size limit).
Thu Jan 19 '17 Announcement
about 8 years ago
– Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 09:04:02 AM
One more quick update.
A few of you have commented on the logo on the side and top of the flask being very dark compared to the light version which was in the video and campaign prototype.
I've spoken with the factory and they said they can indeed make it lighter so don't worry - it will be done!
Mike Dewhirst
Wed Jan 18 '17 Announcement
about 8 years ago
– Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 02:32:49 PM
Update Part 3 of 3
4. Cap gasket
The flask cap gasket was too thin initially causing liquids to leak out from the flask. The gasket was made thicker and the issue has been resolved. Even with very hot content we’ve had no issues removing the cap - it does not get stuck due to heat expansion.
5. Internal capacity
The flask has turned out to hold a whopping 1.2 litres internally! That makes it one of the biggest flask on the market with competitors holding between 750ml and 1 litre, including the reality big flasks and Thermos themselves and only a few going up to 1.2 litres. The mug holds just under 500ml also as planned.
Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted as usual. Please don't worry if we're quiet for a few weeks, these things take time as you can see and we need to get down to do the work uninterrupted hence the pauses in comms.
Thank you as always for your support and trust,
Mike Dewhirst
Wed Jan 18 '17 Announcement
about 8 years ago
– Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 02:32:21 PM
Update Part 2 of 3
2. Heat retention and vacuum
Some of the engineering samples we were sent did not show very good heat retention and the outside of the flasks got quite hot quickly, showing that vacuum was not good inside. We’ve raised this with the factory who have assured us that this will be addressed during production and that all units will be tested for secure vacuum.
We have invested in the Fair E4 thermal camera (about $1000) for the tests and precise, calibrated liquids thermometer.
We compared heat loss and retention with other flasks on the market and found it very good and better than other flasks. The factory also confirmed that heat retention of Forever Flask is better than all their other products.
We still see some warming of the external upper part of the flask and are looking to reduce the inside part to make the vacuum space greater and eliminate heat dispersion through radiation. This will lose some volume but not much plus see below on huge current volume anyway.
Heat retention of the mug / foot tub has been found amazing and we’re very happy with how it has come out - nothing to change here.
We will be doing more time - heat retention testing and will be publishing statistics over the coming weeks.
Here are some of the thermal test images:
The 2 flasks on the right are from competitors - you can see the extreme heat loss through the caps. The middle one is the flask with failed vacuum. The left ones are the good ones. We have more we're testing now too, showing even better results.
Here are the flasks all with their mug/lids on. Again, note the extreme heat loss in the flask on the right and the 2nd to the right via join of the mug onto the flask.
3. Rigidity/sturdiness
The flasks turned out to be a little too soft and would give a little when enough pressure was applied. We wanted a light flask, so we opted for a thin wall initially but after testing and discussion with the factory decided to make the outer wall a little thicker. The flask has come out weighing 840 grams and we think the extra thickness will add another 20-30 grams at most but will be worth it.
Wed Jan 18 '17 Announcement
about 8 years ago
– Wed, Jan 18, 2017 at 02:30:40 PM
Hello backers!
Here is part 1 of 3 due to IGG update size limit.
We have been very busy over the past weeks and have made lots of progress. There have been some issues we’ve discovered through the thorough testing, but we’ve worked out solutions for most of them.
The main set back has been comm time with the factory which is very busy and most issues take 1-2 weeks to discuss and agree.
The net effect is that we still need to get a perfect engineering sample before we can start production and this is likely to only come mid February.
So we are now looking at shipping around mid March, unfortunately.
We’re quite upset about this ourselves and feel like we’ve let you down with the optimistic timescales. We’re very sorry about this but our promise to deliver a great product still remains our core goal.
Here is a summary of our findings and activities.
1. Bottom lid threading and fit
The bottom lid fit was not very good and threading it into the bottom of the flask and into the mug was not very good - spin through, big gaps, no tight seals. This was raised with the factory and they resolved this by making the thread deeper in the lid.
The fix works great and the issues listed above were solved.
A thinner o-ring was also used but this caused a too tight a fit where it was later impossible to remove the lid from the mug!
So we found a happy medium in a thinner ring which gives good fit and keeps the gaps small but does not cause issues unscrewing the lid from the mug and bottom of the flask.
Please check out the KickStarter page as IGG seems unable to attach images or videos over 1-2mb and our animated GIF for the mug is 15mb.
