Water Bladder Threads

[Kevin Rooney]

Am having trouble unscrewing the lid/cap on my Camelbak - it's about 5 years old and in otherwise good condition. Only use it in warmer weather and then only with water, so it's not a cleanliness issue.

Is that anything I can apply to the threads so that I can refill it without needing Channelock pliers to get it started? That's an option in the kitchen, but not so much on the trail.

Thanks.

 

[Tom_Murphy]

tap the threads? hahahaha

maybe something this? I searched for a food grade lubricant

https://www.clarionlubricants.com/ProdFood.jsp?cmpid=PPC&gclid=CO_nu-jxqbcCFdKe4AodBDUAJw

 

[jrgagne99]

Can you inspect the threads? Maybe you just need to clean them up a bit with a small file? Perhaps apply some food-grade lubrication to them?

 

[DougPaul]

Possible lubricants:
* vaseline
* lip balm (chapstick etc) in the field
* cooking oil (emergency use--it may get sticky after a while...)


Any of these lubricants carries the risk that dust and grit may stick to it.

Doug

 

[erugs]

Might not be dirty. Might be just the change in temps along with not being used. I know that if I tighten something up and the temperature increases, I have problems opening the container.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

The threads are visible and in good shape - no knicks, scrapes, etc. The cap resembles the standard 1L Nalgene, only slightly smaller. And, it's not recessed, like some bladders. It's one of Camelbaks "tactical series", which resembles their standard 100oz bladder, only it's better made.

I've tried vasoline and lip balm, but to no available. What I am going to do is carefully clean (again) and dry the threads and cap, and apply olive oil with a que tip and see if that helps. I've checked Camelbak's website and they couldn't find anything pertinent. Am going to stop at Gear Exchange in Burlington tomorrow and see if their gearheads have any new suggestions.

And Ellen - this isn't a one-time problem. It's now constant. I've used this bladder at least 10 times since the weather warmed up.

If I find something that works over time, I'll update this thread.

 

[hikerbrian]

This might not be your problem, but I'll offer it up anyway: I always have a hard time unscrewing my camel back when I'm out of water. I usually suck the last little bit of water out, and that TINY bit of suction, for whatever reason, really makes it difficult to unscrew the lid. My solution is to blow a little bit of air in through the mouthpiece, and it is MUCH easier to unscrew.

Hope that helps.

 

[Paradox]

Just this morning I needed to run hot tap water on mine in order to get the cap off. The cap could not be budged, but after 15 seconds of hot water it came off easily. Could work in the field if you have the ability to heat water.

 

[Lost Dad]

The best lubricant for something like this is Mineral Oil. Unlike plant based oils, Mineral Oil does not get rancid. I have used mineral oil for years to lubricate the plastic spigots on the water jugs that our local scout troop uses.

Careful with heat, you may have warp either the cap or the bladder itself. Certainly the dishwasher would be suspect and I would wonder if just plain hot tap water might also cause trouble.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Olive oil as lubricant didn't work, nor did a small square of wax paper, which leads me to think that it's an expansion issue. Perhaps as the bladder ages either the material used to make the throat has expanded, or the material used to make the cap has shrunk, or some combination of both. The bladder has not been stored/subjected to either freezing or boiling conditions.

At this point am comfortable using it on a hike which doesn't require a refill during the hike as I can use the Channelocks to get the cap off. But for long hikes, I'll need a new bladder.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

My Camelbak drinking tube fits over the Katahdin Hiker Pro output nipple and I fill the bladder without opening it or removing it from my pack. If you are getting water from a hut or Sherman Adams, well that's a different story.

Tim

 

[Kevin Rooney]

OK, am honing in on a solution. The o-ring under the cap may have deformed over the winter. It turns out Camelbak warranties their products, so am awaiting a new o-ring.

Tim - their tactical series doesn't lend itself to connecting a water filter like the Pur. The tube diameter under the bite valve is large - you can replace the bite valve, but you have to use care lest it tear - (been there, done that).

 

[TJsName]

OK, am honing in on a solution. The o-ring under the cap may have deformed over the winter. It turns out Camelbak warranties their products, so am awaiting a new o-ring.

Tim - their tactical series doesn't lend itself to connecting a water filter like the Pur. The tube diameter under the bite valve is large - you can replace the bite valve, but you have to use care lest it tear - (been there, done that).

That sounds plausible, especially if it screws on easily. I've also notice the suction issue that Brian mentioned too.

 

[OldMan]

Camelbak's warranty is great. I recently sent them a older bladder that had a pin hole leak at the top and they send me a new one.

 

[Daniel Eagan]

Camelbak's warranty is great. I recently sent them a older bladder that had a pin hole leak at the top and they send me a new one.

Ditto, Camelbak has been great for me and my wife. We've had problems three times and each time the company has responded quickly with new replacements.

Kevin seems to have found that out already.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

An update -

After contacting Camelbak in May via their website, I got no response in the form of an automated email acknowledgement, or better yet, replacement parts. I repeated the process - same result. Finally, since I was taking a trip to the far west, including desert regions where I needed a bladder that would work without resorting to Channelock pliers, I bought a new one.

After returning home, I tried the email route with Camelbak - still no response. Finally, I noticed they had a Facebook page, and posted a comment there, and found that almost immediately another person posted a similar comment noting what seemed to be a total failure on the part of their warranty dept. That FB posting resulted in action, and about a week or so later I had the replacement parts along with a new bladder. About a week after that I received a second set of replacement parts.

So, now I have more than enough parts. On balance, Camelbak finally honored their warranty but not without a protracted effort on my part. Do they have a good product? Absolutely. Do they provide good customer service? not so much.

Posts above indicate they've had good results with warranty issues. Let's hope my experience was an isolated one.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Could they have IT issues with your earlier route?

Tim

 

[KRobi]

Would have to think there was some issue that caused this problem of CB getting back to you. I have had two replaced completely in the past due to leaks, another a new hanger clip, and in the time frame Kevin is talking about a fourth that would not seal tightly (opposite of Kevin's problem). In all cases I sent an email and was quickly responded to (including this latest issue) and received the part(s) or new bladder quickly.

 

[madmattd]

I had a similar experience with Camelback's service last year Kevin. Sent in an online request for a replacement o-ring for a c.a. 2000 Camelback bladder (the oring had cracked and so leaked slowly), never heard back. A month or so later, called them on the phone, they had no record in their system. The rep. on the phone sent me new orings, but would not take the time to ensure she was sending the right ones. Sure enough, the ones I received were for a 3" cap, not the 2" one I had...and significantly thicker than mine took. Called again, different person this time, and they had no record of those parts being sent to me...he seemed to know what he was doing though, and took extra time to confirm with me what my bladder and o-rings looked like to make doubly sure he sent the right ones, and they were 100% correct when I got them.

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Could they have IT issues with your earlier route?

Tim

Tim - to clarify - I got back this system-generated response after my warranty request on May 24th and again on July 1st:

Thank you for contacting CamelBak. Your product feedback and experience is important to us. As it does take some time to address each and every inquiry, we kindly ask for your patience.

We will either send a replacement part or contact you if we need further information.

Regards,
The CamelBak Warranty Team

P.S. Please do not reply to this email. If you need to reach the warranty team in the future, please contact us at [email protected]


There was no response by a human until after my FB posting which was nearly 2 months after my first warranty request, and even then, it took over a week for the parts to arrive. Other companies overnight shipments when it becomes obvious there's been a break-down in the customer service dept as a show of good faith. Had it not been for FB about my only recourse would have been a letter to the Better Business Bureau and even then that process is laborious and in my experience produces only limited results.