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Over 8M Thermos jars and bottles recalled after 3 people lost vision

68 points by taubek

by x______________

3 subcomments

Initially assumed it was due to some sort of contamination or production defect.
Turns out people leave perishable and fermenting foods in the thermos, and after a while when opened, the pressure lifts the lid of the thermos at quasi-unimaginable speeds, striking the curiously unsuspecting humans straight in the face, with some instances causing permanent damage to vision.
Coffee is hot, but a pressure release system is cool too..

by nirava

1 subcomments

Any (sealed) container designed to hold hot things should have a pressure release system.
It can be seals that buckle before the lid. It can be a tiny hole with a soft rubber stopper. It can be one of many things that cost a couple of cents extra and a bit more engineering and testing effort.
The cheapest disposable coffee cups I've used have a tiny hole for the express purpose of not pressurizing and spilling hot liquid everywhere.
There's a lot of conversation in the comments about "was there was an expectation that the pressure release valve would be there" There absolutely is a safety expectation that a sealed container of hot food is designed with a pressure release system.
BTW the fermented food thing is a misdirection. The pressure release system should have released pressure way before it even reached ballistic territory.

by roel_v

2 subcomments

That sucks. I have both and the ones with the pressure relieve valve are a pain in the ass to clean. You have to pull out the rubber inner thingy, you can't get a towel inside the hole that thingy goes into, and in general the rubber thing gets lost easily. I wish Thermos would send me a few of those 8 million stoppers, I'll promise I won't be a dumbass with them :(

by _trampeltier

1 subcomments

There is a well known solution. Look at most PET bottles. The thread (mostly on the cap) is not continuous. That's for the pressure to relieve before the cap is off, and that could happen from a coke bottle or so to you.

by pizza234

1 subcomments

Happened to me once. I was emptying one of my child’s thermoses in the bathroom when it suddenly "exploded" and sprayed the contents all over the bathroom walls. Quite a remarkable day :)
I didn't consider it a defect, though. I can hardly imagine cheap products adopting this solution.

by traceroute66

2 subcomments

I too from the headline assumed it was some sort of chemical contamination during manufacturing.
But then I read the words "The malfunction is due to multiple models of containers missing a pressure relief function in the center of the stopper."
How non-existent does your quality assurance have to be in order to miss such a critical, obvious and easy to identify flaw ?
Looking at the published photographs, you don't even need training to identify that manufacturing defect. A five year old could spot the difference between "lid has a hole" and "lid does not have a hole".

by kjuulh

1 subcomments

Had this happen to me once, though totally my own fault. Was brewing kombucha, and left it out in the bottles a little too long before burping.
Me standing there, kombucha and peach slices pulverized against the cap, kombucha leaving a large mark on the ceiling it all happened so fast, glad I was wearing my glasses.
No injuries except my pride, but it did take some hours to clean up.
I wouldn't do it in a thermos, but I guess those are mostly accidents?

by bilekas

2 subcomments

This is wild.. It looks like they changed their lid to be a bit cheaper ?
Looking at the version that's not recalled, I would guess it costs more to make.

by globular-toast

0 subcomment

So who decided to cut costs by "simplifying" the lid design? A case of Chesterton's fence perhaps?
My partner has one of these so just checked it. It does have the pressure relief feature, but it turns out it's also missing all the seals anyway so never would have been a problem!

by ZpJuUuNaQ5

1 subcomments

I hate life a little bit more every time I stumble upon stories like this. Anything and everything can happen to you, suddenly, without warning, without planning, not necessarily because of any obvious fault of your own (from your perspective, at least). "Oh, you thought you already had enough problems and worries as it is? Congratulations, now you are blind in one eye, forever, because you wanted to keep your coffee warmer for a little longer."