Petrol hand warmer query!

[StephenFord]

I have a Whitby petrol hand warmer, just love using it on a cold frosty morning. It's getting on a bit and a new head is about £10, however, the metal is like new, I only really need the 'wadding' (?) that is stuffed in it. Does anyone know what I can buy to use, obviously I don't want to get something that will burn through and cause me to go up in flames, but have the same burn quality as the original, but don't know what to look for!

It's the make do & mend obsession I have (I'm cheap), I only need about 10p worth of stuff and don't want to be wasting a tenner LOL

[dezwez]

never seen one of them😊 before

[rd457]

I've also never seen or heard of one of these before,but doing a little research... The product this is for is described as being a 'flameless catalytic warmer'. Googling those terms led to a bunch of potentially informative results, primarily wikipedia which states the following:

Quote

Current units use a glass fiber substrate coated with platinum. Cheaper units may use other catalysts that don't work as well. Some older units used asbestos substrates.

I'm not 100% certain whether the material in the main body will be identical to that in the cap, but it seems that it's something a little more fancy than just some plain fibreglass.

[unofix]

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

I have a Whitby petrol hand warmer, just love using it on a cold frosty morning.

Never seen such a thing, but I'm going to buy one this very moment. My daughter has horses and her hands are so cold when shes at the stables this will be ideal for a quick warm up 👍

[TomsFocus]

I was jokingly going to suggest asbestos!

I'll bet modern ones use the same 'hair' that fills exhaust silencers.  Not sure if that's just plain fiberglass or whether it's coated.

[StephenFord]

Thanks to @rd457 post, I have tracked down the following from Ebay. I've just bought it & will try it out. If it goes ***** up, I'll message you all from A&E 😂

For anyone that's buying a hand warmer, there is a definitive knack in getting it to work, I failed miserably the 1st times I tried it. If you're struggling, let me know and I'll talk you through!

[Tizer]

The original looks like Mineral Wool Insulation, which is non-combustible and is sometimes used for Fire Stopping in the construction Industry as well as a general Thermal Insulation in roofs, walls etc. That is what should have been used in Grenfell Tower instead of what they did use.

The cheaper Glass Fibre Insulation that you will probably have in your loft, but you may be lucky and have Mineral Wool, should not burn but may melt if the temperature is hot enough. 

[Turvey]

Could do with one of them this morning! 

Had a 10 minute walk, pulling a case, for the bus for the airport at 6.30! 

Bit nippy on the hands!

[StephenFord]

3 minutes ago, Turvey said:

Could do with one of them this morning! 

Had a 10 minute walk, pulling a case, for the bus for the airport at 6.30! 

 

mmm... you may have had an issue getting it through airport security LOL

[Turvey]

8 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

mmm... you may have had an issue getting it through airport security LOL

Fair point 😄

[TomsFocus]

I'm sure you can still take Zippo's on planes? 

[StephenFord]

47 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I'm sure you can still take Zippo's on planes? 

I'm pretty sure you can't take a 'Zippo', but f it's a throw away BIC you can. Don't ask me why LOL

[Turvey]

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

I'm pretty sure you can't take a 'Zippo', but f it's a throw away BIC you can. Don't ask me why LOL

According to the CAA you can take a Zippo on a plane but only on your person, not in checked in baggage. Not sure you would get off with a 'lit' handwarmer though 😀

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/before-you-fly/baggage/items-that-are-allowed-in-baggage/#:~:text=Matches and cigarette lighters&text=These items are forbidden.&text=No more than one per,can be carried by passengers.

[StephenFord]

16 minutes ago, Turvey said:

According to the CAA you can take a Zippo on a plane but only on your person, not in checked in baggage. Not sure you would get off with a 'lit' handwarmer though 😀

https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/before-you-fly/baggage/items-that-are-allowed-in-baggage/#:~:text=Matches and cigarette lighters&text=These items are forbidden.&text=No more than one per,can be carried by passengers.

Cool, I genuinely was mistaken about that... CAA web site:-

"Note: a 'Zippo' lighter that is fully absorbed in wadding i.e. an absorbed liquid lighter can be carried by passengers..."

[unofix]

On 12/1/2023 at 8:13 PM, StephenFord said:

For anyone that's buying a hand warmer, there is a definitive knack in getting it to work, I failed miserably the 1st times I tried it. If you're struggling, let me know and I'll talk you through!

Well got the hand warmer for my daughter and after a bit of messing about finally got it working 👍 😀

I bought a small tin of Swan lighter fuel from Tesco (£3.32 per 100ml), is this what you normally use ?

[StephenFord]

9 hours ago, unofix said:

I bought a small tin of Swan lighter fuel from Tesco (£3.32 per 100ml), is this what you normally use ?

Of course not LOL £3+?? Next time you're in PoundLand, ask for this at the till, they don't put it out on display, you'll never guess how much 🤣 Glad you got it to work, like I said, initially it's a bit of a faff, but very satisfying once you master it.  (Oh, I just checked my 'lighter fuel' drawer, I have can's of 'Swan' too so £land obviously sell it too.)

[tazzman600]

personally I say what a kerfuffle. 

I bought the missus battery powered electric gloves. So much easier to use and operate, so to speak.

First with a pee taking reply gets a prize 😂

 

[StephenFord]

20 minutes ago, tazzman600 said:

personally I say what a kerfuffle. 

I bought the missus battery powered electric gloves. So much easier to use and operate, so to speak.

First with a pee taking reply gets a prize 😂

 

Perfect illustration of different attitudes. Many here will know I wouldn't have an EV if given one, but love a proper ICE car. A 'battery' hand warmer instead of petrol? You nuts?? 🤣

Just noticed, that YouTube has a major error! He takes out the little rubber bung prior to filling. Absolutely no need to do that. Just plug the filler nozzle into it in situ, and tilt to empty fuel into warmer. The bung has a slit in it which is self sealing. Taking it out will only increase likelihood hood of losing it! (The supplied instruction are incorrect in this matter)

[StephenFord]

40 minutes ago, tazzman600 said:

personally I say what a kerfuffle.

You've just reminded me of something else. When growing up, my home had a proper old fashioned coal fire. You had to screw up pages of a newspaper and spread them over grate, carefully place some firelighters through out, carefully place lumps of coal at strategic places, throw a match in, then cover fireplace with a sheet of paper to get the draw right for it to take, but when you got it lit, it was a major sense of achievement.

Mum has central heating now, not the same LOL

[tazzman600]

You know what Stephen I'm not sure how few years older than me you are but I have distinct memories of a Real fires which were in the house I was born and raised. Having coal delivered in heavy sacks. We had a stockpiles in our backyard and I actually played in it lol. It wasn't until I was about 10 (very early 70's) that central heating was installed and that was coal fired to. 

As for heated gloves. OMG how narrow minded of you comparing them to an EV. The mind boggles.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, tazzman600 said:

As for heated gloves. OMG how narrow minded of you comparing them to an EV. The mind boggles.

Heated gloves (electric!😀) have been available for motorcyclists for quite some years now.

Wish I'd had them in my early working days when I travelled to work/college by motorbike until I got my first car. Didn't need them when I was a born-again some years later, though - only rode in fair weather, lol.

 

 

[unofix]

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Heated gloves (electric!😀) have been available for motorcyclists

I've got electric heated hand grips on mine, they get unbelievably hot 😀

[Turvey]

2 hours ago, unofix said:

I've got electric heated hand grips on mine, they get unbelievably hot 😀

I must admit I do like the heated steering wheel in the Ecosport, just a pity that the gear knob wasn't heated as well! 

 

[unofix]

18 minutes ago, Turvey said:

just a pity that the gear knob wasn't heated as well! 

Should have got an automatic 🤣

[Turvey]

9 hours ago, unofix said:

Should have got an automatic 🤣

For more reasons than that, wife's back is knackered and she's struggling to get the clutch in! Next one will be auto.