Thermos lid won't budge

puss14

Hi,
I am not sure what to do as my thermos lid is firmly stuck on. It is a plastic type screw lid and a metal base and I cant seem to budge it. The problem is that the water has gone cold and now there is a vacuum that seems unbreakable. Any ideas on what to do?
Thanks very much

bunny_too

This happened to mine too:(, i ended up having to buy a new one. I tried dipping it into boiling water and then plunging it into ice cold water, even this didn't budge it. BTx

puss14

Oh thats a major bummer:(

Psykicpup

Does the lid screw into the flask or over the flask -IYSWIM?

Grimbal

there was this exact same question posted on Yahoo questions, one of the replies being to soak the flask in very hot water for a long time - might be worth a go before throwing it out? There's also another couple of alternatives in there that you might like to try

HTH
Liz
x

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080917125253AADbze0

Sherlock._2

Try gently tapping the lid against a hard surface (such as the edge of your kitchen work surface). Gradually twist the flask around so that you tap the whole perimeter of the lid.

It often works for me to free the vacuum on jars of jam

marcowil

not sure if this would work but I have tried wrapping elastic bands tightly around a jammed lid before and this seems to help

flissh

With jars I turn them upside down and bang on the floor a few times.

puss14

Thanks for the link Grimbal, hopefully one of the suggestions will work. I will report back.

Psykicpup it is a screw in lid.

Sherlock, I did try this earlier but maybe after the hot water it will help.

Thanks to everyone who has replied I will let you know what worked (hopefully;))

Sherlock._2

puss14 wrote: »

Hi,
I am not sure what to do as my thermos lid is firmly stuck on. It is a plastic type screw lid and a metal base and I cant seem to budge it. The problem is that the water has gone cold and now there is a vacuum that seems unbreakable. Any ideas on what to do?
Thanks very much

Is the lid inside or outside the metal (can you post a pic). This will determine which piece you need to freeze (the inner bit so that it contracts) and which bit to heat (the outer bit so that it expands).

HTH

parsonswife8

Hit the lid a few times, with a large table spoon.
That may break the airlock.
Or put it out in direct sunlight, for the lid, to expand.