Some time ago a friend gave me some very nice mugs. They’re good for all mugular requirements such as coffee, tea, Horlicks, Ovaltine and mugs of Jameson.
However, a strange problem has emerged with one or two of them. Picture the scene: the mug is standing with one spoon of sugar in the bottom. I pour in either hot coffee from the coffee pot, or hot water on top of some instant coffee (because I am a lazy cunt and it’s not so much making the other coffee but cleaning out the pot that’s the problem).
Either way the weirdness happens. From the bottom of the mug an amount of coffee appears to leak onto the counter top. Simple, you might think, there’s a hole in the bottom of the mug. But riddle me this: why is it that when I mop up the ‘leaked’ coffee and dry the bottom of the mug, not a single drop more appears?
It only leaks at the time of pouring. At first I thought I was just being a sloppy pourer but after careful examination of my pouring technique I realised that was not true.
The coffee leaks, at first, then stops leaking. Surely if there was a place from which the coffee could leak it would leak all the time so there can’t be a hole. But then how does the initial leak happen?
I have to say the whole thing has me somewhat perplexed.
I wonder if heat is causing something to expand and not leak. I wonder what would happen with cold water?
Thermal expansion is your man. Hole in cup bigger when cold. When hot liquid hits cup, it expands and closes hole. Or else its voodoo. I’d go for voodoo myself. Your only solution is to create a doll of Biffo Cowen out of lard and stab it repeatedly with hypodermics.
Aye, it doesn’t happen when cold.
An incontinent teacup? Please. I think it’s an allegory for your own seeping tearducts, located on your face(i.e. mug) because you missed blogging so much. Be poetic about it all you want, Twenty, but I can see through your metaphors.
My tears are jellybeans, not rich roast Colombian.
The mug is crying because you’re using instant.
Eh, [strokes beard] when you take a leak does some moisture mysteriously appear on the floor?
And how the fuck is 7.32 already? Are you leaking time as well?
And how the fuck is it 7.32 already? Are you leaking time as well?
Mugular. I like that
and then I get this ‘alert’
“Duplicate comment detected; it looks as though you’ve already said that!”
No I didn’t, I left ‘it’ out the first time!
There’s always some floor spillage, usually after shakeage.
And I heard you the first time. I’ll just set GMT forward an hour to make it all better.
Now watch it get weird.
See, all the comments are appearing above because of the new time difference. Spooky.
Listen to the mug (seriously), you’ll hear a slight noise if there is a leak. There is a safety issue too, it could crack with a boiling hot drink in it and scald you, or your work-in-progress.
Conan’s right. Instant coffee is piss. Unless it’s that Nescafe Espresso Instant. That’s fucking ambrosia that is.
Oh, and please make this the first of a series…
I have weird bugs
I have weird dugs
I have weird hugs
I have weird jugs
I have weird lugs
I have weird pugs
etc
A crack expanding during heating causing leaking.
Get a new mug ya mean cunt.
Is it coffee coloured leakage or just water? If it’s water it might condensation on the outside forming, then running down to the bottom when you pour the hot water into the mug. Try another mug and see it if happens with that.
It’s coffee coloured. It seems to happen with all the mugs.
Fuck.
Yes, it has been a savage blow.
I’ll go back to just lurking after this comment, but welcome back. Next time you stop blogging tho, remind everyone to remove you from their rss feeds, then we won’t know when you’ve returned and you can sneak back in.
CONDENSATION.
or CONDOMSATION.
Do you have any plastic vessels you could try? I won’t sleep tonight.
Stupid science, having an answer, ruining the fun.
Just to be sure, I think you should get Dave to hold the mug over your upturned face as he pours the scalding coffee.
That way you can see exactly what’s going on.
I don’t believe that scientific explanation though. If the heat made it expand surely it’d happen when you poured cold water into it. And it doesn’t.
I think we need to turn to religion to find the answer to this one.
Get it blessed so.
Oh so now it’s a holy cup?
That depends ooze perspective you’re looking at it from.
Can anyone be testament to this leakage?
aren’t the tories responsible for all the leaks? maybe that’s just in the uk…..
If I can give up the smokes, you can give up instant coffee. Seriously, that’s shite, that stuff. Knock it on the head, you lazy cunt.
Are they china or standard earthenware? I have a theory on the porosity of certain clays because I too have a tea cup with a mysterious leak.
I think they’re some kind of clay all right. They even leak cold liquid too (some early morning tests have proved).
We are not alone either T. They can build a machine that creates black holes but cannot produce a leak proof mug:
http://www.lewis360.com/2008/09/leaking-mug-fro.html
The heat theory is the most likely,hot water makes the cup contract/the hole expand.. just enought for the liquid to escape,in relative term the liquid cools quite rapidly making the cup expand/hole contract..
heh.. HOLE CONTRACT!!
The heat theory is the most likely,hot water makes the cup contract/the hole expand.. just enought for the liquid to escape,in relative terms the liquid cools quite rapidly making the cup expand/hole contract..
heh.. HOLE CONTRACT!!
duplicate comment..How embarressing!
That’s a lot of cows arses to look at Fill. And I think you have hit the nail on the head regarding the leak.
Especially as you were shouting ‘hole contract’.
So Twenty, how good a friend was this friend who gave you the mugs. Had you by any chance slept with their sister or some such crime?
Be off with you to the BT sale and get yourself some high quality ones, save yourself the dreadful anguish.
Christ, it shouldn’t be so complicated – if the black hole guys are struggling then I fear for humanity.
If they could place tiny tiny balck holes in the ones in your mug, it could solve the problem of the initial leakage. It would drain into the black hole, then the heat would seal it up as usual, and no spills on the counter.
That’s the answer.
Its a neat theory Jo but fraught with danger if the heat source does not seal the black hole. As you take a sip from the mug you can wave goodbye to your dentures, glasses, bogies etc closely followed by your face as the intense gravitational forces suck away your flesh and turn it into molecular ribbons before being drawn thru the event horizon.
But don’t worry, there will be a nice cup of tea waiting for you on the other side.
Imagine that.
The answer is,of course, the pottery wasn’t “fired” effectively.
well at least you aren’t one of those pansey tea drinkers! Too many of them about these parts. Coffee is the only way.
The last time I tried to make a pot of Coffee, I was under the influence of Prescribed Diazepam for a back injury. I filled the water, put in the coffee, put the pot on the counter top, and turned her on.. just time for a quick cigarette..
coffee every where..
Where’s the tea bags…
Test
Another test
Another test1
there is a little tiny crack there that closes up when the mug gets hot…. ha!
These tests are hard T! Can we at least have some questions?