maxbicyclemax

After a couple of months there is a bit of corrosion inside aluminum bottles.
Ive searched the web but cant find out.
ARE THEY SAFE?
Maybe one of you cyclists will know.
Cheers

kenhill3

H2O bottles, right?

No experience here.

Personally, I wouldn't. Too paranoid, I guess.

Stick to stainless or plastic.

tjwarren

What do you mean by "corrosion"?

Aluminum water bottles should be lined, and even if the lining deteriorates you shouldn't see rust. Pure aluminum "rusts" into aluminum oxide, which looks nearly identical to aluminum.


Can you post a picture?

kenhill3

You're the only one to use the word 'rust', which has nothing to do with aluminum.

tjwarren

I realize that, which is probably why I said you shouldn't see rust, and put the word "rusts" in quotes. I originally wrote "oxidizes", but decided "oxidizes into aluminum oxide" sounded kinda funny.

Now, if you have any info as to what sort of corrosion the OP is referring to (rather than on my choice of wording), I'd be happy to hear it.


(Oh, and incidentally, from https://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rust)

kenhill3

Yeah, I have always associated 'rust' with ferrous metals, that is why the word seemed incorrect to me. But, we're splitting hairs......

All I can say is that I wouldn't want to be drinking from a bottle with corrosion in it. Most folks don't use aluminum bottles anyway.

We DO need a pic or more info from the OP.

junkyard

Let me see if I understand. You have some bottles that are showing some signs of corrosion. You're not sure if it is safe to use or not, so you are asking a bunch of strangers on the internet. While some of these strangers may be knowledgeable in corrosion on aluminum bottles, you probably do not know who is truly qualified to answer.

I say use them and let us know what happens.

tjwarren

I agree, we are splitting hairs.

My reason for questioning the "corrosion" is that I doubt there actually is any corrosion. Aluminum oxide looks nearly identical to unoxidized aluminum. In fact, what we usually think of as "aluminum" -- that dull grey finish on all of your aluminum articles -- is actually aluminum oxide. The shiny stuff you get when you sand the dull finish off is plain aluminum (which quickly corrodes into another superficial layer of dull aluminum oxide).

My guess is that the OP actually had something other than water in his bottles at some time, and that whatever that was left a residue behind that he is calling "corrosion". That, or his bottles aren't actually aluminum. (Or, I suppose, his liner is sloughing off.)


Yeah, there's really not much more to be said without seeing what he's talking about.

maxbicyclemax

hi guys, sorry no pic (it would be kinda hard to take)
over here various companies give away sigg lookalike bottles with their logo. so one can assume theyre cheap and nasty.
so yep they start with some film lining in them. its thin and must have imperfections, the water then oxidizes the aluminum. creating a whitish oxidized patch. aluminumoxide.

i dont use them myself but the missus does and she leaves them in the car with water only in them.
cheers
and yep, i'll trust a bunch of strangers on the WWW

mcoine

I think aluminum has been linked to alzheimers.. but I can't remember.

Siu Blue Wind

Alu bottles in the sun make the water inside hot.

If they are funkified cheapie bottles, why not just chuck them? Your health is not worth the risk on keeping freebies. Or anything for that matter.

junkyard

Tell your wife they are fine to drink out of. Please post later to let us know what happens to her.

ca7erham

I'd chuck them. I've been using some aluminum bottles for hiking (The Swiss Army ones I was given) for around 3 or 4 years, and I dont have any corrosion problems, so I'd chuck them and just do the thing that everyone else does and get a hydration pack.

mx_599

cyclezen

back when (and now) 'we' used alu bottles to carry fuel for backpack trips. The SIGG bottles were relatively light, tight and pretty hard to damage and 'hole' in rough use.
I see SIGGs now in the local yoga studios with all sorts of fancy graphics ... maybe they are diff., but fashion is fashion... but I won;t use them...
alu is connected to all sorts of bad things for the body, ergo I don;t drink nuttin out of alu, includin water, 'soft' drinks, whatever...
you want 'safe', a nice glass stein with some good doppelbock (or festbier) in it is 'safe' - sadly not as convenient as I'd like it...

Svr

If you're sure it's corrosion, trash the bottle. Aluminum beverage containers are always lined with a material like Mylar to prevent health risks from aluminum toxicity.

Taidaishar

This seems to be the best discussion about aluminum bottles that I can find -- at least on the first two pages of a google search. Anyway, I'm getting some kind of corrosion in my aluminum water bottle, too. Its in a few spots inside, where I'm sure the coating wasn't as thick as it was supposed to be. Anyway, they look like white mold spots, except they're hard. If aluminum just oxidizes to a thin, covering film that's still silvery looking, then what I'm getting must be something different. The only thing I can think of is some kind of aluminum chloride compound from traces of chlorine in my water. So far I haven't been able to find much info on it.

mx_599

Sounds plausible

fuzz2050

Aluminium chloride is rather highly soluble in water; if it did exist in your water bottle, it would be dissolved. Aluminium oxide is present on the surface of just about any aluminium you can think of. It's also non-toxic, and damn near impervious to most things. It's the same stuff rubies are made of.

the-one1

Trust this: Aluminium oxide is good for you and will make you a faster better more hard core rider. Plus it makes you better in bed.

All joking aside, if in doubt, toss it out.

born2bahick

All misinformation aside, if you see a white coating inside your aluminum bottle. It's most likely calcium carbonate from the natural hardness in your local water supply.

Taidaishar

That sounds pretty plausible. The weird thing is, I filter my water before putting it in there, so I would expect that to be filtered out. Maybe Britta doesn't do as much filtering as I thought.

About the aluminum chloride, I looked that up the other day, and you're right, fuzz. In fact most aluminum compounds seem to be soluble in water, aluminum oxide and aluminum hydroxide being a couple that are not. However I have it from a chemist that any aluminum oxide crystals in there should be microscopic, and therefore too small to see.

I'm going to see if I can sweet-talk one of the chem teachers up at the local JC into analyzing it for me. Even if it's only calcium carbonate in there, it would be pretty gross to all of a sudden try to drink a chunk that just fell off.

3speed

dmac49

If you are raising the question it would appear you have some concerns. Bottles are cheap..go with a stainless one. Most all of the aluminium ones have a coating to prevent the natural oxidation of aluminium. After everyone freaked out about BPA in water bottles many jumped into Chinese made garbage that is made by who knows who with who knows what. Stainless lasts for a long time ,and is easy to clean. If you're worried about weight the difference is so small you'll never know the dif.

Dannyselder

I took a video cause I can't post a pic on here from my phone. I know it's an old thread but I haven't found an answer either, and "throw it away and get another" doesn't do it either if they go bad so fast. Anyway, the 'pictures'...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmfqVKKwatc