jon-e hand warmer

cobb

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Anyone have any experience of opinions on this? I use to use thoes chemical hand warmers you shake up, but the past few years they have gotten smaller and last less and less. At least the ones you see at kmart, walmart, etc. I then bought one you boil and reuse, its great, but only last about an hour or less at full heat. So, saw this in the latest hunting catalog I receive and had considered a fuel powered unit would suit me better. The idea is to use this under my jacket in a chest pocket to help warm me so I do not need to dress like a mummy and stay warm all day. Being in a wheelchair when I get cold in the winter I stay cold and having to wait for a bus or attending a college isnt much warmer.

I ordered the large unit and 4 cans of fuel. The large one was on backorder. Guessing that may be a good sign of demand? No word on how many refills. Nor if I need to light it or can shut it off and re use it before the fuel runs out. I guess I could always put it in an air tight container or fill it partly with fuel. One website I read said it was flameless as the special metals in the wick and fuel made it work. My dad said his old one he had problems lighting it and it smelled. He did say it got too hot to touch, which sounds great in my opinion.

Thanks
 

tvodrd

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Cobb,

Those things have been around forever and really work. As I remember- (haven't used mine for 20 years) You have to be very careful not to overfill them as the naptha (fuel) fumes will do a number on your skin, just like a Zippo lighter. The only proper place for them is an outer clothing pocket, so never take one to bed with you. You can shut it down using its integral cap which shuts off air to the "burner," and relight it later or the next day. Good luck and be careful with it. I recall burning myself at least once.

Larry
 

cobb

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Thanks, I have posted that on three different forums and you are the first to answer. If I had a prize I would send it to you.

Dont worry, I wont try to sleep with it in my pocket.
 

Unicorn

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I've used these for a few years in the field. They work pretty well, and do give off a good amount of heat. Just be careful to not overfill them. It will stay warm for a few hours. You'll have to let it cool enough to touch it before you can refill it though. You have to light it to get it started, but after that there are no flames, so there is little risk of starting a fire with it (good thing, since it's meant to be carried in the pocket).
 

SilverFox

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Hello Cobb,

I have used those as well. The only problem I had was caused by putting it in a shirt pocket under my coat. The fumes concentrated in my face and I got a bit dizy.

I have switched over to the re-useable ones that you boil. I have a dozen of them and carry as many as I think I am going to need.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I also know how to build a small fire to keep warm... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Tom
 

lymph

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I use mine now and then. It's the smaller one and it gets plenty hot for a hand warmer. You can adjust the heat a little by opening or closing the pouch it sits in, changing the amount of oxygen it gets. I recommend it.
 

cobb

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Wow, thanks guys for the replys.

Yes, I love donuts first off. Making them and eating them. Some may say donuts are for kids, but he never tried making them.

I used one you boil I bought a few years ago when I saw them at walmart, but it only seems to work hot for 45 minutes and fades off quickly. Its cool to watch it to go from the liquid to the crystal state at the flick of the disk, but I seem to do that by accident with it in my pocket.

I ordered the large one and 4 cans of fuel. It comes with a can, so that is 5 in all. I called cabelas and the tech had to go back and forth reading books and asking around the office if anyone used them. He did tell me it can by lit and put out. THen said a can of fuel gives 30 refills or lasts one guy a hunting season.

I plan on using it in the ubran environment to keep warm.

Thanks
 

BIGIRON

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I've used them for years and still have two of the smaller ones. Since I try not to go north of San Antonio in the winter, I haven't used them much lately.

They work -- you just have to accept their quirks. Plain naptha from the paint department at Home Depot or lighter fluid work fine. They do produce an odor. I stopped using them for most hunting.

All the previous posts have good info.
 

TheBeam

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Cobb, I was reffering to the "free donuts" that you have made on your website. By the way I love eating donuts too.

On topic, I have one of these hand warmers but have never used it. This thread has encoured me to go fire it up.
 

cobb

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I know, I was just playing. If is was not for my sense of humor, life would really suck. Most wheelchairs lack power to have some fun and I did some shopping to make sure i got themost for my or my insurance companys money. Who knew the wheelchair 10x3 wheelchair grey tires that cost 273$ each are interchangable with 3.50/410x4 go cart tires that run about ten bucks each?

Those donuts were done with a quickie p200 chair. Pop Sci or Pop Mech said it was the Ferri(SP?) of wheelchairs. 2 4 pole motors with direct drive 14-1 gearing steel gears, parallel at that on an aluminum frame with a removable power pack that houses the batteries and motors. That chair is a full size performance machine that can be folded and transported without needing a ramp or a lift equipped car or van. The heaviest part weighs 83 pounds, but compaired to the 275 pounds my jazzy 1170 weights its way lighter. My jazzy can kind of do donuts, but it hops a bit and becomes unstable fast. Kind of one of the down falls to having some half *** suspension system where as the quickie has none, except for the flex in the frame and the fact the mid wheel design allows it to do wheelies. Most wheelchairs use 2 pole motors with worm drive reduction and something like a 200 to 1 ratio. Difficult to do a controlled skid with them.

As far as real donuts are concerned I like KK and their apple pies. Who ever invented the donut and pizza are gold.

Anywhoo, The only thing i hate worse than being hot is freaking cold. Ive lived with my parents in a rural area after they lost power for a few weeks and its not fun to be in your own home wrapped up like a mummy seeing your own breath and not being able to feel the tip of your nose or being able to speak right or findings it warmer outside than indoors. Next of course is how lovely the sound a flushing toilet makes, man that is still music to me ears today when I hear one.

Needless to say, I look forward to my warmer and hope my fear of a cold winter is false. Living in RIchmond, VA USA you get up to 100 degree summers and winters down to the teens. If you include windchill, negative numbers. They say global warming leads to global freezing.
 

cobb

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Does not look the same as what I had. I got one from walmart that was in a box, about less than 5 bucks. Its about the size of a pack of smokes. It came ready to go in a fluid state. You flick the disk in it and it becomes solid and hot. Its great if you are cold or need to warm up quickly by placing it in your chest pocket under your jacket. The bad side is, it only lasts an hour or two. It makes a lot of heat at first, then it fades pretty quickly.

It was nice that it can recharge by boiling it in hot water. Another problem I had with mines is that it would activate itself in my pocket, so it was not that good to carry to use than using from the start.
 

gadget_lover

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I used the Jon-e hand warmers when I was a kid. They were handy when delivering papers in Ohio. I could toss a paper and put my hand back in my pocket as I trudged to the next one.

I continued using those warmers in my early 20s when riding motorcycles on cold mornings. Once your gloves get cold enough, your hands can't seem to warm them up again. The jon-e slipped into the glove for a few minutes made it usable again.

As someone said, it does have a smell, and they do get hot enough to cause nasty burns. They come with a metal cap that fits over the burner to snuff it out and to keep the fuel from evaporating.

Daniel
 

Steelwolf

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I've got 2 clones of the Jon E handwarmer. I tried to get the original stuff, but most online companies selling them don't ship overseas.

The special stuff that makes it work is platinum. The concept is not much different to catalytic converters in cars and gas-powered soldering irons.

They use it in wool form in the head. Once platinum is heated above a certain temperature, it will catalyse the lighter fluid fumes in an exothermic reaction. The heat from the reaction is supposed to be enough to not only maintain the reaction but have some left over to heat your hands. It works beautifully for me, but somehow or other, my wife's hands get so cold in winter that she manages to extinguish it. She drew enough heat out of the reaction to shut it down.

Maybe it's because they are clones, so they don't work so well?

The smell isn't so bad, or noticeable, especially when your nose is frozen, but try to avoid breathing the fumes. Don't try using any other type of fuel as the vaporisation rate will be different, the fumes produced are worse and you risk damaging the catalyst. Yep, some fuels contain additives that will damage the catalyst. That's why they had to take lead out of petrol.

I'm actually trying to get replacements (hopefully the original stuff this time) as I have damaged one while experimenting with other fuels. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Just got to do firsthand tests. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Anyway, I'm sure they will serve you well, especially the large one. With my clones (which I think are similar in size to the standard-sized Jon E), they can take enough fuel without overfilling to run almost 24hrs. You can extinguish them by cutting off the air supply, or removing the catalyst. Use a pair of pliers, or just pop them off with the edge of the cover.
 

Jack_Crow

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Cobb,
Our PX sells something like you describe. Generaly they don't sell junk, so I will take a look tonight and get back to you. If it's the boil kind, I gather they will be useless in the rain here. If it's the fuel type, that's more in line with what the Army uses.

I may buy one just for kicks.

Give me a day.

Jack Crow in Iraq
 

cobb

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Yes, I have found them online which is where I ordered one at cabelas, but I find little to nothing on them as far as operation. I wanted to know if i can relite it or if once you use it thats it till it runs out of fuel, how much fuel does it use and how bad is the odor.

Anyway, it came after 2 weeks of backorder. According to one of the tech guys at cabelas a can of fuel lasts a hunting season. Thats little to no help to me as I wuld use it in the urban environment to keep warm. I wanted to repalce those chemical heater and my wheelchair heater since I wont have the power to run it http://www.wheelchairmodifications.org/wheelchair_heater.htm
I hate to fuel it up to just do a test, its still warm here and it looks like the whole bottom half is filled with fuel before use. It came with a flanel cover with draw string and a plastic cup about the same size as the lower half of the unit. You are suppose to fill the plastic container twice and dump it in. Otherwise fill it till it is full or the cotton thing stops absorbing fluid.

What is a bit confusing is the instructions say to lite it, wait a minute, blow it out, wait a minute, then put the cap on it and go. With the cap off you see a metal thing with a ball of steel wool in it then on one side is like a candle wick. I am guessing you lite the candle wick thing and the metal part is the soo called platnium thingie that causes it to work afterwards when you blow it out.

I use to see the fuel rod ones at walmart, but not any more. I believe I did meet someone who used them and they said that was it. Once you lite a fuel rod it burned till it was gone. No starting or stopping it for non continious use.
 
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