Camel Bak - Tap Clean

Loving the rotary tap on my camel bak ( the primary reason i ended up with this brand), you can imagine my stress when over time it got harder and harder to turn. ..

Talking to Camel bak they suggested the tap was only designed to be used in transit to avoid that horrid puddle of water in the car that i am sure we have all experienced... so i was resigned to the fact that i must be over using it and would need to periodically buy a new tap...until....

The day that transient light of brilliance clicked on one day and i found the fix:-)

What i used;

• A jar of coconut oil (solid at room temperature)
• A wooden chopstick
• A scrubbing brush and washing water.

a.)Detach the tap from the hose - should just be a good pull (picture 1 & 2)

b.) Poke the chopstick up the water inlet pipe that you just removed from the hose. (picture 3)

c.) Just below the top of the tap (picture 4) is a small ridge that holds it in place, so put the base of the chopstick on the bench and push down till there is a "click" and the yellow part of the tap jumps out of the blue barrel

d.) Take the tap part(yellow) and give it a good wash and scrub at the sink

e.) dry off tap, and rub with a small piece of coconut oil to coat the tap shaft.(picture 7)

The beauty of coconut oil is that its a solid at room temperature, so compared to olive oil that i tried before it sticks around way longer.. ( just how long i am currently un sure.)

f.) Line the tap shaft up with the correct position on the barrel... (picture 8)ie: the hole in the yellow shaft in line with the out let pipe

g.) Insert the shaft back in to the tap, and push all the way down with your finger.. you should feel a "Click" as the locator ring slots back in to position(picture 9 and 9a)

h.) Place the tap back on the outlet pipe...(picture 10)

If like me you have done away with the bite bit that sits on the outlet, and need to turn the tap off before pulling it out of your mouth.. be darn careful now...the tap moves so freely that i 've managed to "nip" my lips a couple of times doing this ouch!