Anyone using the latest type Camelbak podium bottles? How are the caps / valves to clean?

[wafter]

I have a couple dating from maybe 2017 and find the valves difficult to disassemble fully to properly clean them; resulting in damage to one of the silicone mouthpieces while they're both pretty manky.

It seems that individual parts aren't available for these so, in the absence of anything obviously better I'm thinking of replacing the cap assemblies of both bottles (a saving of a whole £3 per bottle compared to replacing the whole thing; but at least it's less redundant plastic kicking about). Obviously I'm less keen if the replacements are no better than the knackered one.

Can anyone with the latest pattern tell me how easy they are to get to bits and clean, please?


This are the current available spec:

This is what I currently have:

Ta!

 

[Sea of vapours]

Considerably easier than the old ones would be a fair assessment. Plus, they don't seem to accumulate the black stuff which needs to be cleaned to the same extent as the old ones (which really are a pain to take apart, though still worth the effort for the functionality they offer).

 

[Lee_M]

Not tried the new ones, the old ones are OK with practice, in the times between stripping them down I just soak the tops in Milton baby bottle fluid overnight, which keeps them clean and non toxic and reduces the frequency of dismantling them

 

[Sallar55]

Do you use an energy drink/mix or just water. We just rinse in hot water,no sticky residue to clean as its just water for us . Use the mtb ones with the cap to save crap landing on the mouth piece.

 

[wafter]

Thanks all - that sounds promising!

I really did try with the ones I have currently; if anyone's going to go to ridiculous extremes to limit waste and expenditure it's me; however I struggled to separate the harder plastic inner from the silicone mouthpiece (which resulted in the damage) and yes, I have lots of black mold accumulating inside the assemblies.

I've tried soaking in weak bleach solution which might have killed the mold but has done nothing to actually remove it.

I generally only put water through them and assume that the mold is living off whatever is washed back out of my mouth into the nozzle. I can appreciate the argument for the MTB items; however tbh a bit of grit on the mouthpiece is the least of my worries

 

[shinyspokes]

I have the old style caps - and my wife has the new style. Personally I think the new style is harder to disassemble to clean - there are four sides to the valve assembly (inside the lid) that have to be squeezed to push the valve out of the lid - this is difficult to do and one of her two has now been broken by removing it. She also uses hydration tablets - which seem to lead to a lot of black slime in the valve that needs cleaning more often. I don't think the new style is as good for drinking out of either.
It's a shame that Camelbak don't make individual spare parts available as I would prefer to keep my old style lids on the go rather than replace with the new ones. I've even tried to find the old style in stock somewhere -unsuccessfully - so if anyone knows differently then please shout .
As suggested already I find Milton's is the best way to keep them clean - with a small bottle brush (from Robert Dyas) to give them a scrub too