TeaChat

I finally got mine in the mail yesterday. I took it out for a test drive this morning and notice some wet spots on my desk and a few papers that I had lying around. Come to find out, mine's a leaker.

The lighting in the first picture gives it more of an orange tint than it actually is.

Thanks HanshinTigers ... is this your first leaker? If so ... we have a topic and numerous discussions on the subject including in Hagi SO 4 Biwa which was a major leaker for some of us.

Going to look for the topic now .....

... one topic though short ... it is to the point.

http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... +treatment

Although often a minor leaker will self-correct after a few uses.

Leakers are fun!

AdamMY wrote:Leakers are fun!

Oh yeah! I had one that leaked like crazy..the Hagi treatment cured it though

iannon wrote:

AdamMY wrote:Leakers are fun!

Oh yeah! I had one that leaked like crazy..the Hagi treatment cured it though

Actually, yeah ... but when SO 4 Biwa-s began gushing all over the world ... I have to admit, I kinda freaked, especially given the severity of the leaks ... 4-5 ounces in 10 minutes kinda leaks.

I was amazed to say the least how effective the cornstach treatment worked. Although one member just kept drinking tea from it til it stopped as I recall.

My very first Hagi piece was a leaker. Drinking a ton of fukamushi sencha from it fixed it. No other treatment necessary.
Don't freak out yet. If it's not too severe of a leak, it might resolve itself on its own with normal use. Just make sure to put a saucer under the cup

Chip wrote: Actually, yeah ... but when SO 4 Biwa-s began gushing all over the world ... I have to admit, I kinda freaked, especially given the severity of the leaks ... 4-5 ounces in 10 minutes kinda leaks.

I was amazed to say the least how effective the cornstach treatment worked. Although one member just kept drinking tea from it til it stopped as I recall.

My SO 4 Biwa never leaked...not even a little bit.

I left my Eiichi sitting full over a piece of paper for several hours today, not a drop of leak.

Drinking some Bai Yun yunnan oolong from the Mojave cup tonight, and the deep red-brown of this tea liquor in the buff cup is really lovely, lovelier even than green teas.

Odd: my Eiichi cup has suddenly become a leaker. I've used it for at least 5 or 6 sessions, and this was the first time I noticed a leak. Most of those sessions, I'd kept it sitting on my bamboo tea tray, which is often wet due to my sloppy kettle handling, so I might have missed minor leakage, but after a previous leak report, I deliberately filled it and set it over a piece of paper for several hours--no leak.

Now, leaking, and right from the middle of the base.

I'll be heading off for the leaker topic momentarily to deal with this, but meanwhile, I'm curious: how unusual is it for a hagi to display a leak only after it's been used a few times?

debunix wrote:Odd: my Eiichi cup has suddenly become a leaker. I've used it for at least 5 or 6 sessions, and this was the first time I noticed a leak. Most of those sessions, I'd kept it sitting on my bamboo tea tray, which is often wet due to my sloppy kettle handling, so I might have missed minor leakage, but after a previous leak report, I deliberately filled it and set it over a piece of paper for several hours--no leak.

Now, leaking, and right from the middle of the base.

I'll be heading off for the leaker topic momentarily to deal with this, but meanwhile, I'm curious: how unusual is it for a hagi to display a leak only after it's been used a few times?

Not unusual, think of it as possibly dislodging a few grains of sand, or possibly just the right thermal conditions to open up a normally more closed passage way.

But I have my own question, and I am trying to remember exactly how the Biwa SO performed to try and answer this. But I know with the more solid looking glazes if the pieces have giant cracks/ holes in the glaze or the piece shows any sign of leaking it often stains quite quickly. I am incredibly eager to see how the Kohiku stains, especially as it seems to have somewhat fine crackling in the glaze.

But if I recall from the biwa, these lighter much more transparent glazes seem quite resistant to staining, until suddenly they look ancient.

One evening's cornstarch treatment (two fill/cool/empty cycles) fixed the leak. Yay!

I really like my kohiku, even more than I thought I would, but am having leaking issues. After about 15-20 cups of tea, a leak started right on the bottom center. I tried the cornstarch idea and afterwards had two leaks, the new one leaking from the round foot. Tried cornstarch again and had 3 leaks with the latest coming from the beveled side (I have the straight yunomi). After the 3rd try I think I lost the 3rd leak but still have the other two. The center leak lets go of a drop every 15 seconds. When you look at the inside bottom of the cup it looks like the Mojave desert with a multitude of cracks. So I am wondering if anyone has other ideas to make this cup usable?

Any photos?

You can increase the concentration of cornstarch, that might help.

I was so enamored with the Oribe SO and have been using it constantly, that I have not used the Eiichi tapered yunomi yet ... guess I should.

This seems like an unusual piece in that the a few participants are experiencing some leaks after using versus right away like we would expect.