Fix hairline crack in stainless steel? Problem solved!

[jtworldwide3]

I chuckle every time i see somebody seemed shocked when stainless steel corrodes. Its 18/8, still like 68%iron.

Anyway, you said you make broth in it sometimes? Warm salty substances are terrible for stainless steel, even more so in the vapor space of the kettle. (google stress corrosion cracking). More than likely you make that crack blow up when you put heat to it when it was dry. If you put more heat to it trying to weld it will most likely grow and you will end up pitching it anyway.

 

[crashtech]

Grindmaster SS-1.9 LR 64 oz. Stainless Steel Thermal Carafe with Black Lid
$34.49 from Webstaurant.com

That's a thermal carafe, not for stovetop use, but it does look sturdy...

 

[Muse]

Grindmaster SS-1.9 LR 64 oz. Stainless Steel Thermal Carafe with Black Lid
$34.49 from Webstaurant.com

All that plastic on it makes me nervous, I just know that down the road it would be a problem.

I was actually looking at this one there before I ordered the one off ebay, which I figured was a better bet. The price is $10 and change but with shipping it comes out about the same as the one I ordered. I'm unhappy with the one I got off ebay and it has dings, a loose lid, isn't "new and perfect" like the seller represented, so I'm going for a return.

 

[Muse]

A few thoughts...

That pot isn't worth the time it takes to fix unless you simply want to learn a new skill. I think braising would be the proper technique.

The new pot... It was ≤$20? Screwing with returns would cost me more in time than it's worth. I'd fix it up as well as possible, and use it til I found what I really wanted.

Moka valves... You can probably get them directly from Bialetti, or figure out where they get them, and buy from them.

Don't know what braising is, would have to look it up. I actually watched a ~16 minute video yesterday by a guy who runs a welding shop and he does videos of mostly quality welding equipment and for a lark he decided to make a video of him evaluating the cheapest welding equipment that Amazon offered, a HYU for $114. He unboxed it and evaluated it and put it through the paces live. I have no idea at all if that thing would be appropriate for this purpose but it looks like Amazon doesn't sell it anymore anyway.

The "new" pot I bought off ebay was $28 shipped, it's going back if I have to pay shipping and a 10% restocking fee, will see. I can just imagine the nasty dents that thing would sustain. It's 60% the thickness of the one I've been using around 20 years.

I looked for moka valves a few times, even emailed a company in Italy and they never returned my message. A couple of weeks ago I bought a couple of Imusa aluminum moka makers for around $6.50 each shipped and their valves seem to fit my Vev moka maker fine, so I'm good... as long as I stick to my current routine and never let the thing super pressurize!!!

Dig... I figure I've used my Vev moka maker over 40,000 times!!! I've repaired it in numerous ways. The bakelite or plastic or whatever you call that black handle stuff has broken in places and I've worked out fixes. Other than that stuff, it's an amazing machine... I have my own system for it, I custom cut coffee filters (the big ones) ... I cut them into small rounds that exactly fit the moka maker using a bladed compass I created for the purpose... it uses razor blades. This eliminates the powdery effect you otherwise get with extra fine ground coffee.

 

[Muse]

I chuckle every time i see somebody seemed shocked when stainless steel corrodes. Its 18/8, still like 68%iron.

Anyway, you said you make broth in it sometimes? Warm salty substances are terrible for stainless steel, even more so in the vapor space of the kettle. (google stress corrosion cracking). More than likely you make that crack blow up when you put heat to it when it was dry. If you put more heat to it trying to weld it will most likely grow and you will end up pitching it anyway.

No, I never put anything in it but tap water... ever! I pour boiling water out of it into a cup with powdered broth or a bullion cube. Similar for tea, pour into a cup which has a tea bag.

Well, your admonition that trying to weld it will likely make matters worse, I'm ready to believe.

Right now, I'm not leaving more than maybe 3 ounces of water in it after usage and as such it's stopped leaking... knock on wood. I used to sometimes fill it with the amount of water I would use to make my coffee and set it aside for the next time I would make coffee, and I guess it was leaking with that much water in it. Now, I'm not pre-filling it and there's no leak.

Without better pictures of the crack, I couldn't say how repairable it is.

I took some pictures of the crack yesterday. Here are 3 of the best (the 2nd is probably the best):

I could have taken better pictures if I'd cleaned it up a bit. I just buffed the bottom with 1000 grit wet-dry, so it's much smoother now, but I think you get the idea from the 3 pictures above.

 

[Muse]

Bunn 06026.0000 64 oz. Stainless Steel Coffee Decanter with Black Handle

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Buy 3 or more $10.30/Each + shipping ($19.75 ground) - probably a cheap Chinese knockoff.

64 oz. Stainless Steel Coffee Decanter with Black Handle

The Chinese knock-off is probably a lot better than the 1988 Korean knock-off I received the other day. I have a lot of stainless steel bowls, lots of sizes and shapes, and it appears that all of them were made in Korea, but certainly long after 1988. In those days, if the decanter I received the other day is any indication, they really made crap. They sold it as "Brewmaster," it truly is a hunk of junk. The bracket on the lid on my old one is welded (soldered?) onto the bottom, the Brewmaster's lid's bracket just slips into slots in the bakelite handle. It's ridiculous... there's no holding it in place. The Brewmaster decanter weighs 15 ounces, 5 ounces less than the one I've been using, and the difference is the lightness of the stainless steel. I measured it with my calipers. It's 0.60 mm. My old one is 1.0 mm.

 

[Jaepheth]

You could braze it with silver solder.
A welding forum that popped up in a google search recommends 50N for high temp applications.

 

[Muse]

You could braze it with silver solder.
A welding forum that popped up in a Google search recommends 50N for high temp applications.

I have silver solder, have had it for many years. I have a propane torch that I've used Mapp gas with on occasion. I wonder if such a fix would stand up the rigors of daily use, in particular a possible event where I accidentally let it set on the burner with no water in it on a high gas flame! That has happened several times over the years.

I'm wondering now if the leak stopped partly due to corrosion forming in the crack. Like I say, I've stopped leaving 16+ ounces of water in it between uses, I figure that's contributed to the leak disappearing.

 

[crashtech]

Silver solder would probably be the best bet in a DIY scenario, but it might not withstand another boiling dry scenario. I think if I was to solder it, I would use a magnifying glass to accurately locate each end of the crack, and then stop-drill the ends with a pin vise and 0.020" (0.5 mm) drill. This will prevent further running of the crack. The solder should fill a hole that small without too much trouble.

 

[Muse]

If I were to buy another moka maker I think it would be this. Mine (mid 1980's) looks exactly like that except that mine came with Bakelite handle and lid pull. This one's apparently all metal, a huge plus (assuming it doesn't get too hot). To save mine I had to fix the bakelight stuff a number of times, a big hassle, but I love the machine. Searching, I see two sizes for this, I'd definitely get the larger one! This thing looks rock solid.

Edit: Actually, looking at the reviews at Amazon, I see complaints about the construction (tacked on instead of riveted lid knob, evidently) so maybe it looks better than it actually is. I'm going to try to keep mine working one way or another instead of buying a replacement.

Mine looked exactly like this new (very like this now):

 

[Scarpozzi]

crack·pot
ˈkrakˌpät/
informal
noun
noun: crackpot; plural noun: crackpots

1. 1.
   an eccentric or foolish person.

adjective
adjective: crackpot

1. 1.
   eccentric; impractical.
   "his head's full of crackpot ideas"

 

[Scarpozzi]

I know this isn't what you want....but I just bought one of these. It works really well: https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Hetzn...ons&keywords=dr+hetzner+electric+kettle&psc=1

I have a Bialetti Moka Express coffee maker similar to the one you posted......but I also have a Bialetti French Press (Yeah...an Italian French Press!). I bought the electric kettle 2 weeks ago for my office. It boils water pretty fast and is very sturdy. I think you'd be impressed if you picked one up. The kettle sits on a base, so there's not a cord attached to the kettle and can be filled up easily. Added bonus, it works quickly for French Press coffee and is portable.

When I use my Moka Express, I use the simmer eye on my gas range to heat it up. It takes a long while to get the water up to temp and another 6 minutes to brew once it pressurizes. I feel your pain....but the coffee is really good.

 

[Muse]

I feel your pain....but the coffee is really good.

I'm actually doing really well now. I found out something (after using my Vev moka maker over 40,000 times!!!). What I discovered about a week ago is that what I'd been doing recently was all wrong. I'd been filling the bottom with too much water. I was filling it as high as possible and that's a huge mistake. If there's not enough room for air/steam it takes way longer for coffee to start coming out. This invites mishaps that have caused my pressure relief valves to blow, which has been the greatest problem with the machine. I have a good valve in there now and with only filling water up to the pressure relief valve and not over it, the machine is quick and the coffee great. Once I see coffee, I turn down the gas flame very very low and after ~8 minutes the brew is complete and I can pour. Then I rinse the machine inside and out, wipe the exterior with a clean towel and set aside. I wash the bottom with soap and water before the next brew. Keeping the exterior clean is paramount if you want to keep the machine looking nice and new. If you don't do that it eventually looks lousy and it's hard to restore the new appearance... I'm expert at that, it's a lot of elbow grease and a variety of coarsenesses of wet-dry sandpaper.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I think the instructions on my Mocha Express warned against filling water too high over the relief valve. I just bought mine a year and a half ago. My biggest gripe with these kinds of coffee makers is that pre-ground coffee just isn't as good as fresh-ground coffee. As long as the coffee blend isn't a dark roast, it really matters that its fresh to avoid bitterness.

If you get the 2000-2500 grit wet sandpaper, it can do amazing things to dirty stainless...

 

[Muse]

I think the instructions on my Mocha Express warned against filling water too high over the relief valve. I just bought mine a year and a half ago. My biggest gripe with these kinds of coffee makers is that pre-ground coffee just isn't as good as fresh-ground coffee. As long as the coffee blend isn't a dark roast, it really matters that its fresh to avoid bitterness.

If you get the 2000-2500 grit wet sandpaper, it can do amazing things to dirty stainless...

Never heard of wet-dry that fine! My finest is 1500, which gets the surface pretty mirror like.

If your stainless gets bad enough (been there several times!) you have to start with very coarse sandpaper or you'll get nowhere. It's a lot of work! It's best to keep the machine clean (don't use it with oil on it, wash well before usage) or else it will progressively stain to the point where it looks really nasty. If you don't let that happen a little occasional light treatment with a very fine wet-dry will restore pretty much as-new appearance.

I buy whole bean organic "Rainforest" at Costco in 3 lb. bags. I grind about 1/2 bag at once (refrigerating the rest) in my Osterizer blender (650 watts). Fill blender ~2/3 full, tamp down with the bottom of a water tumbler repeatedly while blending at high speed (wearing ear protection muffs, it's loud!). Takes a minute or two and I have coffee as fine as I want it. The longer you do this the finer it gets. I like mine rather fine, not super super fine, but very very fine! The custom-cut filters I use keep even extremely fine particles out of the coffee. But if the coffee is ground too fine, the filters get clogged rather rapidly and I have to replace them too often, so I know when to stop. I store some on the counter and any extra in a quart container in the fridge.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Alton Brown says not to keep coffee in the fridge. His argument is that the fridge dehumidifies the coffee....which removes oils...which is what you want. I see the logic there...but not sure how much difference it would make if it's well wrapped for a week or so.

I don't like fine ground coffee, but that's mainly because I think the outside of the bean is more bitter....the more you grind it, the more you taste it. I used to have one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Melitta-MEMB1B-10-Cup-Coffeemaker-Black/dp/B00004R936

This was 2004 and I lived around the corner from a coffee roasting company, so I had some of the best coffee back then. My only complaint was the grind setting for was time based and batches ground even finer than if you put more beans in the basket....I was able to tell a huge difference in flavor and opted for a more coarse grind. Perhaps for the style of coffee you're going for, fine is best....as long as it doesn't end up in the cup with the coffee.

Last year, I took my wife to a restaurant where they had a vacuum coffee maker. It was definitely entertaining to watch after getting hammered on 10 courses + wine pairings.... =P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqFvhxiy794

 

[Muse]

I don't know much about the science of coffee, and a lot of people seem to fixate on that. Not saying it's stupid or wrong, but I've always suspected that a lot of them were "fetishists" and couldn't see the forest for the trees, as they say.

I put ground coffee in the fridge in a reused quart yogurt container, so I figure dehumidifying isn't a factor. Unground beans in the fridge, well, maybe they'd dry some but how much moisture can there be in roasted coffee beans to begin with?

I refrigerate them because I figure that any oxidation would be slowed. I figured (just off the top of my head) that this had to be the concern with fresh ground vs. not fresh ground coffee.

Bitterness? Well, isn't all brewed coffee bitter? I must admit that sometimes my coffee tastes a whole lot better than other times but I think it's completely (well, certainly largely) subjective... I just happen to be in a state where coffee "hits the spot," reason being not the brew itself but my state of being.

 

[Muse]

I chuckle every time i see somebody seemed shocked when stainless steel corrodes. Its 18/8, still like 68%iron.

OK, so I'm wondering something. It's not leaking for the last week or so... I'm never leaving more than, say, 3oz water in it. I'm concerned with additional oxidation on the inside affecting that crack, making it worse and leading to failure some day. Looking inside I see some definite rust, mainly toward the very bottom. So, the question I have is what makes that 18/8 rust? Is it exposure to the air in a wet environment or is just water going to rust it? IOW, should I pour all the water out or most of it or leave enough in it so that air doesn't reach that crack. I hope that's clear.

 

[crashtech]

Corrosion plus minerals in the water are what may be acting to plug the leak, though over time, this will not likely hold. Corrosion is caused by moisture, electrolytes (impurities in the water) and oxygen.

Oxygen will always have access to at least one side of the crack, so unless you want to completely dry the vessel between uses, the process will continue.

 

[Muse]

Problem solved. I went into a Ross department store a few months ago looking for kitchen towels. I mulled them over and decided I didn't like them enough to buy. But near by I noticed an end kiosk with whistling tea kettles. I examined the lot and came up with one I quite liked. It was all of $8.99 and I found after a long wait in line that I'd been rung up at 10% off (IIRC) because it was Discount Tuesday. Neat. I've been quite happy with this (very light, works great, really is stainless steel) and my old cracked (but no longer leaky... fingers crossed) coffee decanter turned boiler sits in a cabinet. I think that decanter developed a leak in no small part due to having been boiled dry one too many times. This whistler will hopefully never suffer such a fate.

I think some genius designed this. None of the other ones offered at the store came close. If the pivoting open/close mechanism doesn't break (I have no reason to think it will), it's just aces.

 

[sdifox]

So you wasted all our time insisting you have to fix it rather then replace it. Then you replace it.

Insert goodjob.jpg

 

[Muse]

So you wasted all our time insisting you have to fix it rather then replace it. Then you replace it.

Insert goodjob.jpg

I didn't waste anybody's time. What people do with their time is their own responsibility. People in the thread convinced me that I wouldn't be able to fix that crack and for a very long time my strategy was to empty the boiler after using it, several times a day. That seemed to be working, but how long?

TBH (and I wish you'd be) I didn't expect to find a satisfactory replacement when I posted the OP, can't you get that? Finding it was serendipity (I wasn't looking for a replacement, I rather stumbled on one), that's part of the point of my last post. Get over yourself.