Fix hairline crack in stainless steel? Problem solved!

[Muse]

See pic below, I have an old style SS coffee decanter such as you saw in countless diners back in the day (1980's and prior). I use it to boil water, I hate what they sell nowadays with their whistles, complicated trigger mechanisms. I've used this thing probably close to two decades, but a few weeks ago I spotted a small pool of water under it after it sat for a while. Inspecting, I see a hairline crack around 3/4" long on the bottom. Inside there's some corrosion in spite of the fact that it's 18/8 Stainless Steel. I'm not worried about that, I doubt it's unhealthy to use (I mostly use it to boil water that I then pour in my SS coffee maker, but sometimes make tea or broth). I'd like to stop the leak. Of course, I could just use it anyway. I could empty it after use. The leak is minor, but I figure it will get worse.

So, thinking that this thing is beyond reasonable repair (is it???), I shopped online for a replacement. I spotted a couple of possibilities, one on ebay, a Brewmatic said to have a box not in great shape but a perfect item. It looked online like my old one (which doesn't say country of origin but does say Stainless Steel 18/8). The other possibility was sold new by a big company but it looks a little different and I was suspicious that it wouldn't be the same old time quality of something made in the 1980s. I went downtown to a restaurant supply warehouse (huge) that I used to go to but all they have now is the new kind, which are 1/2 plastic. I can't use that to boil water.

So, I buy the old "new" Brewmatic and get it yesterday and I'm hell of disappointed. It's a Korean knock off and crappy, probably made in the 1980's and stored on a shelf somewhere, maybe rejected/returned by someone. The steel is 60% as thick as my old one, it has a tiny dent and it has a few bruises on the sides (it was represented as brand new, perfect). I think I may return it, they want a possible 10% restocking fee and I have to pay return shipping, but I don't figure I'll love this thing like my old one. One drop and it will show nasty denting. Also, the cover is loose. My old one's cover is welded to the body but this "new" Brewmatic's cover is not welded, it's loose. I figure I can take it off and jam a metal shim in there and stop it from coming loose (it actually pulls off sometimes!!!), but maybe I should just bite the bullet and return it. I think I can probably get a free return from Ebay because it's not "new" ... has a dent, has bruises and the top isn't secure. What do you think? Pictured here is my old one, not the knock-off.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

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

 

[Belegost]

Why not just get a stainless steel stovetop percolator and don't put in the tube and filter basket?

 

[Muse]

It might be hard to make a decent picture of the crack but imagine this: It's about 3/4 inch long apparently, meanders a little like a river and is extremely thin looking and is at the bottom near the edge. I figure it's potentially fixable but maybe only by virtue of a serious weld, followed by some machining/grinding/polishing. I have done propane and map gas soldering, never done any welding. Of course, I'd like to get into welding (as well as compressor DIY stuff), but have never made moves in those directions. Maybe there's another way, I figure some people here would know.

 

[Muse]

Why not just get a stainless steel stovetop percolator and don't put in the tube and filter basket?

Hmm. Don't know exactly what you're referring to here, can you post a pic? I use something like this to make my coffee, but I don't like to start with cold tap water, so I boil it first in the decanter so the brew process is faster. I boil the water while I clean out the old grounds and wash the brewer... saves time. I use something like this:

 

[Belegost]

Yea, that's a slightly different style of perc than I was thinking, but something like below, and you just ignore the filter basket part. Or any decent stovetop kettle would do as well.

 

[SKORPI0]

It's a 3/4" hairline crack. Spot welding/soldering and then grinding to a polish would be the best method.
Another cheap option would be to just fill it with some sort of epoxy/putty like this. Not sure how much heat it can withstand for the intended use.

 

[deadlyapp]

Hmm. Don't know exactly what you're referring to here, can you post a pic? I use something like this to make my coffee, but I don't like to start with cold tap water, so I boil it first in the decanter so the brew process is faster. I boil the water while I clean out the old grounds and wash the brewer... saves time. I use something like this:

That's a moko brewer, which you can just boil water in already. I guess I can see your point of trying to save time by cleaning while the water pre-heats, but it seems kind of ridiculous.

Like another poster said, just getting another moko or a standard kettle would do the same thing. It sounds to me like you're just more attached to the kettle than anything else. I have a basic ass thin kettle I use for my coffee every morning, and I've never been concerned with dropping it or it falling apart - it's been excellent for the few years I've been using it and only cost about $20.

Alternatively, you could get an electric kettle, which has auto shut off and probably is more efficient anyways.

Edit:
JB weld is going to be recommended, however I'm not sure how I feel about epoxy (even steel reinforced epoxy) going through lots of heat cycles, and I'm fairly confident that JB weld isn't NSF or FDA evaluated, so using it on food/water items seems a bit sketchy.

EditEdit: I'll be damned, the above poster has a picture of it and it says NSF safe, carry on!

 

[IronWing]

Lead solder should fix that right up.

 

[SKORPI0]

Lead solder should fix that right up.

I also was thinking about this instead of welding, butane micro torch.

 

[crashtech]

Lead, lol. It might be worthwhile to take it to a competent welder. It probably won't be cheap, but stuff like that is worth preserving, imo. A welder could probably TIG that up pretty easily, though it might cost close to $100 to do, since there are minimums involved in setup, etc., and the inside of the kettle has to be back purged with inert gas during the process to prevent "sugaring."

 

[Muse]

JB Weld... hmm. Thing is I've boiled that sucker dry a number of times (by accident, of course). That's probably the reason that crack presented anyway. If that happens again (likely will/would), I have to think the JB Weld fix, or even maybe that micro torch repair, wouldn't hold up. Dang. I really am thinking I should return that cheapo Korean knock-off, I just won't be happy with it, even after jury-rigging the dang lid to stay put. It's gonna look as crappy as it really is in not long.

I think I may just keep on using my leaky boiler until I can find another rare bird (a for-real old time decanter like the one I posted a picture of in the OP). If I only leave 3 oz. or so of water in it it doesn't leak at all, at least it didn't last night. If I leave 16 oz of water, then it will leak, least that's what it has done the last 10 days or so. But that leak is apt to get worse. I'll keep my eyes open for a for-real replacement...

$100 to a welder I think is unrealistic. I once had a buddy for a short time who was trained by the Navy to weld, he could have done it but I have no idea where he went, what happened to him, that was decades ago....

 

[crashtech]

...$100 to a welder I think is unrealistic. I once had a buddy for a short time who was trained by the Navy to weld, he could have done it but I have no idea where he went, what happened to him, that was decades ago....

The right shop could be significantly less, but I did not want to understate the possible amount, given shop rates in general and my cursory knowledge of weld setup procedures. I know that I have in the past paid too much for local craftsmen to repair something broken of decent quality before, just out of a general disgust at the difficulty of finding certain quality goods at ANY price. Also, there is a certain satisfaction to knowing the money is spent locally.

 

[Rifter]

Find a competent TIG welder and he will have that fixed up in 10 mins. Probably still charge you for a hour though, expect to pay $80-120.

 

[Muse]

That's a moko brewer, which you can just boil water in already. I guess I can see your point of trying to save time by cleaning while the water pre-heats, but it seems kind of ridiculous.

The moka brewer you site is the coffee maker, I checked because at first I thought you were referring to the decanters.

Actually, there's another reason I preheat the water in the decanter while I prepare the coffee maker (clean out the coffee grounds and wash it with soap and water) other than saving time. If I don't preheat the water it takes a few minutes before the brewer gets the water hot enough where coffee starts coming into the receptacle on top. I have to babysit the coffee maker. If I fail to notice that coffee's coming into the top for whatever reason (I walk away and get distracted or I have music on and don't hear the brewing action), the pressure can get so high in the brewer that the pressure release valve blows, steam escapes from it copiously. One or two such events can and will essentially destroy the pressure release valve and it will blow at much lower pressures in the future. I've replaced the valve in my brewer a handful of times. It's gotten all but impossible to find replacement valves. I'd taken to combing the thrift shops for used moka makers just for their valves (I have a few moka makers sans valves now!) and they are very hard to find. I haven't been able to find valves for sale online or in local shops. It's a serious problem. Recently I managed to find cheap new moka makers online whose valves seem to work and I bought two of them just to get their valves.

So, given that I have to babysit the brewer as explained above, if the water I put in it initially is close to the boiling point the babysit takes a minute or so whereas if the water is tap-cold to begin with, I'm babysitting it for several minutes... not good. Therefore the need to preheat the water and my need of a water boiler that I like! It saves time, it saves valves, it saves trouble.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Lead solder should fix that right up.

In order to fix the crack properly and make sure it does not leak you will have to put the lead solder on the inside surface.

/s

 

[Muse]

In order to fix the crack properly and make sure it does not leak you will have to put the lead solder on the inside surface.

/s

Don't know what you mean by /s.

Anyway, my immediate thought in this is that lead is generally thought of as being something you don't want to take into your system, i.e. toxic. So, doesn't that rule out this scenario?

 

[crashtech]

@Muse , of course don't consider lead, these guys are jerking your chain.

/s is an imaginary end of sarcasm tag.

 

[deadlyapp]

The moka brewer you site is the coffee maker, I checked because at first I thought you were referring to the decanters.

Actually, there's another reason I preheat the water in the decanter while I prepare the coffee maker (clean out the coffee grounds and wash it with soap and water) other than saving time. If I don't preheat the water it takes a few minutes before the brewer gets the water hot enough where coffee starts coming into the receptacle on top. I have to babysit the coffee maker. If I fail to notice that coffee's coming into the top for whatever reason (I walk away and get distracted or I have music on and don't hear the brewing action), the pressure can get so high in the brewer that the pressure release valve blows, steam escapes from it copiously. One or two such events can and will essentially destroy the pressure release valve and it will blow at much lower pressures in the future. I've replaced the valve in my brewer a handful of times. It's gotten all but impossible to find replacement valves. I'd taken to combing the thrift shops for used moka makers just for their valves (I have a few moka makers sans valves now!) and they are very hard to find. I haven't been able to find valves for sale online or in local shops. It's a serious problem. Recently I managed to find cheap new moka makers online whose valves seem to work and I bought two of them just to get their valves.

So, given that I have to babysit the brewer as explained above, if the water I put in it initially is close to the boiling point the babysit takes a minute or so whereas if the water is tap-cold to begin with, I'm babysitting it for several minutes... not good. Therefore the need to preheat the water and my need of a water boiler that I like! It saves time, it saves valves, it saves trouble.

Understood. I just babysit my moka when I'm using it, but I get your desire to not have to do that.

 

[Stopsignhank]

Yes /s means sarcasm. It seems like no one got Ironwing's joke so I took it a step farther.

 

[Muse]

Yes /s means sarcasm. It seems like no one got Ironwing's joke so I took it a step farther.

Yeah, I know that a dose of sarcasm is to be expected in ATOT. It's the price of doing business here...

 

[Red Squirrel]

Could probably solder it, use plumbing solder. Though proper way is probably to weld it. Not sure how well solder will stick to stainless or if it will react weirdly etc. Worth a shot though.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

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

 

[SKORPI0]

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

 

[lxskllr]

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.