How to mend tin(?) coffee pot?

[ganstey]

I have an old coffee pot (probably 1950s) that looks like it is made of tin and has developed a couple of leaks. The first is a pinhole probably just under 1mm in diameter. The second appears to be along a seam. The pot seems to have been made in two parts - a bottom rising up the sides about 5cm, with the main vessel on top. Water appears to be leaking from a 1cm-long portion of this seam. I am very keen to mend it and get it back in to use, as once watertight is a great little percolator suitable for use on a gas hob or open fire. It also has some sentimental value.

So far I've tried normal electrical solder, and silver solder, both with cleaning and the appropriate flux, but neither wants to 'take'. I have been using a small blowtorch as the heat source and I don't seem to be able to get either to flow once in contact with the pot. Presumably because it is acting as a heatsink preventing the spot I'm interested in from getting to a suitable heat.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance
Graham

 

[brancho]

What does it look like?

You also need to heat what you are soldering locally at least to get the solder to take so the blow lamp will be needed not an electric soldering iron.

 

[ganstey]

Hi Brancho,

I have done a lot of soldering (electrical) in the past, so am aware of the need to heat the item not just the solder, but I don't seem to be able to get it hot enough for the solder to flow, indicating I may not be using the right tools/technique. Below is a picture of the pot. The hole is the dot in the middle of the 'dirty' area, the leaking seam is along the bottom 'crease' just to the left of the hole. The muck is burnt flux that I haven't yet cleaned off properly.

 

[Mesquite]

That looks more like it's made of aluminum than tin which is probably why your repairs aren't working.

 

[ganstey]

AH! OK. So any ideas on how to mend an aluminium pot
Graham

 

[Mesquite]

Apart from ali welding you could always try something like JB weld


​I'd use it on the outside though, rather than the inside of the pot

 

[ganstey]

Thanks. Unless anyone comes up with a better alternative I'll give it a try. Out of interest, for what reasons would you not use it inside the pot? It would appear that it becomes inert once cured.

 

[Wetneck]

According to the website of JB Weld it's Non Toxic, non Carcinogenic, Microwave and Oven safe and not Water Soluble. Should be ok I reckon but have no experience myself of using it on cookware.

 

[birchwood]

I mended a couple of pinholes in an alloy billy can with the chemical metal some time ago.Its been on the stove lots of times since and shows no sign of leaking.
I pushed it into the hole from the outside and sanded it down inside and out ,then gave it a good wash.

 

[ganstey]

Cheers guys. I have ordered a pack of JB Weld and will give it a go.
Graham

 

[Mesquite]

Out of interest, for what reasons would you not use it inside the pot? It would appear that it becomes inert once cured.

Whilst it may be nontoxic etc I personally feel that the less that's in contact with boiling water that you're going to drink means less possible chance of contaminating it

 

[ganstey]

Whilst it may be nontoxic etc I personally feel that the less that's in contact with boiling water that you're going to drink means less possible chance of contaminating it

Fair enough. The way I make my coffee, I doubt anything could make it more toxic

 

[rik_uk3]

It looks like an Aluminium coffee percolator, do you have the rest? To be honest they are cheap enough to buy off ebay if you have a little patience. Stick some flowers in the one you have and get a 'worker' off ebay IMHO.

 

[ged]

That looks more like it's made of aluminum than tin which is probably why your repairs aren't working.

I'm sure Steve's right, that looks like aluminium to me and you won't solder it with normal soldering techniques. You can solder it under an oil film though, I've done that a few times in the past. Just coat the area you're going to solder with some mineral oil, abrade it well under the oil taking as much care as possible not to remove the oil, and then apply solder, again under the oil, using a fairly hot soldering iron and something like ordinary flux-cored electrical solder.

You can get fluxes especially for aluminium but I wouldn't bother for a one-off job like this.

 

[ganstey]

@Rik: Yes it is a percolator, and yes, I have all the gubbins. I'd rather try and fix it rather than dump it, even if it does end up costing me more

@Ged: Thanks for the info. I'm going to try JB Weld, but it's good to know it could be done given enough preparation.

Graham

 

[ganstey]

Just to say thanks to everyone who contributed. I now have a mended, working, coffee percolator

I used JB Weld, mixed as per packet instructions, and put a small blob on the hole trying to work it in to the hole. After 5-6 hours, once it had cured to a consistency similar to cured mastic I cleaned off the excess with my fingernail. Then left it for at least 24 hours. Tried it today and it is now water-tight. And I still have nearly all of a pack of JB Weld to do other things with :thinkerg:

Cheers, and Merry Christmas to all.
Graham

 

[wingstoo]

If you have problems with it in the future and you have classic car repair shop around your way then they might be able to do the work for you to weld it, I have a cousin just outside Exeter who welds Aluminium on the cars he rebuilds, but it's a bit far to take it or post it from your area.

 

[ganstey]

Cheers Wingstoo, will bear that in mind. I can't think of any around here, but then I've never looked

 

[rik_uk3]

If you have problems with it in the future and you have classic car repair shop around your way then they might be able to do the work for you to weld it, I have a cousin just outside Exeter who welds Aluminium on the cars he rebuilds, but it's a bit far to take it or post it from your area.

Lads and lasses, put it in perspective, its a cheap aluminium percolator being treated almost as some work of art. I'm all for patch and mend but lets get real world about this. Lob the pot into a recycle bin for crying out loud if the JB weld fails and buy another used one.

 

[ganstey]

Sorry Rik, but I disagree. I looked on eBay and the only similar one on there was already at £15. Repairing this one has cost me £3.90 even if I throw the rest of the JB Weld away. So how does throwing it away and buying a replacement make any sense? Oh, and I do think it has a certain charm as a work of art. And I also value the satisfaction of having made something non-functional functional again.

To follow your line of thought, why bother sharpening your knife when you could lob it in the recycling bin and buy another one?