Trangia kettle leak

[Paul_B]

Anyone end up with a leaking trangia kettle suddenly?

We use our trangia a lot especially on van camping trips but also cycle tours and other trips too. It gets a fair bit of use over the years. We got the bigger trangia model probably 10 years ago or so and the kettle came with. Our most recent trip it suddenly developed leaks in at least two places that I could see. As in overnight and then after the first brew up. no sign of damage or hard use. It has not really seen hard service just a fair amount of it spread over the years.

I just wondered if there are any issues with trangia kettles that might cause sudden leakage when there are no signs of damage? Seriously we look after our kit so it hasn't seen bashing and hard use to justify it. No dents which is possibly unusual at this age.

 

[Van-Wild]

Aluminium?

 

[Pattree]

Yeah. My thought too. Corrosion in the aluminium.

 

[Paul_B]

Does meths do anything over time to aluminium? I think we use the meths burner as a backup to the gas burner and keep it in the kettle. Perhaps that has leaked a little. They do leak in time we found out. We're on the third meths burner now I think.

 

[Paul_B]

The aluminium does not look corroded or damaged. Unless it has simply thinned without any corrosion residue I can't see anything to indicate corrosion.

 

[Pattree]

Nah. Corrosion roughens the surface. I’ve only ever seen white oxide corrosion on aluminium.

I had an aluminium Ecotrekker - African Kelly type kettle that started to leak at the base, just a slight drip. I ignored it while using it with our hard tap water. The limescale seemed to fix it. Not a very satisfactory solution but I don’t carry water in my kettles. A really slow leak wouldn’t matter.

 

[Van-Wild]

It's the heat stress over time that may have caused the leak. I can't recall exactly at what temp Aluminium begins to be affected, but over time direct heat onto Aluminium will cause it to weaken. If your kettle is 10+ years old, it's possible that continued exposure to direct heat has caused the leak.

 

[Rabid]

Contact trangia and see what they suggest

 

[Watch-keeper]

I had a trangia pot that developed a leak on the side, I think from cooking acidic ingredients. Not sure what would cause a kettle leak though.
I replaced the pot with their duosal version and cut the bottom of the leaking pot and made it into a small plate.
You could hunt around and look for a stainless kettle to fit then you can more or less forget about leaks, I have a tatonka kettle that fits nicely in mine