Food safe repair ideas

I've got a cute little all aluminum tea kettle that has one corrosion pinhole in the bottom. It was resting on something that reacted with the aluminum and made the hole so the rest of the bottom is sound. Soft solder won't work for a number of reasons. I'd like to put the kettle back in service but can't think of anything that will take the heat of a burner and won't melt the aluminum during repair. The bottom where the leak is is thin aluminum.

 

Im forever seeing facebook ads for an aluminium repair rod. They demonstrate it by poking a hole on a soda can then welding it up

 

A very skilled TIG welder could likely fix it, some of them can weld tin foil. Lot of setup, careful clamping, backing/chilling plate, etc. Depending on how thin the material is, just cleaning it properly may prove difficult on it's own.

If you try the propane torch aluminum brazing rods, please report back. They're not good for structural use at all, harder and more brittle, won't handle flex or vibration, nowhere close to the strength of a proper weld, but none of that is needed here. This is likely a perfect application, provided they're food safe.

 

Old tinsmiths approach would be aluminium rivet in a cleaned up hole.

Best Regards

 

JB Weld extreme heat.

 

Extreme heat won't be a problem unless the kettle is empty. If the kettle contains water the temperature of the pot won't exceed the boiling point of water (212F or 100C).

Ben

 

From the JB-weld website.

ExtremeHeat™ is formulated to allow for repairs to iron, steel and metal in high temperature environments (2400°F / 1300°C). When fully cured, this metallic compound can be drilled, machined or sanded. It is great for repairing cracks, small gaps, seam connections or holes in exhaust manifolds, pipe connections, mufflers, catalytic converters, outdoor grills, fire boxes, gas and commercial furnaces and water heaters. This product is water based, non-flammable and contains no solvents or Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

 

Take the above advice from Marc.
Find yourself a skilled welder.
I had a pan from an Optimus 88 cook set with a similar corrosion problem.
My local welding shop accomplished a perfect repair.

David L