Aaargh, Leaking Urn Element, Advice To Fix

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floppinab

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Righto, done the last few extract brews in the new kettle, fitted with a pickup tube, working well.

Finally finished the mash tun tonight, braid in a circular esky, looks good.

Have had a 30 litre urn for around 4 or 5 months just waiting to go, first AG maybe this weekend even, yippeee.

Better fire up the urn make sure it's OK. In goes the water and in about 5 minutes there's a fair wack of it coming out of the base. DAMN, OK then whats the problem maybe the element base seal is a little loose. Nup worse than that, the element base has 4 things poking out of it, two prongs for the element, the thermostat and an earth lug. Looks like whoever soldered in that earth lug had ZERO idea, there's a hole through the solder join that I could drive my truck through :angry: Actually it's not that big about a pin wide but enough to see light shining through.

Advice to fix please. I've done plenty of electrical soldering but not plumbing. If I got some silver solder from Reece could I use my electrical soldering iron??? Any other solutions other than soldering. It's sitting pretty close to the element so I'd imagine it'll get pretty warm. I want to try and fix tomorrow to get that first AG through on the weekend.
 
Righto, done the last few extract brews in the new kettle, fitted with a pickup tube, working well.

Finally finished the mash tun tonight, braid in a circular esky, looks good.

Have had a 30 litre urn for around 4 or 5 months just waiting to go, first AG maybe this weekend even, yippeee.

Better fire up the urn make sure it's OK. In goes the water and in about 5 minutes there's a fair wack of it coming out of the base. DAMN, OK then whats the problem maybe the element base seal is a little loose. Nup worse than that, the element base has 4 things poking out of it, two prongs for the element, the thermostat and an earth lug. Looks like whoever soldered in that earth lug had ZERO idea, there's a hole through the solder join that I could drive my truck through :angry: Actually it's not that big about a pin wide but enough to see light shining through.

Advice to fix please. I've done plenty of electrical soldering but not plumbing. If I got some silver solder from Reece could I use my electrical soldering iron??? Any other solutions other than soldering. It's sitting pretty close to the element so I'd imagine it'll get pretty warm. I want to try and fix tomorrow to get that first AG through on the weekend.

Is the urn a Birko? They have had alot of issues with leaking urns over the past 6 months. Return it to your place of purchase (if it was bought new) and they will give you a replacement.

Craig
 
Is the urn a Birko? They have had alot of issues with leaking urns over the past 6 months. Return it to your place of purchase (if it was bought new) and they will give you a replacement.

Craig

No Craig it's a Roband, bought secondhand unfortunately. It shouldn't be too hard to fix.............. but how??? Been googling soldering techniques. I'm wondering if the new electrical no lead solder at around 300 odd deg C might do the job.
 
You'll never heat up the joint enough with an electrical soldering iron. You need a propane torch and plumbing lead free solder. Propane torch kits are usually quite inexpensive, so don't let that scare you. As for soldering technique, it's hard to describe. Expect some "on the job training". Make sure the joint is nice and hot; the solder already there will start to flow. You may get lucky and be able to reflow the solder that is already there, thus blocking the pinhole. Expect a fair amount of trial & error and you won't get too frustrated.
 
I'm coming around to thinking the same ng but my iron can go up to 400 odd deg. Surely there say a 300 deg. solder I could use for a tiny little hole. Don't really want to fork out for a gas plumbing setup if I can avoid it.
 
The important thing is the energy (power) the iron is capable of. A standard 40W iron would take forever to heat up the joint to the point of melting. Even a high powered pistol-style iron wouldn't be able to handle the demand.

In order to properly solder, not only the solder but also the pieces you're joining must be heated to above the solder's melting point. If the pieces aren't properly heated, the solder won't adhere.

Maybe take your pot round to a welding shop and have them do it? Bring your own plumbing solder, and they may do it for nothing, or perhaps a beer or two.
 
Or you could go the other way bloke and drill out the hole and grab some 6mm SS hardware from a boating supplier etc and just pop an a fibre washer under the head in the tank and then probably utilize another point on the vessel for an earth with a bit more intregrity.
Cheers
Doug
 
I'm coming around to thinking the same ng but my iron can go up to 400 odd deg. Surely there say a 300 deg. solder I could use for a tiny little hole. Don't really want to fork out for a gas plumbing setup if I can avoid it.

dude - the torches are sub $20 at bunnings...
 
Go to Supa Cheap Auto and get some of the two part chemiweld stuff.
 
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