Welding up a leak in brass "samovar"

Nov 20, 2010 1 Replies

It is a pot-like vessel for boiling water, made out of brass, with a built-in oven-like cavity. Originally, these came from Persia and became uber-popular in Russia in 18xx. One of ones I have is 120 YO :)


Can one TIG-weld a small leak and what filler would I use ? Some parts of savomar are in direct contact with wood-burning flame, will silver solder hold up to the temps ?



Since you mention a leak in the subject line, I assume the problem is in the water tank.

The water tank will never get hotter than the boiling point of water. (try the boiling water in a paper cup trick)

These are invariably constructed by brazing the primary joints in the structure, coating the interior with tin, and soft soldering everything on. The high temps involved with tig and brazing will burn the tin into the brass and put you in a world of trouble.

Use soft solder for the patching. I use the lead free solder, but I think that there is already enough lead in these things, that it doesn't make much difference.

Paul K. Dickman

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