Repairing a hot-water dispenser?

homebrewed

homebrewed

H-M Supporter - Gold Member
H-M Supporter Gold Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2017
Messages
2,552
We have a little Insinkerator hot-water dispenser that's going on its third heater tank. The first two developed leaks, fortunately caught before any significant damage to the cabinet was done. Out of curiosity (and my background in failure analysis) I took the second one apart to see if I could figure out how it failed. I expected to see a pinhole somewhere in the stainless-steel tank but instead of that I found water stains where the top and bottom are joined. They are screwed together, not welded, and there's a fairly hard gasket in there. It looks like the gasket failed on one of the corners.

Well, now I'm thinking I might be able to repair this guy. I took the thing apart using nondestructive techniques so it can be re-assembled. The replacement tank unit costs almost $300 so it would be really nice if that's possible. I'm thinking about some of that high-temperature silicon make-a-gasket stuff, but the BIG concern is a blow-out and subsequent flood. That would likely result in some expenses greatly exceeding $300. So I'm curious if anyone here has tried something like this (and of course, if it was successful or not). The original gasket is NOT an O-ring, it's sort of "corrugated" -- it has wavy edges. So I'm not optimistic that I can find an off-the-shelf replacement gasket. I can post photos if it would be helpful.
 
also consider that you will likely be drinking the water so many adhesives may be out of the question. access to TIG?
 
homebrewed said:
We have a little Insinkerator hot-water dispenser that's going on its third heater tank. The first two developed leaks, fortunately caught before any significant damage to the cabinet was done. Out of curiosity (and my background in failure analysis) I took the second one apart to see if I could figure out how it failed. I expected to see a pinhole somewhere in the stainless-steel tank but instead of that I found water stains where the top and bottom are joined. They are screwed together, not welded, and there's a fairly hard gasket in there. It looks like the gasket failed on one of the corners.

Well, now I'm thinking I might be able to repair this guy. I took the thing apart using nondestructive techniques so it can be re-assembled. The replacement tank unit costs almost $300 so it would be really nice if that's possible. I'm thinking about some of that high-temperature silicon make-a-gasket stuff, but the BIG concern is a blow-out and subsequent flood. That would likely result in some expenses greatly exceeding $300. So I'm curious if anyone here has tried something like this (and of course, if it was successful or not). The original gasket is NOT an O-ring, it's sort of "corrugated" -- it has wavy edges. So I'm not optimistic that I can find an off-the-shelf replacement gasket. I can post photos if it would be helpful.
Click to expand...


As a plumber I am interested in this discussion.
 
Good points regarding the choice of adhesive. There are food-safe silicone adhesives out there. They are 2-part, platinum-catalyzed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top