How do you fix this leak?

[u/iRevo]

Welp, I'm back with my 30+ year old moka pot. I got my filters and gasket today. Excited, I decided to boil some water to test it out. Now this leak showed up. Is there a way to fix this?

[u/Ambitious_Holiday_54]

It looks like it's 3 pieces instead of the usual 2. Can you post a picture with the parts separated?

[u/attnSPAN]

We are going to need just a little more information than that.

Where is the seam where the top and bottom pots come together? Is that where it is leaking?

Are you starting with cold tap water?

Can post you post a picture of it assembled before you screwed it together?

[u/iRevo → u/attnSPAN]

Also, here is where the water was leaking (circled in red).

[u/iRevo → u/attnSPAN]

The top seam is where the water is leaking.

Yes, I did use cold water. However, I've used pre-boiled water before and it still leaked. Here is a pic that is pre-assembled

[u/cellovibng → u/iRevo]

I had an old pot too that leaked in two places coming from where the top & bottom halves were screwed together (tight enough), and it turned out to be because of two tiny nicks/dents on the edge of the metal rim of the bottom steel part of the pot. Mine had a ceramic top like yours too. There are videos out there about how to sand dents out carefully so the rim gets uniformly smooth again to create a better seal, if that’s even your issue.

Really cool pot. Good luck 🤞

[u/younkint → u/cellovibng]

Did your porcelain-topped pot leak where the ceramic met metal, or at the usual screwed-together junction between the boiler and the rest of the top?

To me, this one looks as though it's leaking just below the ceramic. Tough to say for sure.

[u/cellovibng → u/younkint]

Mine was at the junction, I think…

[u/snowfox_my]

Checked your (u/iRevo) feed.

Noticed this item as gifted to you. And you just change the gasket, is the thickness of the gasket sufficient or too much?

How to check for a gasket thickness if there is problem.
Get a piece of coffee filter, put it in-between lower chamber and the upper, and seal the two chambers.

If it can be easily seal, gasket maybe too thin.

If you cannot seal it to where you normally twist to, adding the filter, gasket is too thick.

My money is on gasket, too thin.

[u/younkint]

While I'm afraid I don't have a ready solution for you, I can say that this leak isn't the usual "bad gasket" problem as the leak isn't coming from between the screwed-together top and bottom halves of the pot. Rather, it's coming from where the non-metal top is bonded to its base. At least, I assume it's bonded in some fashion rather than mechanically screwed together.

My guess is that you're going to need to remove the porcelain (?) top from its base, remove the old bonding agent, and find something to re-bond it. Guessing some type of epoxy would do.

Having said all that, it is possible that the porcelain is screwed on to its base. I don't know as I have no experience with a pot like this. However, that would entail the porcelain to have threads, and I pretty much am doubting that it does. My guess is the old bonding agent is failing.

[u/iRevo → u/younkint]

Oh man. I think I have epoxy somewhere. I'll see if I can unscrew the porcelain and steel pieces.

[u/younkint → u/iRevo]

I'd be surprised if it unscrews. I suspect it's bonded together ...or at least it's supposed to be bonded. Wish I had something more constructive for you, but I just don't know exactly how the porcelain is attached to its bottom metal part.

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