water is one thing, fuel is another. Put it in a jar of fuel and see if the repair holds under the corrosive attack of gasoline.

 

Madame Girlfriend brought me this old Copper Kettle, ""If anyone can fix this, you can". Feminine Reverse psychology as usual!! "It will take a while" I told her...

I fixed it with the Plastic Bonder, it has held indefinitely. The spout had come off the kettle, I was told it needed brazing / resoldering. I decided to try the Plastic Bonder and after a few days of curing, tried to dislodge the spout by force, it won't come off, it's a permanent bond. I'm always restoring stuff, antiques, automotive parts, you name it. That is the only adhesive that works. Women and Kettles...

 

Update: there may or may not have been water inside.

I shook the float, and there was a distinctive ping sound.
I suspect a drop of solder came off during the first heating.
It was heated again, and a drop or two or water teared out, maybe from the top of the float. The Plastic bond shriveled off.
It is now being filed off.

When the plastic bond was first applied, it went on very smooth and even.
But as it set, gravity pulled it down, and it aggravated into drops that dried.
The attached picture shows some of the long accumulation.

So it will be filed down, and retried with less, and then dunked again in water to determine water-proof or not

Will try again.

 

Update: the the clumps of sealant were filed off. And there was a small hole on the circumference, probably from the expansion when the torch was used.

Next the sealant will be applied in timed sequences to avoid clumping.
Then it will dunked in water and then gasoline.

 

Why not just use gasoline, since the float will never have to work in water ?

 

Good point... gasoline was next in the process.
The reason: given the combustible nature of gasoline, water was the first choice to determine seal. And then would come gas next phase.