Titanium doctors! Can this pot be saved?

[Greg Pehrson]

I brought my titanium pot on an overnight group winter backpacking trip in the NH White Mountains, and we had several stoves going and lots of snow being melted for hot drinks. The pots and stoves kind of became collective gear as the boiling factory was in session. When I got home, I noticed the following problem with my pot (it’s hard to show in pictures, so I’ll try to describe it as best as possible.)

The area just to the left of the discolored spot in the picture has bowed outward, like the top of a jelly jar after you pop the seal. I can pop this bump in and out audibly, and it means that the pot no longer sits stable–when on a flat surface, it wobbles back and forth. I’m imagining using this in the field again and my full pot falling right off the stove.

Is there any way I can remove this bump/ re-flatten the bottom of the pot? Thanks in advance.

I know it’s going to be said, so I’ll just say that I’ve learned to not use a titanium pot for group gear anymore :)

[Brad Rogers]

I doubt there is any way to fix it, but I imagine it still works just fine even if it is a little “rocky” on the stove.

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Your titanium pot became overheated and has become distorted (“oil canning”).  There is no way to make the bottom of the pot “flat” again.  The pot should be fully functional, however; it just won’t be flat again.  The dis-colorization that you see is from the heat anodization process and dis-colorization starts at about the 600 F range.  Again, this is functionally not an issue.  My 2 cents.

[Ken Thompson]

You could try quenching it. Old school auto body trick of heating up spots around the bubble red hot and then apply a cold wet cloth to the area to quickly cool and shrink the metal. You might be able to shrink it back taught. Nothing to loose by trying.

I stopped doing group gear.

[DAN-Y]

Send the pot to me and I will fix it for you. I had the same thing happen to one of my pots due to freezing water inside of it. I’ll return at my expense.

[Jerry Adams]

Nice of you Dan to offer

I did that to my pot, turned on burner and after a couple seconds realized there was no water in it.  Just slightly discolored though, didn’t warp.

[Pigeon]

Had Dan Y not made such a nice offer I’d have thought to tap the bottom with a hammer and end up with some upward dents.

 

Dan can you explain what you’ll do or is that a trade secret? :)

[Greg Pehrson]

Wow, Dan, thank you so much–that’s an incredibly generous offer.

Quenching sounds like a cool trick, Ken.

 

 

 

[DAN-Y]

I think I did a video of how it’s done. I’ll check my website. I’ve made too many instructional videos, can’t keep track ;)

[DAN-Y]

Pot arrived today, fixed it and will ship it back tomorrow morning.

What capacity is the pot? It’s larger than I expected :-)

[Greg Pehrson]

Amazing. Thank you so much, Dan.

It is supposedly 1.5 liters, but I think that’s more the suggested water fill line–there’s still room for food after that.

[DAN-Y]

What kind of stove do use for that pot, canister?

[Greg Pehrson]

Depends. In winter, I use white gas. On relaxed trips with friends, I use an IKEA cutlery caddy wood stove, and cook beans in the pot and tortillas or pupusas on the inverted lid, like a comal: https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/83720/

Sometimes I’ve used a big 5.5 oz cat food can stove as well. But usually with an alcohol stove I use a smaller aluminum pot from my old BSA mess kit.

[Ken M]

Metal when heated to red hot and then cooled rapidly will shrink.  This technique is used in auto body repair of warped panels.  A google for “shrinking metal” should pull up a multitude of info on the subject.

I don’t have any experience with flattening a pot bottom,  titanium in particular,  but the technique in general should work.  Use a propane torch.

Now I’m going to have to go scrounge for an old warped pot !

[Ken Thompson]

Day late and a dollar short there Ken.

[Matthew / BPL]

Wow if you ever need a hiking partner, just holler. I’ll hike with anyone that makes pupusas in the field.

[DAN-Y]

They look good:

[Matthew / BPL]

Dan, one a scale of 1 to 10, pupusa are frickin delicious.

[DAN-Y]

We need Greg to tell us how he makes them round  pockets :-) (please Greg)

[Greg Pehrson]

Matthew–you bet!

Sure Dan–I’ll update the pupusa thread (linked above) with instructions.

[Greg Pehrson]

Got the pot yesterday Dan–it looks great! Thanks so much! No more bump.

I really appreciate the craftsmanship of folks like yourself who have the skills to fix things in an otherwise throwaway society. (Not that I would have thrown away the pot…) This site got me into MYOG and now I even find myself darning old socks.

 

[Matthew / BPL]

Dan, I scrolled through all of your videos on YouTube and didn’t see the video you mentioned.

How did you de-bump the pot?

[DAN-Y]

I’ll check my Photobucket account to see if the video is there.

Greg is far ahead of me as a DIY’er……….I’ve never darned any socks :-)

[Jerry Adams]

my mom darned socks

it left an uneven spot there

[DAN-Y]

My mom also left the uneven bump. There’s gotta be a way to darn an even hole. Maybe silicone caulk :-)

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