Aluminum boiler in Astoria Argenta - really?

#1: Post by **norwood** » December 17th, 2015, 8:19 pm

Guys, I'm scratching my head on this one.

Did Astoria ever use aluminum boilers? I can't find any record of that, but when I opened my Astoria Argenta 2-group project machine to see how big a project it's going to be, I was surprised to see a boiler that doesn't look like copper at all. It does not attract a magnet, so it's not stainless steel.

Pictures follow:

#2: Post by **day** » December 17th, 2015, 8:33 pm

I have no idea, but all stainless steel is not magnetic or at least enough to detect by placing a magnet on it.

#3: Post by **jonr** » December 17th, 2015, 9:17 pm

Hard to tell, but it look like stainless steel to me.

#4: Post by **NightFlight** » December 17th, 2015, 9:19 pm

I agree with jonr, it does look like stainless; and stainless is non magnetic.

December 17th, 2015, 9:25 pm

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... s-work-on/

Some is, it depends on a variety of factors. As I understand it all of it technically is, but not enough for practical use.

December 17th, 2015, 10:17 pm

Oops! Well, that's embarrassing but I googled it and indeed, many types of stainless steel do not attract a magnet. I learn something new every day - thanks!

Since the machine needs a teardown and rebuild, and since stainless steel is about 3x the density of aluminum, we should be able to determine for sure which metal makes up the boiler by measuring how much water the boiler components displace, then weighing them to calculate the density.

Thanks again!

#7: Post by **sweaner** » December 18th, 2015, 12:08 am

I suspect that you will know as soon as you pick up the boiler!

#8: Post by **drgary** » December 18th, 2015, 12:22 am

I learned about magnetic and non-magnetic stainless when we moved to a new home equipped with an induction range and without access to natural gas.* Since it heats cookware via magnetic fields, we had to ditch a lot of our old stuff and buy a new set. If that were aluminum you'd probably see corrosion somewhere.

* Sure, we could get propane, but I've learned to use the range just fine.

#9: Post by **spearfish25** » December 18th, 2015, 6:07 am

Interesting read about it here: Why don't magnets work on some stainless steels?

#10: Post by **day** » December 18th, 2015, 7:17 am

Nice find;)