I don’t know about pepper, but I was surprised to find out that the story I had heard about Bars stop leak being used successfully to repair a cooling system leak on the US Nautilus is actually true. If I need to use something, that will be high on my list.
"En route to the polar ice cap, the engineering crew discovered that a small salt-water leak had developed on one of the nuclear reactor steam condensers. The leak was spilling sea water onto a critical piece of machinery, causing noxious fumes to fill the Engine and Maneuvering Rooms. A submarine is a labyrinth of tubes and pipes, so pinpointing the leak while at sea would have been impossible. Something had to be done.
In Seattle, the sub?s last port before embarking north, the commander had an idea to save the mission: He sent his men out to buy as much Bar?s Leaks as they could find. Dressed in civilian clothes, the crew covertly spread out over Seattle to purchase the legendary stop-leak solution.
With the Bar?s Leaks safely on board, sailors poured 70 quarts of it into the submarine?s condenser system.
It worked! With the leak stopped, the USS Nautilus was able to complete its top-secret mission, becoming the first submarine to cross the North Pole underneath the Arctic ice cap."