pennies as boiling chips.

[JAgROb243]

Don't laugh I'm new. Remember there is no such thing as a dumb question. LOL

I'm getting ready in a couple of weeks to do my first run. I read that using boiling chips will help the evaporation and keep a more organized and moderate boil in the kettle. Since copper is good for stills why not use a handful of pennies as boiling chips?

You can have hundreds of pennies for only a few dollars. OK, now laugh.

Seriously I haven't seen this suggestion and wonder if I am missing something. Please steer me on the correct path if I am going the wrong way.

Thank You

[The KYChemist]

Unnecesary thread... A quick Google search, and you would've found this:

http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 15&t=39951

[JAgROb243]

Ya know, I was just sharing and tryng to do things right. Seems like these Forums always have a know it all.
Think Ill find another group to enjoy.

Later

[FullySilenced]

Wow... shame he never mentioned if he really understood pennies aren't copper any more.... ...

[The KYChemist]

I am anything but a know-it-all! But, if I have question, I Google search first, and 99% of the time I answer it on my own. My response, I feel, was short and concise. Maybe too much so for the OP. For that, I only kinda apologise.

[rad14701]

Zinc is not a good thing to have in your boiler...

Modern pennies are barely copper clad...

[dirtymax731]

Pennies aren't copper.

[The KYChemist]

Pennies aren't copper.

Okay... I'll bite. Why?

[The KYChemist]

And just out of curiosity, are you referring to pennies before or after, the Clad Coinage act of 1965. I'm an amateur numismatist.

[bellybuster]

Hey KY, you know how many times I've been bashed for suggesting someone spend 8 seconds on google. I can't believe I would do such an evil thing.
Welcome to the a-hole club, I call president!!

[The KYChemist]

Hey KY, you know how many times I've been bashed for suggesting someone spend 8 seconds on google. I can't believe I would do such an evil thing.
Welcome to the a-hole club, I call president!!

LMFAO. I'm sorry... I really couldn't help myself, this time. I want to be your treasury secretary. And the Clad Coinage Act was a little smoke screen. The tin content was removed from pennies, in 1962. This made them 95 Cu, and 5 Zn. Pennies haven't been pure since 1872, if I remember correctly.

[Bugflipper]

Well truly what's the need for this forum at all with google?
Use your pennies to buy some marbles. About the cheapest thing out there that's non porous and has a lot of surface area.
Copper is more effective in the vapor path than submersed in liquid.

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

The following is from another post of mine. (BTW JAgROb243, I found it about 8 seconds with a web search, last week some time)
Last pure copper pennies minted in the year 1857

U.S. penny composition over the years:

1793–1796 100% copper
1796–1857 100% copper
1856–1864 88% copper, 12% nickel (also known as NS-12)
1864–1942 "bronze" (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc)
1943 zinc-coated steel (also known as 1943 steel cent)
1944–1946 "brass" (95% copper, 5% zinc)
1946–1962 "bronze" (95% copper, 5% tin and zinc)
1962–1981 "brass" (95% copper, 5% zinc)
1982 varies: "brass" (95% copper, 5% zinc) or copper-plated zinc (97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper)
1983–present 97.5% zinc, 2.5% copper (core: 99.2% zinc, 0.8% copper; plating: pure copper)

[superdaveva]

I still have my moms wheat Penney collection, over 2000! No you can't have them!

[The KYChemist]

I still have my moms wheat Penney collection, over 2000! No you can't have them!

Those are my favorite to collect. I have three 1943 pennies. Found them, over the years, in my change.

[pfshine]

Well truly what's the need for this forum at all with google?
Use your pennies to buy some marbles. About the cheapest thing out there that's non porous and has a lot of surface area.
Copper is more effective in the vapor path than submersed in liquid.

The forum google search is what they are refering to. Its in the upper right hand of every page. And i think you are confused with the marbles. The time you need the chips is when your boiler is smooth and need something cragley for vapor bubbles to form on. That being said there have been studies showing that copper can be more beneficial in the boiling.

[Dan P.]

discussion of copper placement here;
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... 32&t=46034

[shadylane]

And just out of curiosity, are you referring to pennies before or after, the Clad Coinage act of 1965. I'm an amateur numismatist.

Shame on you. It's your fault I had to do a Goggle search to find out what a "numismatist" was.
I'll drag that two dollar word out tomorrow and use it on my coworkers.

[friendly1uk]

Surprised you have copper penny's. We don't as the copper was worth more than a penny, and do you really have penny's in a language that has no pense.

This forum sucks big when it comes too 'use the search' comments. I'm sure if this hobby was perfectly legal, peeps would hound newbies for their location too. Making it totally unbearable. The op has just joined to ask a question. That takes more effort than a google search. He is obviously incapable of helping himself, so telling him to use google is just giving him a slap. It should be customary to offer some links along with the slap, just to show how easy it is, and how crap they must be. Then everybody is happy.

I think google has some mildly soul destroying page that shows how the search works. Actually moving the pointer about on the screen to point to things. Real kindergarten stuff.

[The KYChemist]

Refer back to the second post of this thread. A link was provided, to a thread, already discussing this topic.

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

Surprised you have copper penny's. We don't as the copper was worth more than a penny, and do you really have penny's in a language that has no pense.

This forum sucks big when it comes too 'use the search' comments. I'm sure if this hobby was perfectly legal, peeps would hound newbies for their location too. Making it totally unbearable. The op has just joined to ask a question. That takes more effort than a google search. He is obviously incapable of helping himself, so telling him to use google is just giving him a slap. It should be customary to offer some links along with the slap, just to show how easy it is, and how crap they must be. Then everybody is happy.

I think google has some mildly soul destroying page that shows how the search works. Actually moving the pointer about on the screen to point to things. Real kindergarten stuff.

We don't have copper pennies(not penny's), Required Link Here (the link is geared to the Queen's English, if that helps you in your research)

Our pennies have not been 100% copper since 1857, and have been extremely thin copper plating over a zinc core since 1982. (see my previous post above, in this thread, as reference in case you don't want to search on your own)

Oh, and another plural of penny, is pence(not pense), Required Link Here (even though it is the same link as I gave you earlier, just in case you don't want to bother with looking 2 paragraphs up from here)

I apologize in advance for "bustin' your balls" on this, I just could not resist. But it does contain some required links.

Pip pip, cheerio!

[The KYChemist]

Pip pip, cheerio!

[Dan P.]

The difference between US and UK usage of the plural of "penny", is that in the UK "pence" signifies an amount in monetary value, i.e. "That will be twenty pence, please", never "That will be twenty pennies, please". In the US the monetary value is given in cents.
In both countries a collective plural for pennies as objects is "pennies", i.e. "He has a fine collection of pre-1902 pennies", never "He has a fine collection of pre-1902 pence".


Okay, I've bored myself now.

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

The difference between US and UK usage of the plural of "penny", is that in the UK "pence" signifies an amount in monetary value, i.e. "That will be twenty pence, please", never "That will be twenty pennies, please. In the US the monetary value is given in cents.
In both countries a collective plural for pennies as objects is "pennies", i.e. "He has a fine collection of pre-1902 pennies", never "He has a fine collection of pre-1902 pence".


Okay, I've bored myself now.

Got any links to back that all up?! It's required now, you can't just tell me to use a search and verify all of this on my own, you know!

....In both countries a collective plural for pennies as objects is "pennies"....

How can you have a plural of the plural "pennies"???

Here's one for you. .......That collection of pennies are Penny's. (I know, I know, ...it's a possessive)

[Dan P.]

....In both countries a collective plural for pennies as objects is "pennies"....

How can you have a plural of the plural "pennies"???

The plural of "pennies" is still pennies.
Or, if you were trying to be clever, the "as objects" clause works as a modifier to differentiate the predicative clause from the object of the sentence.

[The KYChemist]

My grammar is only passable, but if he is right, you might want to...

[Prairiepiss]

Who really gives a rats ass. You speak your way. And I will speak mine. WTF?

[rad14701]

Even chock full of zinc, pennies still cost more than two cents/pennies to make...

[Soggy Bottom Boy]

Who really gives a rats ass. You speak your way. And I will speak mine. WTF?

Nothing serious Mr. P, just some friendly banter and goofing, all about pennies and done in jest. (at least on my end anyway) Gotta keep the thread on point with the OP, you know.

So, in closing.

No, .....pennies in the boiler are a bad idea, unless you have a really valuable collection of them that are dated before 1857. .....but then there would be posts from the numismatists<<(required link) crying bloody murder because pennies from that era that are rated as in "good" to "extra-fine" condition are worth anywhere from $15 to $64 each. (an uncirculated 1956 Flying Eagle penny is worth about $10,500)

[Dan P.]

Who really gives a rats ass. You speak your way. And I will speak mine. WTF?

If you don't give a rat's ass, why comment?

However, I'm curious as to whether anyone actually uses boiling chips anyway.
Anyone?