Brass

[hardboil]

HI All,


I was hoping for a quick answer on the use of brass in a still build, I have see some comments around most notably "but some brass contains lead, and should be pickled on a regular basis for safety."

I was thinking of attaching my column to the lid of the boiler (in this case a SS pot) with a brass tank adapter like the below,



I was planning to cut a copper washer out of plate and rap in PTFE tape to seal it.

any thought or words of guidance?


thx Stan

[bearriver]

viewtopic.php?f=89&t=51818" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow I'll quote myself from here.

Here is an excellent article from an Oregon doctor, full of lead related data: http://www.itmonline.org/arts/lead.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

25 parts per million are very low levels. Even if all the lead somehow managed to leach from the fitting and into your product, it would still be insignificant by today's standards. Take the weight of your fitting, say, 229 grams being over half of a pound, which is probably heavier than your fitting actually is.

229 grams / 1,000,000 x 25 = 0.005725 grams, or 5.725 milligrams.

That means a half pound brass fitting w/ 25ppm lead contains 5.7 mg of lead. If you somehow managed to consume all the lead in that fitting at once, it would represent less than 2 weeks worth of the lead you are already naturally consuming everyday. Of which, is practically nothing.

A total daily lead exposure (inhaled and consumed lead) of 0.5 mg per day of lead appears normal in a relatively clean environment today.

I can't tell you with any certainty that it is safe, that is a personal distinction. If it were me and I already owned it, then I'd use it and not give a second thought to it...

[bearriver]

Here is one of many better ways to pull off that hat trick: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=39820

[hardboil]

Here is one of many better ways to pull off that hat trick: http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=39820

that a very elegant way of doing that,

and agree after reading the comments around lead and it as a % part of the overall content of brass. Though I may purchase one of those testing kits discussed. I'm sure they will shed some light on what made in through to the final distillate.

I think I will buy the bits to try both ways, solder first if it goes sideways I can fall back on the tank adapter.


thanks to both of you!