dangerbrew

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Alright, so i just got some brass fittings and a friend of mine told me to let them soak in a mixture of 1 part hydrogen peroxide and 2 parts vinegar. I did this, but he did not specify how long to let them sit, and I got home and brought them out after about 6 hours after being out for the day. They were definitely not the 'buttery yellow' he said they would turn - they had darkened and some had even turned pink.

After looking into it further online I found out it should have only been in the solution maybe 5 minutes or less. Some sites say you can just re-soak the brass in a new solution again to solve the problem, but I'm not sure from a lot of other stuff I've now read.

Have I ruined these fittings and should get new ones or is this something I can fix? Has too much lead been exposed?

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hillybilly

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Just use them the way they are they are brass what are you worried about?

P-J

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Read the information Cleaning Brass from John Palmers "How To Brew":
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB.html

I'd suggest that you scrub the fittings with Bar Keepers Friend so that the brass is shiny again and then use the procedure that Palmer wrote.

JRems

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I would second ^^ suggestion. Clean until shiny with bkf then re pickle

photogscott

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What is the purpose of pickling lead free brass?

amandabab

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hysteria over California's labeling requirements

JRems

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Why wouldn't it have lead in it? Brass fitting have lead in them, I have never seen lead free ones. All the ones here have lead in them, that's the point of pickleing.

l3asturd

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In California, lead-free materials must be used for "each component that comes into contact with the wetted surface of pipes and pipe fittings, plumbing fittings and fixtures." On January 1, 2010, the maximum amount of lead in "lead-free brass" in California was reduced from 4% to 0.25% lead.

This prompted most big box stores to start stocking lead-free brass fittings, nation wide. Check out homedepot.com or lowes.com, you'll find lead-free fittings before you ever tell the website where you're located.

thargrav

Recipes 

There is absolutely no purpose for pickling lead free brass but like a lot of worthless or dead "solutions" this one continues to hang around.

thargrav

Recipes 

Plumbing brass, including brass ball valves contain no lead. The brass is a alloy of copper and tin.

360 brass, which is used for non-plumbing applications in the US contains 3% lead.

Be careful with Harbor Freight - last I looked their "brass" ball valves did contain lead.