No joke. If you have any knowledge of harmful chemical that could leach from the tape, let me know. I noticed it's water resistant qualities over time when using it to mark levels on the outside of carboys.
On the Job Site, it used to be common occurence to wrap a minor cut in electrical tape. Anywho, I was told by an EMT on the job that saw my cut that Electrical tape had something bad in it and that it could leach into my wound and cause an ifection. I don't recall what the substance was, but I do know that if it can cause an infection in the human body, I don't want it anywhere near my Mash. Just incase you are wondering, I am a Union Carpenter in Boston, MA.
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You Can Give A Man A Fish and Feed Him For a Day, or You Can Teach Him To Fly Fish And Spoil Him For Life
On Deck Dunkel Wiezen Primary Schwarz Bier, Simcoe Sevada 9 Secondary Flanders Red Bottled Kegged Big Northern Brown Ale, On Tap Big Northern Brown Ale
No joke. If you have any knowledge of harmful chemical that could leach from the tape, let me know. I noticed it's water resistant qualities over time when using it to mark levels on the outside of carboys.
I have never... never seen anything made of black plastic or vinyl that was labeled as being food grade material. If you use equipment that is not food grade to brew your beer, please don't give it to anyone else to drink.
Also, put a little heat to electrical tape and watch it slide on its own adhesive. I don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that I don't want my beer touching this adhesive.
Looks like you didn't think this one out.
I have never... never seen anything made of black plastic or vinyl that was labeled as being food grade material. If you use equipment that is not food grade to brew your beer, please don't give it to anyone else to drink.
Also, put a little heat to electrical tape and watch it slide on its own adhesive. I don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that I don't want my beer touching this adhesive.
Looks like you didn't think this one out.
According to the website, it maintains its waterproof qualities up to 220 degrees and it's never slipped. It probably has about 30-40 minutes of contact time max. That said, I can't find anything on food safety. Maybe they never contemplated someone would use it to patch a cooler. If I can find a new HLT this weekend I'll replace it and be done with it. I don't heat my sparge water up as hot as I used to since I discovered I should have been raising the temp of the grain bed first with a second strike water.
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Conical 1 - Through a Mild Darkly
Conical 2 - Empty
Carboys - Schwarzbier
Secondary 1 - Empty
Secondary 2 - Empty
Secondary 3 - Empty
Kegged: Nutty Man Brown Ale, Kolsch, Kal's 20 min APA (US-05), Kal's 20 min APA (S-04), L'Ambree D'Esquelbecq, Gulden Draak, Alpha King, EdWort's Haus Pale, BLC
Bottled: Oaked Bourbon Porter
Planned: English Mild
Now Open: My new 10 gallon Kal inspired RIMS brewery
I found the manufacturers safety data sheet, but it opens in pdf and I can't figure out how to post a link. Anyway, it says it does not leech harmful chemicals in sufficient amounts to be a hazard, but this is generally in regards to contaminants in landfills. It also says somewhere else it does not leech harmful chemicals when used under normal conditions. There are references to three chemicals (which my their descriptions are likely dyes to make it black) that are suspected carcinogens.
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Conical 1 - Through a Mild Darkly
Conical 2 - Empty
Carboys - Schwarzbier
Secondary 1 - Empty
Secondary 2 - Empty
Secondary 3 - Empty
Kegged: Nutty Man Brown Ale, Kolsch, Kal's 20 min APA (US-05), Kal's 20 min APA (S-04), L'Ambree D'Esquelbecq, Gulden Draak, Alpha King, EdWort's Haus Pale, BLC
Bottled: Oaked Bourbon Porter
Planned: English Mild
Now Open: My new 10 gallon Kal inspired RIMS brewery
here's my suggestion
if you still havn't thrown out your first cooler, use some food grade silicon and seal it up, then use it as a hlt for fly sparging. it should be much easier to tell if you have styrofoam or whatever insulation these things use floating around in clear water than your mash tun.
or just use it as its original intended purpose- an actual beverage cooler lol
Just a question here - is the insulation in coolers really that harmful? I would think that if something is meant to contain food and drink, the manufacturer wouldn't use materials that are harmful, at least not blatantly.
Just a question here - is the insulation in coolers really that harmful? I would think that if something is meant to contain food and drink, the manufacturer wouldn't use materials that are harmful, at least not blatantly.
Is the insulation harmful? I don't know, but it is made up of some pretty nasty stuff and breathing the fumes is not advisable when it is in liquid form.
The more important point is that is if the brew can get to the insulation it can leech into the walls of the cooler and support the production of all kinds of microbes.
This isn't rocket science guys... why are we still talking about taking these chances with our brew? Some of you guys are scaring the hell out of me. I doubt I will ever be able to drink someone else's beer from here on out thinking they may have the same approach to their equipment as some of you guys do.
If you guys aren't going to take this sanitation and safety issue a little more seriously it is going to bite you in the long run. I hope not, but you certainly are playing with fire.
Is the insulation harmful? I don't know, but it is made up of some pretty nasty stuff and breathing the fumes is not advisable when it is in liquid form.
The more important point is that is if the brew can get to the insulation it can leech into the walls of the cooler and support the production of all kinds of microbes.
This isn't rocket science guys... why are we still talking about taking these chances with our brew? Some of you guys are scaring the hell out of me. I doubt I will ever be able to drink someone else's beer from here on out thinking they may have the same approach to their equipment as some of you guys do.
If you guys aren't going to take this sanitation and safety issue a little more seriously it is going to bite you in the long run. I hope not, but you certainly are playing with fire.
Threads like this keep me from wanting to be a BJCP Judge.
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Due to recent economic crisis, stock market crash, budget cuts, and the rising cost of everything including taxes: "The Light at the End of The Tunnel" has been turned off.
Is the insulation harmful? I don't know, but it is made up of some pretty nasty stuff and breathing the fumes is not advisable when it is in liquid form.
The more important point is that is if the brew can get to the insulation it can leech into the walls of the cooler and support the production of all kinds of microbes.
This isn't rocket science guys... why are we still talking about taking these chances with our brew? Some of you guys are scaring the hell out of me. I doubt I will ever be able to drink someone else's beer from here on out thinking they may have the same approach to their equipment as some of you guys do.
If you guys aren't going to take this sanitation and safety issue a little more seriously it is going to bite you in the long run. I hope not, but you certainly are playing with fire.
We're talking preboil. Sanitation has nothing to do with it, unless you plan on mashing for hours and hours and creating all sort of off flavors with the microbes. If you've ever read your cities water report and seen all the heavy metals and other chemicals, I'm wondering if you guys would be even drinking the water that comes out of your faucet, water that has likely journeyed many miles through the earth or collected in an open reservoir that picks up runoff from a massive watershed. I can't speak to the insulation in coolers, but the manufacturer would be insane to fill it with anything that contains harmful levels of something knowing what people use it for. The tape I used to fix my cooler has been used by aquarium enthusiasts to fix/repair/attach items in their fish tanks and has remained submerged for years (not minutes) without harming the fish. Being a former aquarium enthusiast myself, I can tell you that fish are very sensitive to differences in the water supply used to fill the tank. Does 3M list their product as "food safe"? No, but there is nothing in the safety information that gives me grave concerns. That said, I'll likely replace the cooler this weekend as I don't want to create a perception that I am not careful with my process.
__________________
Conical 1 - Through a Mild Darkly
Conical 2 - Empty
Carboys - Schwarzbier
Secondary 1 - Empty
Secondary 2 - Empty
Secondary 3 - Empty
Kegged: Nutty Man Brown Ale, Kolsch, Kal's 20 min APA (US-05), Kal's 20 min APA (S-04), L'Ambree D'Esquelbecq, Gulden Draak, Alpha King, EdWort's Haus Pale, BLC
Bottled: Oaked Bourbon Porter
Planned: English Mild
Now Open: My new 10 gallon Kal inspired RIMS brewery
We're talking preboil. Sanitation has nothing to do with it, unless you plan on mashing for hours and hours and creating all sort of off flavors with the microbes. If you've ever read your cities water report and seen all the heavy metals and other chemicals, I'm wondering if you guys would be even drinking the water that comes out of your faucet, water that has likely journeyed many miles through the earth or collected in an open reservoir that picks up runoff from a massive watershed. I can't speak to the insulation in coolers, but the manufacturer would be insane to fill it with anything that contains harmful levels of something knowing what people use it for. The tape I used to fix my cooler has been used by aquarium enthusiasts to fix/repair/attach items in their fish tanks and has remained submerged for years (not minutes) without harming the fish. Being a former aquarium enthusiast myself, I can tell you that fish are very sensitive to differences in the water supply used to fill the tank. Does 3M list their product as "food safe"? No, but there is nothing in the safety information that gives me grave concerns. That said, I'll likely replace the cooler this weekend as I don't want to create a perception that I am not careful with my process.
1. "Sanitation has nothing to do with it." Wow. I guess you are sure that nothing can leach out of the foam into the water. I'm not so sure.
2. "If you guys read the water report, I doubt you would be drinking it."
I do not drink water out of a faucet. Any water I drink has either been processed through reverse osmosis or is distilled.
3. "The manufacturer would be insane to fill it with anything that had harmful levels of something in it."
Really? How many products have been recalled because of carcinogens, lead content, or other toxic substances in the past 10 years?
4. "Being a former aquarium enthusiast I can tell you that fish are sensitive."
I have never been that much of an aquarium enthusiast, but I did breed and raise tropical fish for local pet shops for a few years. Just for your info, I imagine quite a few folks on the forum are familiar with aquariums. I also know that many fish can thrive in water that has much heavy metal and many carcinogens in it. I live on such a river and will not eat any fish caught out of this river.
5. "I do not want to create the perception that I am not careful with my process."
Whatever makes you think that we would feel that way?
6. You are good to go now... you have absolutely worn me down on this subject... you win... I am giving up on you.
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