Are the soldered connections on this homemade wort chiller OK to use?

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msa8967

msa8967

mickaweapon
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I bought a used wort chiller from a HBT member that he had made. Tried using it a couple of times and it worked just fine but I am concerned about the condition of the soddered connections. Are the soddered connections on this homemade wort chiller OK to use?

I am not sure if there is any danger of lead leaching out from these particular connections?

1128011641.jpg


1128011642.jpg
 
Well, if he didn't use lead-free solder, there could be a problem.

Of course, if he used leaded solder, you wouldn't want to use it even if the joints *were* neat and clean.

Assuming the maker used the right solder (lead-free), there shouldn't be a problem.
 
krenshaw said:
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what he said.. and they don't look that bad.. really probably just as good as i would have done myself.. as long as it doesn't leak then it'll get the job done..
Click to expand...

Not true - wurt is different than just water. There is not much in tap water to set up galvanic action but there is plenty in the wurt to cause galvanic action (basically, a battery composed of two dissimilar metals in a acid). And all you need is a little galvanic action to actively push lead into your wurt.

But there is a easy way to tell - is the solder turning a dull grey or does the chiller come out with the solder joints bright & shiny? If they stay shiny then you are definitely leaching whatever's in the solder joint into your wurt!
 
thargrav said:
Not true - wurt is different than just water. There is not much in tap water to set up galvanic action but there is plenty in the wurt to cause galvanic action (basically, a battery composed of two dissimilar metals in a acid). And all you need is a little galvanic action to actively push lead into your wurt.
Click to expand...

... but, you would never use a lead-based solder on anything that would contact beer or wort. That's the point. There shouldn't be any lead to leech.
 
thargrav said:
Not true - wurt is different than just water. There is not much in tap water to set up galvanic action but there is plenty in the wurt to cause galvanic action (basically, a battery composed of two dissimilar metals in a acid). And all you need is a little galvanic action to actively push lead into your wurt.

But there is a easy way to tell - is the solder turning a dull grey or does the chiller come out with the solder joints bright & shiny? If they stay shiny then you are definitely leaching whatever's in the solder joint into your wurt!
Click to expand...

there are plenty of minerals in tap water to cause a galvanic circuit, the only major difference between tap water and wOrt is the addition of sugars. sugars do not increase galvanic action significantly. the pH of the wort is what i would be worried about stripping the surface more than anything. that is what is going to cause the 'bright and shiney' joints, a chemical reaction, not galvanic action.

lead is also more cathodic than copper so if anything galvanic were happening, the copper would be depositing onto the lead.

if i were unsure about which type of solder was used, i would just cut off all the solder and redo the chiller. no sense taking a chance at lead poisoning, thats no fun. there is also no safe level of lead ingestion, its the same as radiation; its cumulative over your lifetime. it doesnt matter how fast you ingest it, just the amount. so you try to minimize any intake of lead.
 
audger said:
there are plenty of minerals in tap water to cause a galvanic circuit, the only major difference between tap water and wOrt is the addition of sugars. sugars do not increase galvanic action significantly. the pH of the wort is what i would be worried about stripping the surface more than anything. that is what is going to cause the 'bright and shiney' joints, a chemical reaction, not galvanic action.

lead is also more cathodic than copper so if anything galvanic were happening, the copper would be depositing onto the lead.

if i were unsure about which type of solder was used, i would just cut off all the solder and redo the chiller. no sense taking a chance at lead poisoning, thats no fun. there is also no safe level of lead ingestion, its the same as radiation; its cumulative over your lifetime. it doesnt matter how fast you ingest it, just the amount. so you try to minimize any intake of lead.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the correction - copper is less noble than lead.

He does not know what was used. And I guess the real point is if you didn't solder it or you can't get a straight answer from whomever soldered it, then don't buy it.
 
Side question...
Been having trouble with my mash tun and stuck mashes. So I revised my false bottom braid. I made a loop with a gatorbite copper T, and used lead free solder (from lenox bought at Lowes) to make a coil I shoved inside the SS braid to keep it from collapsing. Now the question is, is the solder going to be a problem in the mash tun? Will it leach chemical into the wort?
There's about 1.5-2feet of solder in the coil.
 

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