Disinfecting brass

[ocwo92]

My bottle of iodophor says not to use it on copper. That's fine; I don't need to.

However, I recently built a counter-pressure bottle filler using a brass tube for the beer, and this will need disinfection.

Now, since brass is an alloy of zinc and copper, I'm a little worried that iodophor might damage the brass tube. But on the other hand, alloys tend to have different features than their components. For example, perhaps the zinc might create a protective layer that prevents the iodophor from reacting with the copper component... or zinc might be even worse--I have no idea.

Is it safe to use iodophor on brass, or do I have to mess with boiling water?

 

[EvilDrFoetus]

MSDS shows incompatibility with metals, makes sense as you have an acid (hydriodic) in there.

FYI strong acid's a common procedure to obtain copper from brass - it dissolves the zinc out.

 

[ocwo92]

Thanks--this was kind of what I suspected.

I guess I'll have to use boiling water for the filler.

 

[IslandLizard]

MSDS shows incompatibility with metals, makes sense as you have an acid (hydriodic) in there.

FYI strong acid's a common procedure to obtain copper from brass - it dissolves the zinc out.

Is this really an issue given the short exposure time? I doubt it. Now if you leave it soaking for a few days, it will get very shiny. I've "cleaned" brass fittings in Starsan, not intentionally though.

 

[augiedoggy]

Is this really an issue given the short exposure time? I doubt it. Now if you leave it soaking for a few days, it will get very shiny. I've "cleaned" brass fittings in Starsan, not intentionally though.

but I found once you remove the copper or brass from the starsan it then can corrode fast because theres no protective layer on it.

Isnt there a method used to teat the brass and remove the lead from the surface at the same time? I remember reading about it here?

 

[ocwo92]

but I found once you remove the copper or brass from the starsan it then can corrode fast because theres no protective layer on it.

This is what I vaguely recall having learned, too. Unless the protective layer is restored, corrosion happens fast. I wasn't sure about brass because of its zinc component, but it seems reasonable (to me, anyway) that zinc would display similar properties.