Stainless steel wort chiller neck is soldered together - Any lead?

[thehopbandit]

I realize I am probably over thinking this a little bit, but am just trying to figure this out for sure.

On the stainless steel wort chiller that I picked up from MW Supplies, the neck is soldered together. The details do not say anything about what kind of solder was used. I am not an expert when it comes to solder or metallurgy, but I do know that a number of solders contain lead. Although it would only make sense that a manufacturer only use lead-free in solder for a wort chiller since it should be food grade, it's hard to know for sure.

The solder appears to be a dull copper-ish color (see image below). Are there any ways to tell visually what kind of solder was used? Can any of you identify it? Maybe those of you who have created your own wort chillers could see if it looks similar. Any one have any details on this?

Again, I realize that they have probably sold thousands of these things and people use them everyday just fine. It still doesn't hurt to check and I was just hoping to see if I could find out for sure.

Thanks for your time.

 

[Poobah58]

If it's stainless they probably used silver solder. I would like to think it's lead free but you may want to send them an email.

 

[Bsquared]

To me that looks like silver brazing, that can be lead and chromium free.

If you are still really concerned and you don't hear back from midwest supply, you can get a simple home lead test kit for $10-20 and test it your self.

 

[ScubaSteve]

That's probably brazed. If it really bothers you, melt it away and install a hose clamp.

 

[jpalarchio]

I have this same chiller and was looking to separate the two tubes so that I could install it permanently.

How would one melt away the brazing? Would just a propane torch be enough?

 

[thehopbandit]

I did actually end up inquiring about this, and the manufacturer said that it was, indeed, silver solder which is lead free.