are lead and copper safe to vape?
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I apologize! Must... pick... nit...
That's C46400 "lead free" naval brass. C48500 "High leaded" naval brass may contain up to 2.2%.
In some sense my previous post was wrong anyway.
The concern is about lead. And I'm referring to refined copper and brass. Since brass is an alloy, it could contain more than copper and zinc. Stuff coming from China could definitely be mislabeled. I've bought what was supposedly solid copper beads from China and when I cut one open, it was only copper plated, there was brass in the inside.
ok so what about 100% copper. and has anyone noticed a difference in flavor with brass or copper? and yes there are copper rdas. look up tobh atty copper
All the Protanks I have have corrosion. Protank 2 mini, Protank 3 mini and Protank 2. One of them corroded on the first use. It had a clove juice. The others have had various fruit or tobacco flavours. I will be avoiding Protanks.
I was reading up on stainless steel mesh. One guy who was a chemist said that stainless steel mesh wicks will release hexavalent chromium. That's bad. It is related to the high temperature when oxidizing. It makes me wonder if dry burning NiChrome or Kanthal would pose the same risk. I don't dry burn and I try for stainless steel and glass. I have some plastic tanks. I just use them for tobacco flavours and have yet to have a problem.
I would be wary of copper, it is too reactive. I know less about brass and will heed the advice of others. Also, as a side note, keep your stainless steel away from aluminum. Together they will be subject to galvanic corrosion. I notice a lot of 510 atty stands are aluminum. If left in these stands, they will corrode if the anodizing get scratched. Scratching is almost a certainty.
I was reading up on stainless steel mesh. One guy who was a chemist said that stainless steel mesh wicks will release hexavalent chromium. That's bad. It is related to the high temperature when oxidizing. It makes me wonder if dry burning NiChrome or Kanthal would pose the same risk. I don't dry burn and I try for stainless steel and glass. I have some plastic tanks. I just use them for tobacco flavours and have yet to have a problem.
I would be wary of copper, it is too reactive. I know less about brass and will heed the advice of others. Also, as a side note, keep your stainless steel away from aluminum. Together they will be subject to galvanic corrosion. I notice a lot of 510 atty stands are aluminum. If left in these stands, they will corrode if the anodizing get scratched. Scratching is almost a certainty.
I think galvanic corrosion only.occurs in the presence of moisture I could be wrong.though. can't tell you how.many water heaters I have seen where joe blow homeowner puts copper brass and galvanized fittings all going into the tank and then wonder why three months later their water is no longer hot. I digress though Ill keep my ss tanks and tips but keep that beautiful copper mod collection I intend on building =)
You guys are worry warts. When I was kid, we have lead paint in our house and it never bothered any one. When we'd run out of chips and we still had some dip left, we'd eat the paint chips and nothing ever happened to us. Yeah sure, we'd sleep a lot and lose control of our bowels randomly but that happens to everyone. Why do you think they came out with Depends Adult undergarments? Sure we'd vomit more than your average kids but that just mention we had 65 packs by the time we were 9 and could out barf anyone. Hell I can still out barf anyone, in both volume and distance!
I did the research a couple of years back and I'm OK with brass parts in my attys. It's been pretty well established that lead does not migrate though brass over time and the only contamination we have to worry about is what is on the surface after machining.
I have a couple of brass drip tips that I soaked for a couple of minutes in 2pts vinegar and 1pt hydrogen peroxide and then wiped down to get rid of any surface lead that was there. Here's a link to a brewing website where they talk about that. Go down to 'Cleaning Brass' for more details.
I'm not worried about copper. IMO we couldn't get enough copper into us from vaping to be any concern, but that's just my opinion. I've never felt the need, so I've never researched it.
I have a couple of brass drip tips that I soaked for a couple of minutes in 2pts vinegar and 1pt hydrogen peroxide and then wiped down to get rid of any surface lead that was there. Here's a link to a brewing website where they talk about that. Go down to 'Cleaning Brass' for more details.
I'm not worried about copper. IMO we couldn't get enough copper into us from vaping to be any concern, but that's just my opinion. I've never felt the need, so I've never researched it.
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Lead freezes at about 350 degrees, and the vapors are toxic. Copper about 1000, zinc roughly 800 and brass about 1700 degrees, all of which are much higher temps than you will vape at.
This was discussed in length a while back. Conclusion seemed to be that we do not heat mesh nowhere near a temperature where hexavalent chromium is formed. Even if so, the debate made people aware of the issue, and I don't think a lot of mesh users do the extreme gas torching they did before.
Thats good to know. It seems to make sense too. Thanks for the link.
My concern wouldn't be melting it. Would any of these things dissolve into the juice and get inhaled from there? All my Protanks have corroded. I dumped the juice out of concern for what may be in it. I don't use pro tanks anymore. Even the new Aerotank, although the tank is stainless, the base doesn't seem like stainless.
As stated earlier the amount of these metals being leeched into the liquid is very very small. The speed and pressure of water in pipes leads to friction erosion. Still a tiny amount. With zero pressure and only movement agitation I doubt much if even a measurable amount makes it to the vapor. With colored ejuices the color is made of some type of metal. The metals usually stay behind in the coil.
Live Long and Vape!
Live Long and Vape!
I like my copper and brass drip tips (although Teflon is my favorite for feel and no lip funk). I also like my solid copper Aquilo cap. Mmmmmmmmm Lead!!!! I also prefer my stainless cable and mesh at lower than normal sub ohm. Mmmmmmmmmmm Hexavalent Chromium!!!
As a metal worker, I for one will NOT use brass, copper, or anything but Stainless Steel, even in "minor parts". Think I'm paranoid.... ask yourselves this, Why are all surgical tools made of Stainless Steel? Why have copper pots and pans been all but removed from the market, and replaced with copper clad S.S. items?
That depends on if the customer designated a classification that contains that little lead. Something such as C48200 can have up to 2%with several other classifications even higher.
Many parts made for marine use will not specify a classification outside of Naval Brass, and in this case they could contain much higher quantifies of lead. Based on over 30 years experience around the foundry industry I have witnessed brass being made for a manufacturer that only had a general specificity (such as naval brass) so the there was unknown amount of lead to begin with and excess lead from other jobs were added to get it out of stock so special handing would not be an issue.
I also want clarify this
For tanks and RDA caps I do not trust them to be lead free and would not use them.
However it would take a lot of use to leech enough lead to cause an issue. But my concerns will not stop me from using a brass drip tip or other parts not associated with the vaporization chamber or e-liquid storage.
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I too would like to know if anyone detects any kind of metallic taste when using brass or copper drip tips or tanks?
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