I would personally be very leery of stainless steel as well, as the manufacturing process can cause the the chromium to oxidize into what is called "hexavalent chromium", which is toxic, carcinogenic and likes to hang out in your liver and kidneys building up. I'm not going to say it is dangerous, because I'm not a metallurgist, and it could be that the hexavalent form never leeches into your juice. But since it might (if anyone knows for sure, I'd be interested in knowing), I would personally hesitate to use it for anything going into my lungs.
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Where as there is a whole host of hazards associated with stainless steel, or any steel production, once stainless steels has solidified they are considered extremely non-reactive. It is because of the outer layer of Chromium Oxides that are formed at the metallic boundary in the presences of Oxygen.
If you are involved in the production of Stainless Steels, work around Chromium smelting or perform Stainless Steel welding, Hexavalent Chromium exposure might be a concern though.
do you think small glass tubing would work? instead of solder you could use epoxy putty or quick set epoxy liquids to hold it into the atty connector. very easy to break to size with a razor blade to score the tubing, and i would assume it could be found small enough (only thing im not really positive on) and you wouldnt have leaching issues of any kind like you do with metal or even some types of plastic. i might try it my parts to build one should be here by wendsay so maybe i can find some and report back on how it worked
Glass is somewhat difficult to work with. If you come up with something, I'd love to see pics of it.
Like I said before, Stainless Steel - At least 15% Chromium / 5% Nickel - is extremely non-reactive.
Like I said before, Stainless Steel - At least 15% Chromium / 5% Nickel - is extremely non-reactive.
thr33" data-source="post: 1486926" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch">PFA type Teflon might be better as it has the same operating temp as TFE but is even more resistant to leaching. You can get "prototyping samples" at Zeus - PFA
Usually stainless steel I believe.
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Other than issues with durability, it should be ok.
I'd be a little concerned about leaching from the epoxy itself. And I might be envisioning this wrong, but I'd say the epoxy would make it difficult if not impossible to salvage the atty if it breaks or doesn't work.
The epoxy is in the battery connector to seal the feeding system, you just screw on the atty like on any other connector
my only concern with glass is it would probably be very easy to break the tube when you pump the bottle. I'm sure it would work if you were very careful, but I think I'd end up snapping the tube.
that was my only initial concern is breaking the glass tubing cause if it was broken, youd pretty much have to replace the atty connector cause you never get the epoxy out of it. aside of speculation i would guess the plastic tubing would be the best overall thing to use since its easier to find then SS tubing and substantially cheaper, almost a negligible price. if you could find a small enough piece of a rigid, lets say PVC type plastic tube somewhere or salvaged from something, you could run that from the bottom of the bottle up into the atty. but i think it would be way to brittle.
even if some copper leaked out of the brass tubing over time or out of a copper tube, do you think its that bad health wise? considering copper also antibacterial properties and is essentially the golden standard for plumbing (copper leaches into your water in your pipes on a daily basis and is deamed safe so..) i would think as long as you dont let the concentrations build and clean the device on a regular basis i would assume the worst that would happen would be a funny taste probably. but if anyone has any conflicting info please share cause id like to know if my reasoning is flawed.
even if some copper leaked out of the brass tubing over time or out of a copper tube, do you think its that bad health wise? considering copper also antibacterial properties and is essentially the golden standard for plumbing (copper leaches into your water in your pipes on a daily basis and is deamed safe so..) i would think as long as you dont let the concentrations build and clean the device on a regular basis i would assume the worst that would happen would be a funny taste probably. but if anyone has any conflicting info please share cause id like to know if my reasoning is flawed.
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It would depend on how the brass/copper was manufactured. Plumbing copper/brass are safe for use because various impurities (such as lead) have been removed. In addition the reaction of the brass or copper in ejuice could be a lot different than with water. I would test it before committing it to use.
I've been considering making a bottom feeder mod and the more I think about it the more I'm certain I'll be using some type of medical grade tubing and sealing the hole in the battery connector with food grade silicon...
As I mentioned in an earlier post, you can get free "samples" of Teflon/PFA at Zeus - PFA It's supposed to be high-purity, but I'm not sure if that refers to the sterility or the chemical makeup. I'm considering getting some sent and sterilizing it.
I'll probably look into the free sample. Free is good
I would probably boil it out too unless it can in certified sterile packaging like most medical supplies. It may be paranoia, but it never hurts to start with something you know to be clean.
Type 304 and Type 316 stainless are manufactured for corrosive environments so I would think they would be ok - but an 1/8" OD seamless tube of 304 is $9.21 a ft. at McMaster-Carr. Might be worth a try if you have concerns with standard stainless. They also have a silicon-coated 304 type... way expensive ($28 per/ft).
I use hypodermic stainless steel tubing. Same thing they make needles out of. Although for the most part they just jab you and pump some juice in you then take it out. But iv's are left stuck in you for long periods of time. So in light of that i believe they are relatively safe.
This has nothing to do with the safety of using stainless steel, I am simply correcting a bit of incorrect info in your post.
Actually the needle is not left in your arm.
When you administer an IV:
1. the needle pierces the vein
2. when you get the "flash" of blood you advance the catheter into the vein and withdraw the needle.
3. you then attach the IV tubing to the catheter.
An IV needle has a catheter that surrounds the needle. Imagine a clicky type ballpoint pen with the writing tip out. the pen body would be the catheter and the point of the pen would be the needle.
The part that is left in your arm for an extended period of time is not the stainless steel needle.
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No Worries Java_Az! I really don't think there is a lot of danger in using stainless steel, but personally I'm leaning toward using a medical grade teflon type tube in my homegrown bottom feeder. The only reason I knew for sure about the IVs is for the last half of my career I was a CLS (Combat Life Saver, not a "real" medic) so I was trained to administer IVs.
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