brass fittings

[cyclops23]

i just got done hooking up my auto top-off. its a pretty cool setup, but is brass ok to have in there? its pretty much a line i ran off a T fitting (brass) to a 1g pitcher with a float valve on the top. the water from the pitcher then runs to a Kent float valve. i've got brass inserts in all tubing connections except the Kent float valve, so the last brass fitting is 3' away from the SW. i know brass isn't cool in SW, but it should be ok in RO/DI, shouldn't it?

 

[Sk8r]

As long as the brass is between the water source and your ro/di and not between the ro/di and the tank, you're cool... The ro/di will dispose of the copper (your house pipes may well be copper, too.)

 

[cyclops23]

crap, they're between the ro/di and the tank. i guess ill shut it off and go and get me some plastic fittings tommorrow. oh well, i should have thought of this earlier, but no one ever accused me of being smart

 

[NDreefer1]

I THINK that that brass is rather stable exposed to fresh water. I could be wrong, but if this wasnt the case water pipes would be breaking like mad. Any copper coming off is almost certainly negligable. People have kept inverts long term using tap water, which is definately exposed to lots of copper/brass fittings.

Just make sure that salt water never gets to them, or that there is no signifiacant corrosion. I think one of the major ebay RO dealers uses a brass check valve, and no problems reported with that....

OTOH you cant be too careful and if its only a few bucks get em for peace of mind.

*This could be wrong. If you notice any invert stress/death take the brass out right away and get some of that copper remover resin*

 

[cyclops23]

thanks, but i think ill go with plastic fittings (if i can find them) just to be on the safe side. ive screwed up before, and don't want to do it again if i can help it. i just put up a curtain to hide our front door yesterday because i didn't know that direct sunlight was hitting the tank, it wasn't when i set it up the first time 4 months ago. i had an algae or phyto bloom (not sure which) and had to tear down. so now our front door looks like a** with two curtains on either side, but hopefully the tank will look good enough so you won't notice it. just my luck that the windows around the door directed the sun right at my main tank and fuge. not really anywhere else, just at those 2 tanks.