1550 first brew fail

[BayouBrew]

+rpr, you should name your first beer made on the system "Silver Solder". It should be a Belgian Strong Dark, just don't put lead in it please.

[Charlie]

+rpr, you should name your first beer made on the system "Silver Solder". It should be a Belgian Strong Dark, just don't put lead in it please.

Hey, what's a little lead among friends?

Friday is payday and Saturday is Beer Wars. I'll have the Tasty APA in the can by then, and I want your opinion of the "Hopocalypse Now!" too. I got high hop(e)s for that brew.*

Charlie

[Charlie]

"Silver solder" can mean many things; usually it's a tin/lead alloy with a bit of silver added.

Not according to Wikipedia (which, I grant you, is a notoriously unreliable source):

Hard solders are used for brazing, and melt at higher temperatures. Alloys of copper with either zinc or silver are the most common.

In silversmithing or jewelry making, special hard solders are used that will pass away assay. They contain a high proportion of the metal being soldered and lead is not used in these alloys. These solders vary in hardness, designated as "enamelling", "hard", "medium" and "easy". Enamelling solder has a high melting point, close to that of the material itself, to prevent the joint desoldering during firing in the enamelling process. The remaining solder types are used in decreasing order of hardness during the process of making an item, to prevent a previously soldered seam or joint desoldering while additional sites are soldered. Easy solder is also often used for repair work for the same reason. Flux or rouge is also used to prevent joints from desoldering.

Silver solder is also used in manufacturing to join metal parts that cannot be welded.

Charlie

[positiverpr]

flanders brown is up next with the belgian strong dark in three weeks. that'll be silver solder or maybe i'll call it leadbelly.

[foomench]

Not according to Wikipedia (which, I grant you, is a notoriously unreliable source):

An academic study found Wikipedia to be as accurate as some printed encyclopedias. It was surprising how many inaccuracies there were in the encyclopedia, so I guess that means both can be pretty unreliable.

[uncle_bad_touches]

I had a similar problem with my thermowell being a bit of a tight fit. I solved this the same way one might solve other more biological tight fits - with a little keg lube on the end of the temperature probe it slid in like a champ.

* disclaimer: I do not endorse using keg lube for anything other than its intended purpose as specified by its manufacturer.

[glasseye]

"Silver solder" can mean many things; usually it's a tin/lead alloy with a bit of silver added.

Not according to Wikipedia (which, I grant you, is a notoriously unreliable source)

My point is that the metal content of stuff called "silver solder" varies hugely. A quick google search reveals alloys with anywhere between 1.5% and 65% silver. Silver solders used in jewelry making have a much higher silver content than silver solders used in plumbing or electronics, so that the final product can pass an assay if necessary. The wikipedia blurb you posted appears to be talking about solder for jewelery making.

I guess lead-based silver solder is less common these days due to the Safe Drinking Water Act. It's still used in certain applications though (HVAC, electronics, etc).