Chrome plating completely gone from inside of taps

[squirt in the turns]

I have 3 Celli taps, the ones with SK 240-014 stamped on the side. They're rear-sealing and I believe are made of chrome plated brass.

I dissassembled them completely for cleaning after a period of disuse, and the insides just looked like dull brass. One had some green corrosion, which I'm sure is not good (that might be the one that had kombucha through it at some point). They have all had Starsan through them quite a few times over the years too. I assume when they were new they would have been just as shiny on the inside as the outside, but over time the chrome plating has completely dissolved? I hit them all with Bar Keepers Friend and a toothbrush, put them back together and started serving beer through 2 of them.

I'm not detecting any metalic off-flavours but I am worried about lead and other stuff leaching out of the brass.

They sure weren't cheap and they are nice-looking taps, but they're done-for, right? I should just chuck them and not drink another drop of anything that comes through them?

 

[Grmblz]

I wouldn't be comfortable running beverage through brass, given that full stainless taps are available for $30 I'd be ditching the Celli's just to be on the safe side.
$90 is a small price to pay for peace of mind, plus you'd be getting forward sealing taps which imo are superior to the rear sealing ones with regards to places where the gribblies can hide, and you have the option of going all black if that's your thing.
I've got Inter's, Ultra's, and a Nuka, to my mind the whole "reduced mass" idea behind the Nuka is a bit gimmicky, but I run 150mm shanks through the fridge door with heat sinks on the inside of them to keep my taps cool, so maybe on a font it could make a difference, also the Nuka has quite a distinctive shape to it which some folk like, and others dislike, the other major difference is the shuttle, the Ultra's are built like a brick *********, and use easily replaceable "o" rings, there's no way you'll ever wear it out, it remains to be seen how long the plastic shuttle in the Nuka lasts.
Both pour well however so maybe just get one of each and see which you prefer.
I wouldn't bother with the Inter's btw, the machining isn't up to the same standard as the Ultra's, and they're sort of notchy, at least my KL ones are, there was some talk about "clone" Inter's so maybe mine aren't the genuine item, I'm not making any accusations just reporting my observations.

 

[squirt in the turns]

Cool, thanks Grmblz. I don't really mind the shape of the Nuktap, but the obtrusive black text/logo isn't great, IMHO. I am tempted by the flow control version of the Nukatap, a feature which seems to be completely absent from the current Ultratap lineup. Maybe I don't really need flow control, though - more moving parts to clean and more to go wrong. I like flow control on the Cellis - I find it quite useful to make small adjustments to get a good pour, but the root cuase of any pouring problems is probably the horrible state of the insides of the Cellis.

Oh well, into the scrap metal bin they go. I'll be pouring from a plastic picnic tap until whatever I choose to replace them arrives.

 

[Grmblz]

No worries, fwiw the reason I bought a Nuka was the FC, I like my Ultra's but don't like the 2mtrs of "tuned" beer line, and as you point out there's no FC option the big problem for me is I like a choice of beer (mood dependant) some are almost flat (ok I'm a pom and sometimes yearn for a cask conditioned level of carb) others are highly carbed, so the problem becomes one of different line lengths for the different beers, FC on normal taps isn't great (the ones I've tried produced to much froth) I'm hoping that the different design of the Nuka FC will allow me to have short lines inside the fridge, and control the flow regardless of carbonation level/serving pressure, I'm not optimistic but "if you never go, you never know"
Wish I could be more helpful but I'm in the process of changing to commercial couplers (finally got sick of bloody ball locks) so the Nuka FC testing has taken a back seat to the re-jigging of all my gear.
Put your Celli on Gumtree, or here, even at $20ea it'll almost cover your costs, and some folks are not bothered about brass, and like the "Euro" styling.
I'll post about Nuka FC when I've got all my stuff done, and given it a run at different carb levels.

 

[mje1980]

My perlick sits in the draw now I have 3 nuka’s. I think they work great, haven’t had any issues.

 

[S.E]

I have these Harry Mason Veribest and Sander brass taps. Over 100 years old and still work well with no issues. The trick is to drink out of a Pewter tankard with such a high lead content the taps are the least of your worries.

 

[Keg King]

I wouldn't be comfortable running beverage through brass, given that full stainless taps are available for $30 I'd be ditching the Celli's just to be on the safe side.
$90 is a small price to pay for peace of mind, plus you'd be getting forward sealing taps which imo are superior to the rear sealing ones with regards to places where the gribblies can hide, and you have the option of going all black if that's your thing.
I've got Inter's, Ultra's, and a Nuka, to my mind the whole "reduced mass" idea behind the Nuka is a bit gimmicky, but I run 150mm shanks through the fridge door with heat sinks on the inside of them to keep my taps cool, so maybe on a font it could make a difference, also the Nuka has quite a distinctive shape to it which some folk like, and others dislike, the other major difference is the shuttle, the Ultra's are built like a brick *********, and use easily replaceable "o" rings, there's no way you'll ever wear it out, it remains to be seen how long the plastic shuttle in the Nuka lasts.
Both pour well however so maybe just get one of each and see which you prefer.
I wouldn't bother with the Inter's btw, the machining isn't up to the same standard as the Ultra's, and they're sort of notchy, at least my KL ones are, there was some talk about "clone" Inter's so maybe mine aren't the genuine item, I'm not making any accusations just reporting my observations.

Genuine Intertaps only come from Keg King despite there being other businesses in Australia who are using that name for stuff that has nothing to do with our product.

 

[Keg King]

Cool, thanks Grmblz. I don't really mind the shape of the Nuktap, but the obtrusive black text/logo isn't great, IMHO. I am tempted by the flow control version of the Nukatap, a feature which seems to be completely absent from the current Ultratap lineup. Maybe I don't really need flow control, though - more moving parts to clean and more to go wrong. I like flow control on the Cellis - I find it quite useful to make small adjustments to get a good pour, but the root cuase of any pouring problems is probably the horrible state of the insides of the Cellis.

Oh well, into the scrap metal bin they go. I'll be pouring from a plastic picnic tap until whatever I choose to replace them arrives.

The Ultra Tap will not be done with flow control as it would no longer be a laminar flow tap then. We may look at some sort of flow control unit soon. It is very hard to make a flow control tap as the Perlick Patent has it pretty much tied up. Our business will not use anyone's patent unless we license its use and we would publicly acknowledge this.

 

[Moog]

Good to know

 

[squirt in the turns]

The Ultra Tap will not be done with flow control as it would no longer be a laminar flow tap then. We may look at some sort of flow control unit soon. It is very hard to make a flow control tap as the Perlick Patent has it pretty much tied up. Our business will not use anyone's patent unless we license its use and we would publicly acknowledge this.

Is this proposed flow control unit going to be an add-on, maybe a shank like the existing one you sell, except compatible with the Ultratap? Or are you talking about a new tap with integrated flow control?

 

[Grok]

From a quick net search- "A solution of two parts white vinegar to one part hydrogen peroxide (common 3% solution) will remove tarnish and surface lead from brass parts when they are soaked for 5-10 minutes at room temperature. The brass will turn a buttery yellow colour as it is cleaned".

 

[Keg King]

Is this proposed flow control unit going to be an add-on, maybe a shank like the existing one you sell, except compatible with the Ultratap? Or are you talking about a new tap with integrated flow control?

Possibly a new tap

 

[Keg King]

From a quick net search- "A solution of two parts white vinegar to one part hydrogen peroxide (common 3% solution) will remove tarnish and surface lead from brass parts when they are soaked for 5-10 minutes at room temperature. The brass will turn a buttery yellow colour as it is cleaned".

Whilst brass is nice to look at there has been the realisation for some time that brass can contain small amounts of the element Bismuth. Like arsenic this is a cumulative poison for humans and so a couple of years ago the US has outlawed anything but SS for anyone serving beverages to the public.

 

[Grok]

Whilst brass is nice to look at there has been the realisation for some time that brass can contain small amounts of the element Bismuth. Like arsenic this is a cumulative poison for humans and so a couple of years ago the US has outlawed anything but SS for anyone serving beverages to the public.

Soooo, that's why it's sold as anti diarrhoea and antacid products from chemists? Not to mention the use in cosmetics and a heap of other products.
And actually lead needs time to leach out of brass and even then it's only the surface layer in contact with the liquid that is it possible to harvest any lead from. If it's running passed, it hasn't got time to gather any lead anyway. The idea of the vinegar/hydrogen peroxide is remove the surface partials (if any), and then you don't need to do it again unless you remove the surface layer.

Pssssst, don't tell the coffee drinkers that coffee machines have heaps of brass in them!

Nothing like a bit of scaremongering to increase sales eh!
Or to get re-elected!