Brass fitting on RO/DI UNIT

[divetoday]

Hey everyone. I had to replace a fitting/connection on my RO/DI unit today. The guy at the plumbing store couldn’t replace my plastic connection, but insisted a brass fitting would work and not cause problems with rust or contamination. Should I be concerned?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hey everyone. I had to replace a fitting/connection on my RO/DI unit today. The guy at the plumbing store couldn’t replace my plastic connection, but insisted a brass fitting would work and not cause problems with rust or contamination. Should I be concerned?

Where in the system is the fitting? Pictures?

 

[divetoday]

It is the fitting that connects the end of the DI unit to the I use to put water in the bucket.

 

[divetoday]

 

[Crabs McJones]

It is the fitting that connects the end of the DI unit to the I use to put water in the bucket.

So it's at the end of the system....Personally I wouldn't use it. I'd wait and order the correct fitting. Don't want to risk any kind of contamination of your freshly made rodi water. If it was earlier in the system where any contaminants would be filtered out you may get by. But it's at the very end.

 

[K. Steven]

Brass contains copper, so I wouldn't use it.

 

[schprock]

Do you have Lowe’s in town? That looks like 1/4” to 3/8” male

Try 1/4” John guest to 3/8” male

Lowe’s have better selection than Home Depot when you looking for these fittings

 

[Matthew Frost]

It's a 3/8" male to 1/4" PTC (push to connect) fitting. They are about $4 at Lowes.

 

[scuzy]

Copper is a no no in your system.

 

[mfinn]

Not a good replacement fitting.
There is a reason they come with plastic fittings.

 

[PanchoG]

There will be rust eventually, I do not know if it is toxic but there should be a reason why the materials are always plastics and glass.

 

[ca1ore]

Brass doesn't rust, not technically. But it does corrode and leach - both really bad things in a reef tank.

 

[recess62]

Brass contains copper, so I wouldn't use it.

Brass is yellow/orange because of copper. Your RODI will have traces of copper. Probably not good for your corals or inverts You are spending good $ making purified h2o. Why contaminate it at the end of the line?

 

[JamesP]

If you look at the solenoid for the Tunze Osmolator on BRS you will see it uses a brass body for the solenoid itself.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/wate...odyLVBM9RnEYWn7Wc4p7dCHf6dy80afxoCRxgQAvD_BwE

I personally think if it is good enough for a company the sells the best ATO on the market, it's probably fine. I would also say that yes, brass is a mix of copper and zinc, but it does not have the properties of either but it is a new distinct alloy made from the two. Salt contains sodium and chlorine, but it is nothing like either one. It is a new compound with its own unique properties.

 

[Dburr1014]

Brass does contain copper, copper kills corals and inverts.
If this was in the beginning of the system it would be fine. But at the end of the system the water is stripped and looking to bind anything it can get. It just might pick up some copper. So, no, I wouldn't use it either.
Copper can't touch your salt water cuz it will corrode. But in fresh water it's fine, no problems.
I have a normaly closed valve before my rodi unit. It's made of mostly brass. It's been there for years with no problems.
So brass is not all bad just be careful where you use it.
Your plumber probably doesn't know about reefing is all. [emoji4]

 

[AquaFX-PB]

Measure the output water with a TDS meter. (the proof is in the pudding) - Hopefully the TDS is still ZERO... if its not zero, replace the fitting quickly. (assuming your DI resin is good)
Brass/copper can be considered as soft metals - and soft metals are much more susceptible to being eaten away as pure water passes thru. (dissolved over long periods of time)

I would recommend NEVER using any metal after the RO , and I would even further that into NEVER-EVER using metal after RO/DI. Even Stainless Steel can be suspect - (depending on the grade ect)

The more pure the water, the more aggressive the water is - (RO/DI is literally as clean as you can make water, hence its the most aggressive)
The water literally it looking to fill itself with something. Brass would be an excellent candidate given its properties.

Skip the metal!! :)
I would recommend replacing the fitting - just my $.02

 

[JamesP]

With respect to the Tunze solenoid for use on an RODI system that I referenced earlier, I decided to reach out to BRS to see their stance on using it. There are tons of other threads out there just like this one with folks saying never to use brass because it is a copper alloy, so I asked BRS why they recommend using the solenoid even though it is made of brass. Below is their response. Also, their BRS160 is using one of these from what I remember about following the build and they are currently 6 months in to using Triton and they do monthly ICP-OES tests and haven't mentioned anything about elevated copper levels. If you have an option to use plasic or metal then you should choose plastic, but I don't think you are going to notice a difference either way to be honest. I have been using the brass Tunze RO solenoid for about 2 years now with no issues.

Jason (BulkReefSupply)

Jan 25, 16:11 CST

Hey There,
Thanks for reaching out to us. While we have not measured trace levels of equipment like this. I would have no reservations using and recommending them with the amount of time and applications we have seen them installed on. Small amounts if any are leached have yet to cause issues on any of our systems here and we have not heard any reports. If you have any other questions, let us know. Thanks!
Jason