Mixing Brass and Stainless

[Texas Wellman]

We're using a lot of stainless these days since Uncle Sam and the Kalifornia Kulture outlawed brass. Just wondering if any of you guys were mixing S.S. and Brass and if there are any problems with electrolysis and if the brass will deteriorate or if the stainless will? Also I have been using special teflon just for S.S. to keep it from galling. SS is so hard that it doesn't tighten like normal brass or galv.pipe. It gets tight really quickly and I have had a few joints leak even after taping and putting sealant on the threads. Pretty soon we'll switch everything over to stainless (check valves, tank tee's, etc). I wish we could still get good quality brass but the new stuff ain't quite the same as the old "leaded" brass.

 

[Valveman]

It is not nearly as bad as screwing galvanized into brass or Stainless. But almost any dissimilar metals can cause electrolysis. I have not seen a problem, but the only brass I have had screwed into Stainless for any length of time is the old leaded brass. So I guess time will have to answer that one.

Galling is a big problem when screwing SS into SS. But I haven't had any problem with screwing brass or anything else into SS. SS doesn't give to seal the threads like brass or copper, so you have to use a sealant and anti-seize. I usually use Teflon tape with Teflon paste over that. You have to be careful of even the kind of paste or pipe dope you use.

You can use low lead brass for some things. But if there are any close tolerances the "brass" will turn green from too much copper and flakes of it will seize anything with a tight fit. We have switched to SS when we can. But it was just a big political game that has cost all of us billions and they are not finished with us yet. Lead in water happens occasionally because of water quality issues. But it is not like humans, especially Americans are going extinct, or even dying at a young age because of lead in the water from the many years before all these regulations existed.

 

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[Texas Wellman]

They make some special teflon tape with anit-seize powder on it. I have been using it.

https://www.grainger.com/product/ANTI-SEIZE-Thread-Seal-Tape-2TE52

 

[Craigpump]

Seen too many brass adapters and brass pump checks corroded/rotted when they're screwed into stainless pumps so we never combine stainless and brass.

 

[Ballvalve]

Stainless being so hard and having so many leaks, even with tape over dope, I tried heavy grey pvc cement. Works. Then black Permatex gasket sealant on its own. Works. Since the threads don't have any give, the least off spec from the fine Chinese that make these SS fittings means trouble. And trouble is the Chinese special gift to America. Had some brass Chinese 3/4 nipples that you could screw into a coupler by hand and strip them out!

 

[Valveman]

Seen too many brass adapters and brass pump checks corroded/rotted when they're screwed into stainless pumps so we never combine stainless and brass.

That is very interesting. Do the male threads on the brass get eaten out the same way galvanized does when screwed into brass or Stainless?

 

[Craigpump]

The threads on the brass male adapters corrode and fail, seen the same thing on brass pump checks but not as often. Yep, just like when galvanized fails when screwed into brass.

I probably have pics someplace..

 

[Valveman]

The threads on the brass male adapters corrode and fail, seen the same thing on brass pump checks but not as often. Yep, just like when galvanized fails when screwed into brass.

I probably have pics someplace..

Love to see a pic if you can find one. I have yet to see a brass male thread eaten out like that. Do you think it is just the low lead bras or is it eating on the old leaded stuff as well?

 

[Craigpump]

It's definitely the older brass. The last one I can remember was last winter, customer complained of low pressure & the electric bill had more than doubled. We found a brass adapter in a GS series Goulds that had been in over 10 years.

 

[Texas Wellman]

Good to know. I have never seen any ill effects from brass and stainless but at least now we know.

 

[lookArU]

.....But it is not like humans, especially Americans are going extinct, or even dying at a young age because of lead in the water from the many years before all these regulations existed.

Hm. And they, we, are dying -- at young and older ages, thanks to spreading lead around. Oh-- original sin: stating a FACT. )

 

[Valveman]

Well the fact is that lead was an important part of plumbing parts for thousands of years and lead poisonings from lead in pipe and fittings is extremely rare. The water must be hot or acidic for lead from pipe and fittings to dissolve into the water. This has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, but lead in pipe and fittings was never a problem. We have to quit letting our government officials create regulations about things they know nothing about. Regulations to take lead out of pipe and fittings did not make the water any safer to drink, it just increased the cost of every plumbing product a bunch, made plumbing products have much less quality, and gave even more control to a government that gets it wrong nearly every time.