Re:Brass and lead toxicity in midrange espresso machines
by cperciva on Monday March 19, 2018 @04:00AM
(#16616755)
For steam boilers and heat exchanger systems, being able to expand and deform under high pressure is a desirable feature.
I'm curious, why? Presumably it's more than just the fact that deformation allows for less catastrophic overpressure failure?
Re:Brass and lead toxicity in midrange espresso machines
by tianheyang on Monday March 19, 2018 @02:20PM
(#16621387)
Correct, there is a lower chance of an explosion.
I also wonder how effective water scale deposits on the boiler are at mitigating lead - doing tests on new-ish machines without much scale buildup could be a factor in these results.
Stainless is becoming more of a popular alternative to brass and copper, but isn't as effective of a thermal conductor and is not as malleable. For steam boilers and heat exchanger systems, being able to expand and deform under high pressure is a desirable feature.