LSX. . . . Or Not ?

[Steve1262]

Can anyone comment on the suitability of LSX plumbing sealant ? (Sold in small yellow tubes)
I wanted to use some, if suitable to bed and seal a through the hull fitting to the bottom of my mash tun or if there is a better option fire away.

[Steve B]

It's food safe - I've used it to seal things in my brewing setup - no discernible off tastes or anything that I've noticed.

[Fil]

its magic stuff, when cured both heat and safe for pottable water.. tho contains volatile irritants which evaporate during curing, so keep it out of your eyes
just a smear is all thats needed..

[jmc]

+1 to LSX.

Saved my bacon in the past. Just give it some time to cure before testing.

It forms a rubbery type seal so it can be removed later if you want to replace seals etc.

[Cazamodo]

Just got some to seal the threads on my new elements. Looking to also try and use it to seal a not very tight kettle element which was leaking slightly.

Will let you know how it goes, but I've seen it recommended by a number of people!

[Belter]

It's food safe - I've used it to seal things in my brewing setup - no discernible off tastes or anything that I've noticed.

I'd really like to use it also. But found jo evidence anywhere that it was foodsafe. Fil recommended it ages ago so I gave it a good looking into but the only thing I found was that it was suitable for potable water.

That's not the same as food or acidic wort.

If anyone has proof it's food safe I'll be all over it as sealing my HLT is becoming a pain in the ass

[jmc]

It's food safe - I've used it to seal things in my brewing setup - no discernible off tastes or anything that I've noticed.

I'd really like to use it also. But found jo evidence anywhere that it was foodsafe. Fil recommended it ages ago so I gave it a good looking into but the only thing I found was that it was suitable for potable water.

That's not the same as food or acidic wort.

If anyone has proof it's food safe I'll be all over it as sealing my HLT is becoming a pain in the ass

I've used to help seal the tap on my HLT for way over a year.
I also used it to help seal an element see topic Fernox LS-X saves the day

Its a silicone-based sealant, WRAS approved that's insoluble in hot or cold water.
Active ingredient is Triethoxy(octyl)silane

For more info from Fernox site see
Summary sheet
Safety data sheet

[Belter]

It's food safe - I've used it to seal things in my brewing setup - no discernible off tastes or anything that I've noticed.

I'd really like to use it also. But found jo evidence anywhere that it was foodsafe. Fil recommended it ages ago so I gave it a good looking into but the only thing I found was that it was suitable for potable water.

That's not the same as food or acidic wort.

If anyone has proof it's food safe I'll be all over it as sealing my HLT is becoming a pain in the ass

I've used to help seal the tap on my HLT for way over a year.
I also used it tohelp seal an element see topic

Fernox LS-X saves the day

Its a silicone-based sealant, WRAS approved that's insoluble in hot or cold water.
Active ingredient is Triethoxy(octyl)silane

For more info from Fernox site see
Summary sheet
Safety data sheet

... And you're not dead yet? So it's safe in acidic wort? I know it would be fine in a HLT. Ive just contradicted myself massively.

[jmc]

Its still working in my HLT. As you say I can't see any issue there.

I used my old boiler for about 15 brews after I fixed it with LS-X then the element died, which I couldn't replace so now use another boiler. I'd use it again in the same situation but up to you.

Useful stuff to have around on brewday - just in case.

[Belter]

I was just passing screwfix so I bought some for my hlt. If anyone can find evidence it's safe for brewing I'll squirt a whole tube into my boiler and lick it off. I mean use it to seal my ball valve

[Kev888]

After what recently came to light (news to me anyway) over polycarbonates, who knows for certain - even the things acredited as food safe are potentially not, these days!!

For me though, with LS-X being suitable for potable and hot/cold water thats enough for me to treat it 'essentially' as food safe in in HLTs. As you say, that isn't necessarily the same in hot wort etc., but I've not seen it visibly degrade over time in the boiler, so combined with the relatively small quantities contacting a lot of beer then I personally struggle to become very concerned about it.

An alternative for permanent fixtures is JB-weld, but its a similar story with that - the manufacturers say its non toxic (when set) but again thats not 'actually' a guarantee of being food-safe in hot wort or the after cleaning chemicals one may use. Again, especially with the small quantities involved though I tend to consider it suitable myself.

Cheers
Kev

[jaff]

If it's silicone they must put something in it to stop it going mouldy. It's that stuff, fungicides, and whatnot, that might be the issue. But exposure is very small and if it's rated for potable water that would be good enough for me.

[Steve1262]

Wow. Thanks for that guys, sounds very poular so that'll do for me.

[Belter]

Yeah agreed. I still wont put it in my boiler as im all but 'must be natural' semi organic leaf hop no pellets no plastic no poison man but then I probably shouldn't be drinking beer.

It'll solve my issues with my hlt though. It says in the leaflet 'completely safe for use with drinking water'. Awesome I wonder whether asbestos used to say that on the packet.

[Kev888]

I'm sure lead pipes did Hopefully in 20 years time we won't also be mocking HDPE pipes..

I've always been pretty careful about such things too, but to be frank I'm beginning to think there's very little that's utterly safe - I'm increasingly just going for what seems pragmatic. I certainly wouldn't bias it by what's natural; the numerous ingenious ways nature has devised to poison things is truly impressive, and I'm not convinced that evolution cares much about what happens to us beyond offspring-producing age..

Cheers
kev