Posted by John Swensen on February 19, 2002 at 14:48:02:
In Reply to: How to stop the progress of: posted by Red Rot on February 16, 2002 at 07:51:25:
Most of the literature on dezincification deals with plumbing or boilers, where little can be done about the water conditions. The general consensus seems to be that, once red rot (or boiler disease, as it is sometimes called) is detected, the pipes are beyond help.
However, as brass instrumentalists, we don't continually flush our tubing with uncontrolled water (instead, we leave condensation, saliva, and food and drink residues in our horns for extended periods). Perhaps it might be possible to modify the conditions inside our horns to be less favorable to dezincification.
From the site listed below, as well as others, it would appear that we normally encounter "plug-type" dezincification, which is associated with high salinity (for tap water, that is), neutral to alkaline pH, and room or slightly higher temperature.
The presence of copper carbonate (the green crud that builds up inside horns) suggests that many horns, at least, house an alkaline environment. Throw some pretzels or nuts in the mix and we have a recipe for red rot.
It might be interesting to get some pH test strips and (roughly) measure the pH of horns; anything equal to or above a pH of 7.0 or so might be cause for alarm.
It would, also, be interesting to test some brass strips, over time, with different pH levels and salinity.
From this, I would be inclined to frequently rinse my horn, perhaps with a dilute vinegar or lemon-juice chaser.
For any chemists out there, are there any nontoxic buffering agents that could help to maintain a moderately low pH (say, pH of 6 or so), expecially if they could be, somehow, worked into the pits already there?