I think I did something fairly dumb yesterday, but I’m not sure how much damage I did. Sunday, I was cleaning up after my last brew. I put PBW in my SS boil pot and threw in my immersion chiller and my copper pipe manifold. I meant to let them soak for a little bit and come back, but got distracted by family duties. Long story short: I ended up leaving my copper immersion chiller and manifold soaking in PBW in my SS pot over night. When I came back Monday, the PBW was a bluish green color. I gather the copper had some sort of reaction.
Did I do anything bad? If I did, how do I fix it? Do I have to go shopping for a bigger boiler ::) ???
PBW solution at 1% is good to use on most metals including copper. It’s a caustic solution so it probably removed an oxide layer from the surface of your copper rendering your water blue. I use PBW on my kegs routinely. Love the stuff.
I have cleaned up copper to brand new looking status using id carlsons no scrub cleaner. It could be crusty and oxidized but the no scrub cleaner made it literally look brand new.
You should be fine and dandy. Theres a small chance you’re gonna get some funny colored spots on any contact point between the copper and the steel, but they’re harmless and the steel should re-“stainless” itself naturally.
