Lead testing part II
I have given each company I emailed some time to respond and here are the results.
The first person to email me back was Dave Lachance from lead inspector, he responded on the weekend with the following:
“hello dave,
thanks for the email and your inquiry.
the kits would be great to test the solder for lead.
regards,
dave lachance”
Not a huge response but it was a positive one, he also responded the quickest.
The second response was from Jennifer McIntyre from homax who simply emailed me back that they no longer carry this product.
Other than that I have not heard from anyone else. As it stands now I am ordering the Abotex lead inspector but I will continue to look for other ways to test for lead.
If anyone has information they think would be helpful please feel free to leave a comment.
Lead testing part I
Mike and I are in the process right now of upgrading our equipment so that we can bring more of the sweet nectar of the Gods to you.
The problem with a lot of the used evaporator pans out there is that they are lead soldered which is considered to be a health risk.
We want to provide our consumers with the best quality product that we can so I thought I would post some of the research that I have done in this respect.
First I found this great consumer report.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2007/10/testing-the-lea.html
It rates 4 different lead inspectors and how they work, the following is taken from the consumer reports website:
“Homax Lead Check, $8
Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit, $18.45
These two kits consist of cigarette-shaped swabs, made by the same company, that turn pink when they detect lead. They were the easiest to use and identified accessible lead in toys, ceramic dishware, and vinyl or plastic. If lead concentrations are low, these swabs can take up to two hours to change color, but in our tests high concentrations produced immediate results. The eight-swab Lead Check Household Lead Test Kit pack is a better bargain than the Homax two-swab pack. Its packaging was less susceptible to being crushed.
Lead Inspector, $13
Swabs turn yellow, brown, gray, or black if lead is detected. It can take up to 10 minutes for a color change to occur at low lead levels. The kit, with eight tests, identified accessible lead and might be a good choice for painted metal jewelry. It also might be superior for pink or red items, because if those shades of paint bled onto a Lead Check swab, it might falsely appear to be positive. Have good ventilation and wear gloves to protect skin from chemicals.
First Alert, $13
The four test swabs provided are similar in design to those used in Lead Inspector. But we experienced some false negatives for accessible lead.
Pro-Lab Lead Surface, $10
This kit was less sensitive and more difficult to use. Two small pieces of treated paper are cut to create six tests. The paper is moistened and rubbed on the object, but we found the paper often fell apart before the two-minute rubbing time was over.”
Both Lead Inspector and First Alert have videos which showcase these kits
The following is a copy of the email I sent to all the these lead testing kit suppliers:
Hello
My name is Dave Chapman and I am a maple syrup producer. Over the past few years our industry has been phasing out lead soldered pans for producing maple syrup.
We are currently looking to upgrade our equipment but want to make certain that any used equipment we buy is lead solder free.
does the testing kit that you carry have the ability to do this.
Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon.
If anyone out there knows of another company that provides these testing kits or you have had experience in these matters please let us know.
Jesse and the sugarbush
Jesse was a great big help this year in the Sugar bush. Mike and I were really happy to have him pull such a long haul. I think Mike was the happier one of the two of us as he had been living in the sugar shack night and day for almost two weeks before we showed up.
Running and evaporator efficiently is no small task, it may seem like nothing is happening but you have to keep things “dialed in” or you loose your fire, flood the pan or burn the syrup. There are also strange things that can happen when you least expect them. Check out this vid of Jesse dealing with something called a steam lock. This happens when the sap in the pre-heater boils causing the pressure to block the flow of sap.
