Increasingly convinced my copper mesh is not actually copper

NormandieStill

Since I built the still, I've permanently had a little roll of copper mesh in-line with the vapours to compensate for the lack of copper in the still itself (30L keg + tri-clamp parts). My copper reflux column uses the stainless version of the same mesh as packing which came from an AliExpress seller (don't have the name at hand). From time-to-time I give the mesh a clean, generally when it starts to look or smell particularly manky. After 4 back-to-back stripping runs it had taken on a blueish sheen in places (not the green/blue of copper products, but more like the oily blue of titanium). I chucked it in a jar with some reflux heads to clean off any oils, and then in some vinegar to clean it up to fresh copper ready to process some more dirty sulphur (if needs be).
But it didn't really come clean

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The vinegar bath seemed to go a lovely copper green, and had small glittering particles swirling around in it. I rinsed it off with hot water and left it to dry unrolled, and the above photo is what was left. I've used vinegar to clean up some copper pipe the other day and with barely any rubbing it came up pure and shiny. I'm not entirely sure what this is, but I think I'm coming around to the idea that it's not copper!
Any ideas?
And any reliable sources for copper mesh (actually made from, you know... copper!) in Europe? I know I can get it in the states, but the shipping is going to be more than a little painful."I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

witch

i got my copper mesh off this site had no problems UK based or try amazon
https://distillinguk.uk/copper-mesh/Live today hope for tomorrow

Salt-Must-Flow

You can confirm if it's copper by just cutting a piece and see what color the core of the material is.

ThomasBrewer

That looks like copper to me, Normandie. You can run a magnet over it and check to see if it's attracted if you suspect it might be plated material.

Salt-Must-Flow

What if it's copper plated stainless steel? It may not be magnetic. Just saying. Cut a piece and see if it's the color of copper.

cob

It has a sectional density from .00002for medium -.00005 for heavy. Do you think you can see that without significant magnification?be water my friend

shadylane

Try melting a piece of the copper mesh.
Or even whack it with a hammer to see how malleable it is.

NormandieStill

What if it's copper plated stainless steel? It may not be magnetic. Just saying. Cut a piece and see if it's the color of copper.With my contact lenses in, my vision is not too bad, but I don't think that I can see the core (if there is one) in a piece of wire that's about 1/10 mm in diameter!

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Thanks for the comments everyone. I guess what I was wondering is, does anyone else have copper mesh that looks like this? I find it strange that the vinegar bath doesn't clean it up in the same way as it would copper pipe. And the shiny sections could be exposed "some-other-material", or simply a crust that has formed on the wire.
I'll have a go at whacking a bit with a hammer. Other than relieving some frustration I'm not quite sure what to expect though."I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

NZChris

If it didn't look like copper after a citric acid bath, I'd be worried.

shadylane

That's a possibility
But not a problem.

NormandieStill

Didn't think of citric acid. I'll give that a shot and see how it looks. If I can't get it back to pre-patina copper then I'm calling fraud and buying some more. Or just finally making a copper riser for the still."I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

Saltbush-Bill

Hot dunder or backset will achieve the same result as citric

Rrmuf

+1 on saltbush,s suggestion.-- Rrmuf

Ben

Archimedes says you can solve the question with a scale and a volumetric measuring device....
The easier way would be to cut a tiny piece off, add it to a mix of 2 parts vinegar, 1 part hydrogen peroxide. If it's plated this will remove the plating, if its solid it will either dissolve completely or you will just keep seeing copper (depending on how much copper you have, and how much solvent):)

NormandieStill

Four hours in a fairly concentrated citric acid bath (I didn't have any hot backset to hand, and didn't want to trip anything until I resolved the question) seems to have cleaned it up somewhat. The sheen that I had thought was an inner core being exposed now wipes off. I have no idea what was in the last batches that I ran to make it look like that. I'm now confident that it is indeed copper and will stop overthinking.
I was checking up because I may soon run my first batch of something that definitely produced sulphur (wild fermented apple juice probably suffering from a nitrogen deficiency. Adding DAP and stirring with a copper tube seem to have removed the smell, but I want my sulphur-scavenging copper in place if I decide to run it (instead of turning it into cider vinegar)."I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

NZChris

Four hours???  My copper is bright within a few minutes in citric acid.
Especially when you have a sulfide problem, you need copper in the boiler as well.

NormandieStill

I went out!
Got that already. I tend to leave my abortive attempt at making copper coils for packing media (too time consuming) sitting in the bottom of the boiler. I may dump the copper pipe I used for stirring in with the wash if / when I run it."I have a potstill that smears like a fresh plowed coon on the highway" - Jimbo
A little spoon feeding *For New & Novice Distillers

Saltbush-Bill

Doesn't need to be hot, hot just works a bit quicker.

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  .....still might come in useful one day.