How to solder correctly

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Tjbaudio

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One way I remove water is to use an air compressor with a long wand. Watch your eyes and any thing else you dont want wet. The water can spray pretty far.:D I also open valves above and below my work zone.
 

Andrew21

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When I was doing this for my first time, I heated up the fitting too much and too long. I heard it oxidizes the fitting and therefore the solder won't stick. So I tried again, just like everyone said, wait till it starts to suck the solder in and voila! It works!
 

Abikerboy

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prashster said:
One caveat on the bread advice: use white bread only - or bread with NO grains or seeds. You can clog an aerator if you use seeded or grainy bread.
Very true, and another suggestion is to remove the aerators before turning on the water, or if on a line for something that doesnt have an aerator, like a washing machine, or walk in shower, unscrew the washer hose and put the end in a bucket, or unscrew the showerhead so not to clog it. Oh, and I am not a pro at all, and in fact dumb as a rock with plumbing. Just passing along some things I was shown by a past friend.
 

Master Plumber Mark

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Oaty #95 tinning flux is the only way to solder

It sounds like a good idea to
make that sacrifice to the plumbing gods,

the furry animal around here is probably going to
be a Rat in the crawl space....

but if it helps you to "find your inner plumber"
its ok.... then


1. sand the pipe
2 sand the inside of the fittings.

3 apply a liberal amount of OATY #95 flux to both
the male and female parts of the joint...

4. heat it up till the flux starts to tin the pipe
use Aceteline tank with a turbo torch...
I like the.... bigger tips...they dont fool around.....

5 apply the solder....Canfiled, bridget, whatever...
apply a healthy amount of solder......IT IS VERY CHEAP, compaired to a leak soooooo let it
drip ...let it floow..then ....

put a rag under your work so the flux or solder does not
drip off and ruin carpet, tile, vinyl flooring ..whatever.

6 wipe of excess solder and flux with a wet rag...

If you use the oaty tinning flux you about cant screw up.

did I miss anything???
 

Master Plumber Mark

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oaty tinning flux for all of my work....

the stuff I use is the flux that comes in a GREEN can...

it is the non-water soluable......

.I thought it was Oaty #95...self tinning ..


the water soluable kinds of flux will cause nothing but
troulbes, and is very difficult to trust for soldering....


95_lead_free_tinning.jpg
I know that it might be a sign that I am a sissy for useing tinning flux.........

but this is the best of the best.....
 
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GrumpyPlumber

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master plumber mark said:
the stuff I use is the flux that comes in a GREEN can...

it is the non-water soluable......

.I thought it was Oaty #95...self tinning ..


the water soluable kinds of flux will cause nothing but
troulbes, and is very difficult to trust for soldering....


95_lead_free_tinning.jpg
I know that it might be a sign that I am a sissy for useing tinning flux.........

but this is the best of the best.....

aaaahhhh...TINNING flux...let that be a lesson to me!
 

GrumpyPlumber

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RUGGED said:
https://terrylove.com/forums/showpost.php?p=89194&postcount=19

I buy a container like above, then fill those small tins since I don't work with copper every day.


This could erupt into a "code hunt", but I think UPC code requires water soluble flux. (I COULD be wrong...but any discussion could be a learning experience)
My experience has led me to the conclusion that the MAJOR factor in soldering is the solder itself...though No-Korode gave me trouble.
I find 95/5 is best (tin/Antimony).
I buy silvabrite at the supplier...HD or lowes doesn't carry it.
Any solder I'd ever gotten from "box" stores seems to have a different melting point and characteristics....they don't seem to flow as well.
 

Prashster

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I'm no code expert, but my municipality requires lead-free solder on potable lines. It made no nevermind that whether the flux was water-soluble, though.
 

GrumpyPlumber

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frenchie said:
You guys lost me on the topic of solder - way over my head - why the emphasis, "ah, TINNING flux" comment, Grumpy?

I thought Mark had typo'd...he uses Oatey #95, which is "tinning" flux...has a small amount of a "solder" like substance mixed into the flux.
I thought he meant Oatey #5, which is what I use...regular, water soluble flux.
 

Prashster

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GrumpyPlumber said:
I thought he meant Oatey #5, which is what I use...regular, water soluble flux.

You're the pro, but I thought #5 and #95 are both petrolatum-based. Which'd mean they're not water soluble. Am I missing something?
 

Frenchie

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Is that what that bit of silver's about? And here I thought crud must've gotten onto my cleaning brushes, or into my flux, and threw 'em both out.

Wish I was kidding. I'm still working off the containers of flux I inherited when a friend of mine cleaned out his shop, four or five years ago. His shop was always a mess, so...

So why was Mark worried about looking like a sissy?
 

GrumpyPlumber

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prashster said:
You're the pro, but I thought #5 and #95 are both petrolatum-based. Which'd mean they're not water soluble. Am I missing something?

Make that "20-5"...and on that note...Who's on first?

frenchie said:
Is that what that bit of silver's about? And here I thought crud must've gotten onto my cleaning brushes, or into my flux, and threw 'em both out.

Wish I was kidding. I'm still working off the containers of flux I inherited when a friend of mine cleaned out his shop, four or five years ago. His shop was always a mess, so...

So why was Mark worried about looking like a sissy?

Well...no diss to Mark, but tinning flux is sometimes thought of as a short-cut.
 

Frenchie

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I love how one question leads to more questions...

- What's that about self-cleaning flux? There's flux that purports to clean the pipe without you having to brush it? Lord, what will they think of next...

- Why's it a shortcut? Does having the bit of solder in there help draw in the actual solder or something? Do I get to feel even more proud of my sweating skills because I don't use it?

- speaking of shortcuts... have you seen those pre-soldered fittings at home depot? I laughed...


Edit:

I found this article... good old Yates, he's explained so many things to me over the years:

http://www.contractormag.com/articles/column.cfm?columnid=85

But that's not what we've been talking about here. No.5 and No.95 are both water-soluble.

BTW, Prashter: I found the MSDS sheets, the main ingredient is "sufractant blend"... which got me thinking about laundry detergents, and how a lot of them are petrochemical based, too...
 
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Dunbar Plumbing

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That self-cleaning flux is bad bad bad. It's a clear liquid with a small brush in the blue bottle. Guys think you can just brush that on a pipe that was never sanded and that's where all the leaks start happening.

I use tinning flux because of how it spreads so thin whereby you can eliminate the buildup of flux inside the fitting......where it can cause all kinds of problems. Other fluxes have a tendency to separate or glob when the climate is hot, or pratically impossible to use when in cold climate.

You can pick up those pre-soldered fittings extremely cheap at HD now; they have been dropping the prices now for months. I was offered to buy around 6000 fittings but the offer was a joke at 14 cents a piece. Lower!!
 

GrumpyPlumber

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With the channel inside the hub of thoses fittings...have yet to try 'em.
Doubt I will.
Just like the self cleaning flux...I think it's a MFG gimmick to appeal to homeowners.
 

Cass

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RUGGED said:
That self-cleaning flux is bad bad bad. It's a clear liquid with a small brush in the blue bottle. Guys think you can just brush that on a pipe that was never sanded and that's where all the leaks start happening.

I use tinning flux because of how it spreads so thin whereby you can eliminate the buildup of flux inside the fitting......where it can cause all kinds of problems. Other fluxes have a tendency to separate or glob when the climate is hot, or pratically impossible to use when in cold climate.

You can pick up those pre-soldered fittings extremely cheap at HD now; they have been dropping the prices now for months. I was offered to buy around 6000 fittings but the offer was a joke at 14 cents a piece. Lower!!

Was that for 1/2" or 3/4"?
 
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