Lead vs Lead-Free solder

[TedL]

I can't tell you how sorry and sad I am really that. Very very much. How is your wife doing?

We're wading through HMO hell, going through the paces need to to get them to approve out of network surgery in NYC or Boston. There's one surgeon in each who does the surgery. She's otherwise very healthy, fit and relatively young, and the cancer is believed to be localized, so we're hopeful. But the procedure is brutally extensive, with a couple weeks in the hospital to recover.

From what I know of your life, I know you've had the feeling I have. Thanks for asking.

 

[Cookie]

I have Ted. I am here if you ever need someone. I've been at this one in 98, great hospital It is in NY, I am sure you have heard of this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Sloan-Kettering_Cancer_Center and this,

 

[Sponsor]

 

[TedL]

We've been to MSK for a consult, and hope to go there for the surgery. Virtually all our family is in the NYC metro area, and we grew up there, so it's like home. I appreciate your support.

But I really didn't want to make this about me & my wife, but about healthy respect for dangerous things that some people disrespect. Be it potential cross-connections or asbestos fibers in the air, we need to learn enough before we act so as to not be dangerous to ourselves and others, and before we speak dismissively of the risks.

 

[hj]

Asbestos

I did not say I did not consider asbestos a problem. Those who worked with it were definitely exposed to the fibers. What I am saying is that it was only a consumer problem when they started scraping it off surfaces to get rid of it. The consensus was that if it had been left intact and encapsulated, it would have been less of a problem, and definitely less expensive to deal with. The hysteria over asbestos floor tile, asbestos roofing, asbestos siding, etc. was overblown because these only became fibrous when they were ground up. It, like Radon and similar causes, became a cash cow to certain companies who realized that removal could be made a big deal, which translated into big fees.

 

[Redwood]

Plus, if you lived in a cave how would you connect to the internet?

Why worry about that...
Get club go find cave women to drag back to the cave...

Lead free soldering...
So easy a caveman could do it!

 

[Pipelayinghost]

I always use a 97/3 solder with a acid based flux,any flux will do but i donot like the water based stuff,I have welded 8 inch copper with a mapp gas bottle from home depot with the turbo tip and a 4 inch nice paint brush to flux it with,no leaks ever,even with water in it,its an art form once you get good at sweating copper you stop cleaning your fittings if they are still shiny and new unless my helper is there to clean em for me.no better smell in the world then sweating copper to me, but I truly love plumbing,its been good to myself and family for almost 13 years, atleast before this recession hit still doing ok just watching every penny spent now days..

 

[99k]

The hysteria over asbestos floor tile, asbestos roofing, asbestos siding, etc. was overblown because these only became fibrous when they were ground up. It, like Radon and similar causes, became a cash cow to certain companies who realized that removal could be made a big deal, which translated into big fees

Did you know that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer and kills approximately 21,000 people a year. I am in the business, not because it is a "cash cow" (far from it), because it is real.

 

[Benj]

I've only done soldering on houses I've owned, but I've always found that it works best if you heat up the pipe about 3/4" back from the end while at the same time keep tapping the solder on the other side of the pipe until it starts to melt, heat for just a little longer then take the heat away while holding the solder to the joint to let it fill. I agree...overheating the pipe leads to the solder just melting and dripping out with leaks.

 

[Bluebinky]

5 year old post! I think the OP already died from drinking out of the stream in his back yard.