Prepping a Slip Coupling for Copper Pipe

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KP Texan

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I spent the better part of the day laying out and sweating the copper piping for my new bath/shower valve and, quite frankly, I feel pretty beat down at this point. When the time came to pressure up the system, I had one pinhole leak at the top of my supply valve... talk about frustrating. My hat's off to you plumbers who do it on a daily basis.

Anyway, I think my first course of action tomorrow morning will be to go and get a copper slip coupling so that I can rejoin the pipe, since I will have to cut it to get the section out of the valve. Is a slip coupling considered an acceptable fix in a new system? Everything is sort of tied together, so I don't want to disturb the other parts of the system if I don't have to. I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning my joints with a pipe/fitting brush and applying flux to both the fitting and pipe, but what is the best way to do this on a slip joint? Seems like sliding the joint back and forth over the pipe would disturb the flux, or am I just over thinking it? Should I just clean it all up really well and then apply lots of flux, and also use some sort of reference marks to make sure the coupling is centered on the joint?

While I'm at it, I suppose I'll ask about sweating this brass ball valve. As stated, I always clean/flux everything really well. For the valve, I made sure that there was no water and that the valve was in the open position. I heated the valve right where the pipe sits inside of it and then applied solder as soon as it started flowing. This valve is in pretty closed proximity to the tub, so it's hard to get heat around all sides of it. My question is, do I pull the flame away completely whenever the solder starts to flow, or do I just back off on it a bit? I've never had a leak in a copper fitting joint but I've had 2 leaks now on these brass fittings...
 

Gary Swart

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Coupling are commonly used fittings. There are some that do not have a stop in the center, but most have the stop. Solder it the same as any other fitting. Ideally, you move the torch flame around the fitting on the opposite side of the solder, but this is not always possible. I'm not a pro, but I've never had a joint leak (except the one I forgot to flux, but that's another story) I treat a coupling just like a tee or elbow. Clean and flux one side and solder. After that joint has cooled, repeat the process on the other side. Pros may have the ability to clean, flux, and solder both sides in one operation, so one of them may pick my answer apart, but I know my method works.
 

WorthFlorida

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...I've never had a leak in a copper fitting joint but I've had 2 leaks now on these brass fittings...

My DYI project replacing a show valve body was the propane torch could not get the brass hot enough. I had to use a MAPP torch. A propane torch is not designed for MAPP. you'll need a MAPP torch also.
 

KP Texan

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I forgot to mention that I am using a mapp gas torch. The coupling I'm going to have to use is one without the stop. The system doesn't have much flex, so I think this may be the only reasonably simple way to accomplish this.
 

hj

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A magazine I read last week stated that the new ''lead free" valves and fittings need a different soldering procedure than the old ones. The government has posted a video, somewhere, showing the procedure to avoid leaks like you had.
 

Terry

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Having the valve open is good. A tub valve is pressure balanced, so you will need to open something else up, or remove the cartridge. You don't want hot air to blow a hole in the solder joint.

The only thing to worry about with a slip coupling is postion. Sometimes I mark the pipe where one side of the coupling should be so I don't off-center it. Or measure with a tape where it should be.
 

KP Texan

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Update: I spent a few hours yesterday getting this all straightened out and I'm pleased to report that the pressure test checked out ok. Bottom line on the valve is that I think I was overly worried about burning it up and wasn't putting enough heat into it. I'm always weary of overheating things with my MAPP gas torch, but the valve survived and isn't leaking by. A few pics of the work:
 
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KP Texan

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One thing I forgot to add is that it was my preference was to use epoxy coated deck screws to secure the shower valve and drop elbows. Long story short, the the deck screws worked fine for the shower valve, but they were too large of a diameter to fit through the drop elbows' holes. The only thing I had on hand that fit were drywall screws. Did I mess up here? I know drywall screws are more brittle and have less tensile/shear strength but will they suffice? I sure hope so, because the tile guys put wall board over them this morning...
 
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