Soldering on the grill - really.

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DIYitright

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Not a joke, an experiment.

A single propane torch was not enough to solder 1/2" copper tube to the large brass shower valve. The hunk of brass was a big heat sink. I mentioned this to DW and she said: "So? Put it on the grill."

It could work. Other industries assemble parts and place them in ovens to solder the pieces all at once. Unwilling to trash a whole valve if it went wrong, I worked up to it. Yes, the valve has no plastic pieces. I checked. It is all machined brass.

Experiment 1 with copper tubing:
I fired up the gas grill until it read 600F
Two scrap pieces of tubing and a straight union, cleaned and fluxed, were laid on the grill for 5 minutes with the lid closed. opened the lid, applied solder and it did not melt. Moved the pieces into a visible flame and the solder flowed right into the joint. It worked.

Experiment 2 with an old shower valve:
Again at 600F
I used the old shower valve that was removed and had various bits soldered to it.
Waited 20 minutes.
The parts were still firm
I move it into the flame and after a few minutes was able to disassemble everything. It worked.

This could never be a suggested practice and you could trash an expensive valve. It made for interesting experiments.
 

Cacher_Chick

Test, Don't Guess!
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I use mapp gas instead of propane as it delivers the extra heat neeted for bigger valves. The size of the torch tip counts also.
 

hj

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You had the wrong torch and/or gas. And, if I had to wait 5 minutes to do every joint, I would never finish a job. Grills are also difficult to use inside a wall.
 

DonL

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You had the wrong torch and/or gas. And, if I had to wait 5 minutes to do every joint, I would never finish a job. Grills are also difficult to use inside a wall.


I agree, and not safe either. :)
 
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Hey, wait a minute.

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