I am sure if a 5 year old year old can master soldering in less then 15 minutes using 95 - 5 then why would you knowingly give advice that is not up to code and places his family at risk for lead poisonings.
The liquidous range of 95- 5 takes a few minutes to learn but knowing it has a much higher tensile strength then 50 - 50 and knowing this is going to be used on a water heater where the coefficient of expansion per degree of temperature does place a stress on the copper joints and 50 50 is prone to failure why even suggest it ?
People come here for "expert advice" not looking for a heath risk advice or possible system failure
If you had suggested 60 - 40 (tin /lead) because it offers the strongest joint using solder containing lead possibly one could over look your suggestion although this cost a lot more then other solders containing a higher lead content.
Personally I would be more concerned about the gas piping the DIY person is about to take on as well as the venting
The soldering is the least thing that should be addressed
The liquidous range of 95- 5 takes a few minutes to learn but knowing it has a much higher tensile strength then 50 - 50 and knowing this is going to be used on a water heater where the coefficient of expansion per degree of temperature does place a stress on the copper joints and 50 50 is prone to failure why even suggest it ?
People come here for "expert advice" not looking for a heath risk advice or possible system failure
If you had suggested 60 - 40 (tin /lead) because it offers the strongest joint using solder containing lead possibly one could over look your suggestion although this cost a lot more then other solders containing a higher lead content.
Personally I would be more concerned about the gas piping the DIY person is about to take on as well as the venting
The soldering is the least thing that should be addressed