solder wont flow

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Danger

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so today i was installing a new shower diverter and after i cut all my pipes and put them together (cleaned and fluxed) i pulled the propane torch kit out of the box to find someone had stolen the torch. it took about an hour to get back to the job with the new torch. the first joint soldered just fine but when i moved on to the next the solder just wouldnt flow at all. it really wasnt even melting. should i have recleaned and refluxed everything or am i doing something wrong?

thanks!
 

Doherty Plumbing

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so today i was installing a new shower diverter and after i cut all my pipes and put them together (cleaned and fluxed) i pulled the propane torch kit out of the box to find someone had stolen the torch. it took about an hour to get back to the job with the new torch. the first joint soldered just fine but when i moved on to the next the solder just wouldnt flow at all. it really wasnt even melting. should i have recleaned and refluxed everything or am i doing something wrong?

thanks!

That is a good sign of a dirty joint (or possibly water in the piping). Reclean everythign REALLY well. The copper should be shiny all the way around about 1/4-1/2" past the fitting hub.

Apply the heat EVENLY all the way around the fitting towards the back of the hub you are joining as to draw the solder all the way and into the hub.
 

NHmaster

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My vote is for water in the pipe, but you will have to take it apart, clean it and re-flux after you get the water out
 

RTAPlumbing

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defineatly water

I think there is water in the pipe as well. Make sure the shower head is off or cap whatever the case might be to release pressure while soldering. Possibly add flux while you are heating it you might have burned out all of the flux.
 

hj

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solder

Solder NOT melting, means it is not getting hot enough, and that means water in the pipe. Dirty copper would still melt the solder, it would just not flow around the joint properly.
 

Danger

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well i disassembled everything and sure enough there was water in there. i dried it out well and everything went fine. thanks again.
 
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