MavisPlace
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I am having trouble with 3/4" copper fittings being too tight on type L tubing. I purchased most of the material from Home Depot. I know many professionals question the quality of materials from HD, preferring to patronize their local plumbing supplier instead. With the cost of copper, I was trying to save $$. Most of the fittings are Nibco brand. I know a lot of the tubing in the racks is pretty beat up, but I avoided any tubes or fittings that were obviously banged up. I'm using a quality Rigid tubing cutter, an Oatey 4-in-1 wire brush tool for cleaning, and an Oatey inner/outer tubing reamer. Sometimes the parts slide together ok while dry fitting, but after dressing everything up nice an shiny they don't fit, even with considerable force. I really don't get that, as the wire brushing is removing some material - shouldn't it make the parts easier to slide together??? I realize the wire brushing slightly roughens up the material, but it shouldn't be an interference fit. I've tried using plumbers sandcloth as well, with the same results. I also thought the paste flux (Oatey brand) would act as a lubricant, but that is not the case. I am reluctant to sweat any fittings that are force fit, as I know to get a proper joint there needs to be a slight gap for the solder to flow into. I'm spending way too much time on joint prep. Are these brands ok, or is the problem out of round fittings or tubing due to mis-handling? I'm thinking of taking it all back for a credit and finding a good plumbing supply house. Also, anyone have any slick tips for correcting slight out-of-round fittings/tubing?
My background:
I learned to sweat solder copper plumbing decades ago, but I've done it infrequently in between. I know how to use the torch, and I'm not having any problems with the actual soldering, just fitting the parts.
Project background:
I am repiping my entire house water supply lines with copper type L tubing. The house originally had rolled copper tubing under the slab. I've had two leaks over the years - 1) a very poor solder fitting where the rolled tubing came up into the kitchen; and 2) a leak developed in the middle of a hot water line under the slab. I decided to bypass the under-slab piping with new copper tubing in the attic. I successfully bypassed just the offending line, but since I had to open up some walls I wanted to do the whole house before I closed everything up. Since the house is almost 30 years old, I felt that the second leak that developed under the slab could happen elsewhere at any time.
My background:
I learned to sweat solder copper plumbing decades ago, but I've done it infrequently in between. I know how to use the torch, and I'm not having any problems with the actual soldering, just fitting the parts.
Project background:
I am repiping my entire house water supply lines with copper type L tubing. The house originally had rolled copper tubing under the slab. I've had two leaks over the years - 1) a very poor solder fitting where the rolled tubing came up into the kitchen; and 2) a leak developed in the middle of a hot water line under the slab. I decided to bypass the under-slab piping with new copper tubing in the attic. I successfully bypassed just the offending line, but since I had to open up some walls I wanted to do the whole house before I closed everything up. Since the house is almost 30 years old, I felt that the second leak that developed under the slab could happen elsewhere at any time.