R
Rickster123
Blimey Tamz those tins look older than me! Looks like great stuff tho. I'm getting some!
-
We recommend uHeat for Underfloor Heating Systems, and The Wetroom Store for all things bathrooms and wetrooms. They provide discounts for forum members.
Welcome to the forum. Although you can post in any forum, the USA forum is here in case of local regs or laws
How do you apply your flux?
- Thread starter Dannypipe
- Start date
- Status
T
tamz
They are about 2-3 years old. Just been sitting in the shed so the tins are a bit rusty around the edges.
There is a small tin of yorkshire in the other van.
I only ever use it for top quality work when the price justifys it, where the joints need to be really neat. It takes too long to use cleaning fittings for everyday use.
No matter how good you are with self cleaning fluxes it is impossible to have complete control over how the solder will run and just when you don't want it you will get a streak of solder running down the pipe following the flux and you can't stop it.
T
tamz
Lucky you i wish i was too. Slainte :54:
F
fogarty
You've just proved there is so much more to this than meets the eye. I'd say you have shot yourself in the foot but I'm not that brave.:20:
T
tamz
Just the way it is. Sometimes you need to fall back on the traditional ways.
P
pipefitter
I've never tried traditional flux but I'm going to have to give it a go now
T
TBServices
I rub up every fitting and pipe end i solder, even straight out of the bag. Am I wasting my time if I'm using self cleaning flux? Maybe I should start using Yorkshire
T
tamz
Massively. You are costing yourself an hour a day at least on an install.
You don't need to clean anything with most modern fluxes but i still do if it is the really black old pipes. No need for steel wool or pads tho. A smeat of flux a quick heat with the bottle and wipe and it is shining like a shilling.
Use traditional and your joints will look much better.
T
TBServices
Well blow me down. I'm not sure ill be able to kick the habit of cleaning though. Have to get the pipe spotless, get rid of all slice marks etc. it's compulsive.
T
tamz
We all have our vices :lol:
T
TBServices
I feel like you've created a problem for me now. I'm at a crossroads. One way is getting home faster, one is tidier joints. What a quandary.
Do you literally not clean anything? Not even those little marks the pipeslice rollers leave on the pipe?
T
tamz
Honestly. I clean nothing but the very dirtiest of pipes and i know even then i don't need to but i do out of habit and because it is cheaper than a drain down. Never cleaned a fitting since around 1985 when self cleaning fluxes came out.
If you switch to traditional fluxes everything needs to be spotless or you will get leaks but it looks so much better.
My 1st 2 weeks in this trade was as a fittings polisher and tea maker. I've hated it ever since.
Btw i've used laco for 25 years.
If you switch to traditional fluxes everything needs to be spotless or you will get leaks but it looks so much better.
My 1st 2 weeks in this trade was as a fittings polisher and tea maker. I've hated it ever since.
Btw i've used laco for 25 years.
Last edited by a moderator:
T
TBServices
Well I've used powerflow since I was an apprentice (you stick to what you're taught/know) and I've never worked with anyone who didn't clean their pipe and fittings!
Will give it a try from now on.
Will give it a try from now on.
T
tamz
Powerflow works to an extent but definitely clean your dirty ones. Laco and everflux work on anything.
Btw i absolutely hate powerglue :lol:
Btw i absolutely hate powerglue :lol:
T
TBServices
When I was an apprentice I turned up with a pot of ever flux and he threw it in the bin, gave me some powerflow and said its my way or the highway lol
T
tamz
I don't really like everflux either. It makes me itch looking at it and i come out in a rash if i use it but it is a good flux if you can stand it. Probably the strongest of all the fluxes. That was one of the first self cleaning fluxes to appear on the market in the 80's. It has the old zinc chloride from the traditional flux mixed with ammonium chloride. It is the ammonia that gets me. I get the same if i mix some soot with water when doing back boilers (it makes ammonia) and i spent 10 years of my life rolling in soot.
Btw look up the coshh sheets on some fluxes. There is some serious bad stuff in some.
Btw look up the coshh sheets on some fluxes. There is some serious bad stuff in some.
Makes me laugh when he Cihpe magazine has step by step instructions on how to make a joint 🙂 🙂
S
stoker122
Easy/lazy copy for the mag.
I am going to give this a shot. I use Laco so no cchange needed there. Going to be quite scary at first but I can see how this could save a lot of time. I actually think I might make a compromise and just clean the pipe as I have lots of emery cloth to use up. Still will be time saving I bet
£29.99. Is that a joke!!!!!
S
stoker122
I never clean new pipe or fittings, power flow from a brush on pipe only then give it a twist on the way in.
If either have a patina careful cleaning is a must though.
If either have a patina careful cleaning is a must though.
Ever Flux will eat you. For years I've been ok with it, but seem to have become more sensetive to it over the past year. I've bought tubs of Laco in the past and given them away. I've not found it popular with other plumbers I've worked with. Powerflow is quite nice, but when Fernox bought it, they changed the recipe, and its not been as good since. I've still got sum tubs of the old formula (more yellow in colour than white).
P
pmc
dont you understand the lol dancin
- Status
We recommend City Plumbing Supplies, BES, and Plumbing Superstore for all plumbing supplies.