is it just me

[andyg0507]

been installing a boiler today with the bloke i work with, i did all the piping up to the boiler and had to put 2 integral bends on the hot leading upto the boiler, gave them some solder as well, once pressured up and hot they both blew,😡

spent the next 2 hours with a head like a shed thinking of wich was going to go next, lucky for me no more did.

got a little wet choped out, re-did, worked fine.

but that feeling when one goes really does your box in, or IS IT JUST ME?

 

[Plouasne]

been installing a boiler today with the bloke i work with, i did all the piping up to the boiler and had to put 2 integral bends on the hot leading upto the boiler, gave them some solder as well, once pressured up and hot they both blew,😡

spent the next 2 hours with a head like a shed thinking of wich was going to go next, lucky for me no more did.

got a little wet choped out, re-did, worked fine.

but that feeling when one goes really does your box in, or IS IT JUST ME?

What was the problem? were the fittings just face tinned or burnt ??

 

[andyg0507]

i think the fittings were quite old, hence the reason i shall not be using them again🙂

 

[fuzzy]

its normally when the fitting has some grease on it, often cleaning it for an hour doesnt clear the grease! when i was an apprentice i soldered a 42mm copper tube bend and it leaked, i cleaned it up re-soldered and leaked. the boss thought i was useless and asked a colleague to do it, he did and it leaked, imagine my smug smile. we had to cut the section out and replace

 

[andyg0507]

its just that thought you have in your mind once one has blown, you get paranoid, but all was well once id choped it out and re-done.

every day's a learning day and all that

 

[REDSAW]

i am a paranoid plumber,
i check joints 8-10 times regular when passing ie rad tails.

 

[Puddle]

I had some bad fitting the other week, have not had a soldered joint leak in along time

What had happened was a tin of concentrated inhibitor had leaked on to the fittings and the solder would not run, looked alright visually the inhibitor must have neutralized the flux !!

And why did the inhibitor leak in the first place, I hear you scream,no,going to tell you any way 😛
Coz I thought I would save money and order a full box all at once, however the pressure is lost in the can after a few months, so to use, I have to cut outer can and squeeze the bag inside to empty inhibitor manually into pipework via me little funnel and my little imp decided to put the cut open tin in my bag of fittings while tidying up after a boiler change, how come I have to learn from his mistakes

 

[BluePlumber]

not just you, Had a spell bout 2 years ago where seems every job i did there was either 1 or 2 end feeds that didnt take and pi**ed out. Dont know why, was starting to get real eat up about it, but ever since been fine, so I still dont know what was happening.
in the end tho, only a bit of water, no harm done, 😀

 

[andyg0507]

are you sure that little imp hasn't been messing with my fittings box😀

 

[johnmcginty]

i am a paranoid plumber,
i check joints 8-10 times regular when passing ie rad tails.

OH that is really the on that does me , rad tails after you put 10 wraps of ptfe and tight as a nuns picknic basket. Always use lsx on em now after the tape. 😉

 

[andyg0507]

not just you, Had a spell bout 2 years ago where seems every job i did there was either 1 or 2 end feeds that didnt take and pi**ed out. Dont know why, was starting to get real eat up about it, but ever since been fine, so I still dont know what was happening.
in the end tho, only a bit of water, no harm done, 😀

i think the worst thing is you start to doubt wheter other fittings will hold, the last thing you want is that phone call early a.m sayin there's water p****ng through the ceiling

 

[WHPES]

Tip - for soldered fittings if they are a bit dirty you can clean them off with solvent weld solvent cleaner (which you will probably have in your van). Works a treat

I usually find wire brushing the inside of all but the dirtiest fittings back to the bright coper is more than enough to ensure a good soldered joint. The off time they have leaked for me is always when trying to join old pipe in tight spaces where it is hard to ensure you have cleaned off all the dross.

 

[stevetheplumber]

bane of my life is towel rails so little thread to make the joint but ive found the cure some valve tails now come with a shoulder and a rubber seal which seal like a airvent or plug perfect for towel rails

 

[pauls]

im forever checking my soldered joints with a little mirror to make sure i have a nice silver seal all the way round🙂

and i always clean inside of the fittings and tube with a scratch pad before fluxing up

 

[kirkgas]

im forever checking my soldered joints with a little mirror to make sure i have a nice silver seal all the way round🙂

and i always clean inside of the fittings and tube with a scratch pad before fluxing up

i always heat one side and load solder from the other, then you know it has run right round, never thought/needed to use a mirror

 

[Plouasne]

Cleanliness's is next to godliness, was what I was taught when I started out over 50 years ago, clean both the fitting and tube with wire wool or glass paper, to a bright copper finish, apply a little flux to both tube and fitting, insert tube into fitting, apply most of heat to fitting if its an end feed to get the solder right down to the bottom of the fitting, if an integral solder ring fitting apply a little more heat to the tube

Reading this forum at times I dis-spare of the standards of to-days plumbing, like "whack loads of PTFE tape around the threads, put a couple of turns of tape around the olive before tightening the nut", both are wrong in my opinion and looks like shoddy workmanship

im forever checking my soldered joints with a little mirror to make sure i have a nice silver seal all the way round🙂

This can deceive you, you could have a fitting that is only face tinned with little or no solder inside the fitting

i always heat one side and load solder from the other, then you know it has run right round, never thought/needed to use a mirror

This is OK for dinky sized fittings, when you get to the larger stuff you do need a mirror, especially if its tight up to a wall, and you cannot get the torch right round the back of the fitting

 

[andyg0507]

thats the thing plousane i clean my fittings and pipe religiously

 

[charitynjw]

thats the thing plousane i clean my fittings and pipe religiously

Probably got holy fittings, then 😀

 

[Ockyvines]

Cleanliness's is next to godliness, was what I was taught when I started out over 50 years ago, clean both the fitting and tube with wire wool or glass paper, to a bright copper finish, apply a little flux to both tube and fitting, insert tube into fitting, apply most of heat to fitting if its an end feed to get the solder right down to the bottom of the fitting, if an integral solder ring fitting apply a little more heat to the tube

Reading this forum at times I dis-spare of the standards of to-days plumbing, like "whack loads of PTFE tape around the threads, put a couple of turns of tape around the olive before tightening the nut", both are wrong in my opinion and looks like shoddy workmanship


This can deceive you, you could have a fitting that is only face tinned with little or no solder inside the fitting



This is OK for dinky sized fittings, when you get to the larger stuff you do need a mirror, especially if its tight up to a wall, and you cannot get the torch right round the back of the fitting

I am not certain but I think one of the only things they can hang you for in the U.K. is putting flux in fittings!
I suppose it brings work in a few years down the line though - pin holed pipe and radiators etc.

 

[Blackcatgas]

i always heat one side and load solder from the other, then you know it has run right round, never thought/needed to use a mirror

Me too, I tend to be a bit messy and get a snotter, but rather that then a leak.

 

[oldplumber]

I am not certain but I think one of the only things they can hang you for in the U.K. is putting flux in fittings!
I suppose it brings work in a few years down the line though - pin holed pipe and radiators etc.

Not if you flush through properly and get rid of all the residue surely🙄

 

[Ockyvines]

Not if you flush through properly and get rid of all the residue surely🙄

On gas pipe?

 

[fuzzy]

On gas pipe?

depends on which flux

 

[Ockyvines]

depends on which flux

I think this applies to all fluxes, some are worse than others.
Another thing to consider is that where flux goes, solder will follow thereby causing restrictions within the pipe.
From the reaction I am getting to my comment I am lead to believe that you all flux your fittings.
I think older plumbers (I include myself in that group)tend to be more guilty of this as when we were learning little research had been done into the effect of residual solder.
It is just a waste of flux and bad practice, it makes no difference to the effectiveness of the soldering process

 

[Blackcatgas]

I think this applies to all fluxes, some are worse than others.
Another thing to consider is that where flux goes, solder will follow thereby causing restrictions within the pipe.
From the reaction I am getting to my comment I am lead to believe that you all flux your fittings.
I think older plumbers (I include myself in that group)tend to be more guilty of this as when we were learning little research had been done into the effect of residual solder.
It is just a waste of flux and bad practice, it makes no difference to the effectiveness of the soldering process

True but even if you just flux the pipe, flux residue can/does still trickle down the inside of the pipe, I try to use fluxite on gas pipe as its not as harsh as say Laco.