I have a 3/4 ball valve from American Valve. It states "solder ends". I went to the American Valve website but could not find info. Does the valve have to be disassembled before soldering? It appears to have plastic in it.
The valve is M100S.
I have a 3/4 ball valve from American Valve. It states "solder ends". I went to the American Valve website but could not find info. Does the valve have to be disassembled before soldering? It appears to have plastic in it.
The valve is M100S.
I just put the valve in the open position before soldering, never had a problem. I usually take apart the valves with the rubber washers or shower valves before soldering.
These valves are designed to solder while fully assembled, that's these valves save time in installation
that said, you must work quickly & not over heat the assembly.
Have everything in place,
Apply heat to the pipe on one side & apply solder to the joint
repeat on the other side.
I usually wrap the valve body in the vicinity of the stem with narrow strip of wet cloth only 'cause I'm the "belt & suspenders type". :)
cheers Bob
Which means use a MAPP torch instead of propane. Propane doesn't heat quickly enough to avoid risking damage to the plastic components.
yeah mapp gas espically with larger valves
If you have to ask; yes. If you're an expert solderer and understand how heat sinks, probably not; it depends. I'd take it apart if it were me.
Pop
According to Pop :
You often _can't_ take a ball valve unit apart without destroying the housing/destroying the ball seal.
A MAPP torch (MAPP gas tank on an ordinary propane torch) is a good idea.
If done at a reasonable pace, it'll be fine. Washer type valves _should_ be taken apart. Not ball.
I've not tried the MAPP gas route but will in the future. Another thing I do is wrap the valve with a wet rag. Seems to work for me! Cheers, cc
I've had problems sweating larger valves, even with MAPP. I found some 3/4" valves recently that have smaller flanges one sweats to the pipe then nuts hold the flanges and valve together. I have to add cutoffs to the master bathroom soon so I'll try them.
Unfortunately on a standard propane torch, you'll only get about the same heat output as using propane. You need to either change the orifice or buy a new torch (combo unit or dedicated). Cheers, cc
I just did a slew of them around my home (replaced the leaky old ones) and did it with propane and a no wet cloth. Everything worked out fine. I would have used MAPP if I saw this thread first. I looked to disassemble them and quickly realized that I couldn't - so I just did them whole. The hardest part for me was getting the plumbing drained and *completely* dry.
When I later returned to the basement to replace the two I skipped before, I broke down and bought valves with compression fittings. These were by far the easiest to put on. I'm not sure what the disadvantages are to compression vs. soldering, but I would use them again.
wrap valve in wet rag, to keep valve cool.
Compression fittings more likely to pop off with high pressure. Flood cellar.
What's a decent (and reasonably affordable) torch? I'm forever through with Bernz-O-Matic and their cheapo garbage.
Gentlemen-
I pulsed the tech folks at American Valves and here is their reply
In regards to your email here is the information necessary to successfully solder in a sweat end valve.
We recommend that you just open the valve fully and be careful to apply only as much heat as needed to melt the solder.
If you are using MAPP gas then you should exercise caution as it will be hotter than propane.
It is a good idea to make sure the flame only contacts the ends of the valve and not the center section.
Apply heat to the tubing first and transfer as much heat as possible to the valve through the tubing to avoid overheating the valve.
Another helpful hint would be to wrap a cool damp cloth around the body of the valve to further protect it.
Looks like the collective wisdom of the group is just as good as the pros. :)
cheers Bob
After you read all the comments, you may want to just purchase a threaded ball valve. It will cost you about$3-4 unless you believe "you get what you pay for" and then it will cost you $8 or more. You will still need connectors and couplings and solder those if you are putting into a copper system, but at least you won't be soldering directly to the valve.
Hmmm... Hadn't considered that. I'll have to tighten them down one more crank tonight.
I would also add to make sure you get the bleed hole on the correct side. The valve should have an arrow on it indicating flow.
You can also get a ball valve with two union fittings or two compression fittings. E.g. the EZ-Sweat ball valve by Watts.
Cheers, Wayne
Thanks all! The install went nearly w/o a hitch. After soldering everything in place, I turned on the water. The shutoff valve was off but was trickling water into the water heater - ugh! Then the valve itself began to leak. I tightened the bolt under the handle and the external leak was gone. Not sure about the internal leak but it seems like it's gone as well.
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