If you have a compression fitting, say a 1/2 by 1/2 coupling, can you remove the compression nut and ferrule, clean and flux the coupling and then apply solder/heat? Basically, in a pinch, could you sweat a compression fitting?
Thanks!
Wil
Wil,
I suppose you could. Necessity is the mother of invention. But we must ask why you'd not just use an ordinary sweat coupling?
One time I got so frustrated at a 1/4" compression coupling I was using on an icemaker, that I soldered the nut to the tubing so that the stupid thing wouldn't loosen as I pushed the refrigerator back into position, but I wasn't proud of myself.
This particular application is for a 1/2" ball valve leading to an outside spigot. I'm worried that if someone is a little aggressive with it, it can loosen up or even pop out over time. I'd rather solder a valve in place than use a compression, but all I had with me are compression ball valves. I believe its possible to remove the nut and ferrule and solder the copper tubing directly to the shut off, if the shut off is treated like you would a regular sweat. I just wanted to double check, rather than find out the solder wont hold and have a flood.
Also was wondering what the group's opinion is on the sharkbite or similar type of 'push fit' couplings? If you havent seen them or arent familiar with them, you can supposedly use pex or copper tubing, and the fitting locks onto the pipe once you push it on. No special tools except a plastic C can be bought if you wanted to unlock and remove it.. Different than pex type fittings. They seem a little expensive, but in a pinch, I'm sure they're worth it.
Thanks!
Wil
Mike Grooms wrote:
Well,
I'm sure the soldering of the compression fitting will hold, but it'd be smarter to just get a sweat valve. The fitting will be deeper, and it's actually designed to be soldered. They only cost $5.00 or so.
If properly installed, the compression valve will hold too.
If you sweat the compression valve as you describe, the plumber who sees it will think you're a moron. There's a difference between doing something unorthodox in a pinch, and doing something unorthodox when you could have done it correctly.
The next thing you'll ask is if a radiator hose can be used as a drain. Get the point?
More than once I cleaned and crushed a 1/2" CU line to solder it. No caps, dead end or emergency job. I can have every fitting made, but one will be missing every time.
I picked up a couple of couplings just for grins a few months back, and used them the same day. I now stock everything they make, including 1" on the truck. They work great on copper and pex. Our customers don't care about the price, they just want the water back on NOW! Combine the shark-bite with ProPress and turn all day jobs into half day jobs for the same or more money.
I've been trying to tell kids all along, water now !
I learned I can rob more money faster and no cops using a 18" Ridged pipe wrench over anyone else with a 6" barreled S&W !
BTW, carry it all, bet a buck you will find out the one thing you ani't got is just what you need.
I don't consider it robbery. I figure that I sell a solution to a problem that they can't figure out how to fix, don't have the special tools needed to solve the problem, or figure its not in their job description.
No bet, you get a call to find and repair a water leak in a wall, then after you find whats leaking, its not what you or they expected. Last week an hour service call for a chilled water line turned into a weeklong project for three guys, a 45' knuckle lift, and more sweat than I really wanted to produce. But then again, they needed it NOW!!!!! And were happy to pay the price.
Push on CU ? Diverters had them for a long time.
Robbery is a joke.
The reason I soldered a compression fitting was because I had made a condenser using two 35mm x 35mm x 15mm T fittings with a 35mm pipe between which contained the heat exchanger. All needed to be soldered in order to give an uncluttered (knobbly nuts etc). But I also wished this condenser to be detachable from the 35mm feed end in order to clean the condenser. I used solder fitting but one of the 35x35x15 T's was compression. It was only the 35mm end which went onto the 35mm feed pipe which needed retaining. The other end of that compression T lost its 35mm nut and olive as did the 15mm take off. I made the now 'sweat surfaces' shiny, fluxed and gas soldered.
The result was a smooth uncluttered condenser with one 35mm compression end which permitted me to easily remove this condenser for cleaning and replace back to its designated mount.
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