Plumbing / soldering question

[David in Normandy]

Thank you for the replies everyone. I'm a bit more confident about tackling the plumbing now. I've read every post and am clear what to do now. Thanks again.

[TheScullster]

"David in Normandy" wrote

My father-in-law taught me much about plumbing, electrics etc. (electrician by trade). His work is always what I would describe as "best practice". To ensure sound joints in difficult locations he always uses a budgie mirror and torch to see right round joints both to inspect the cleanliness before soldering and to check the solder ring seal is complete afterwards. As others have said, make sure the pipe outside and fitting inside are perfectly clean and you'll not go far wrong.

Phil

[YAPH]

No I just wipe clean any excess solder with my hand.

Always wear my nice leather gardening gloves when I'm soldering. :-)

[YAPH]

That's fine when you're doing it in a nice apprentices' workshop at tech and the college is buying fittings by the bucketload so the price really does matter. And anyone should be able to solder end-feed anyway. But when you can barely reach the blowtorch to the joint you're trying to solder up at the back of a cupboard/under a bath/wherever, getting another hand in there with a reel of solder to feed into the joint can be a real no-no. So even though solder-ring are far dearer than end-feed, the absolute price is still low enough that for most fittings I standardise on that type. (I have some more exotic bits - full and half cross-overs for example - that are so jaw-droppingly expensive in any form that I get them in e/f rather than s/r.)

[David in Normandy]

The mirror idea sounds good. Some of the work will be in confined spaces close to the wall.

The bit I'm dreading is connecting to the main water supply into the house. It currently goes from the outside stop tap directly to a leaking pressure reduction valve inside the house. I need to remove and re-fit the valve and then connect on to that. To make things more fun the stop tap doesn't actually stop the water completely and allows a fast drip worth of water to pass.

[Cicero]

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It's very difficult (maybe impossible)to solder pipework containing water. It would be worth planning your work to include a compression fitting for the final connection to the dripping tap. Slip couplings can help in restricted spaces.

Cic.

[Tim S]

While were on the subject, at a slight tangent - what do people think of Tectite (copper push fit, made of brass) fittings.

They raise "expensive" to a new level - but besides that?

I've ruled out plastic. Plastic's nice and easy, but review the mouse situation (pulled out an ass load of cables and many are nibbled) plastic pipes seem to be setting them self up for failure in my house.

Yes - really, I will replace the soffits and deny the mice easy entry, but that job's a year off at least...

Cheers

Tim

[Dave Liquorice]

Impossible if the water is being replaced as in a constant, even very slow, drip. You might be able to boil off a small amount of residual water but otherwise if the pipe is wet forget soldering.

[PeterC]

Ah yes, dull PhuD was heard.

At work (Plessey), 'electronics engineer' was treated as a joke throughout the site - a sort of oxymoron but not a lot of oxy.

[Steve Firth]

There's no problem soldering capillary fittings upside down. TNP is noted for talking absolute drivel about subjects that he barely understands.

Simply make sure that the tube and fitting are clean, use a good flux and apply heat evenly to the tube and fitting. Don't over-heat the joint. Apply the solder to the rim of the fitting as usual and you will see the solder run around the joint and being drawn up into the fitting.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Screwfix price for 15mm straight couplers (end feed) is 2.30 for 25. So less than a penny each...

After some practice, yes. The OP was asking some very basic questions.

But is it not more sensible to practice first under good conditions so you can look at a joint and see the solder has flowed properly - or to do this practising where a subsequent leak could cost hundreds of pounds worth of damage?

The difference in cost over say a full house re-plumb is considerable. However, there's no reason not to use a Yorkshire in the sort of ultra inaccessible area you're talking about, but end feed elsewhere.

[ARWadsworth]

They work as well as any other push fit joints. My brother used them in the sink he installed in his garage on the visible pipework. I would not want them showing around the rest of the house.

Why do people put cheese on a mouse trap instead of T&E?

Tell SWMBO three years away. And when you beat the deadline she will be pleased.

Adam

[Dave Osborne]

er, less than 10p each dontcha mean?

[Jim]

Fewer than 10p

[ARWadsworth]

The Scots get a discount on end feed joints but not on the Yorkshire fittings it seems:-)

Adam

[Toby]

Fewer than 10 pennies, but fewer than 10 pence?

[Toby]

Cant you just fit another (compression) stop tap where the PRV is now to make things easier for yourself!?

Toby...

[David in Normandy]

Yes. The space is very limited but the plan is to fit a T piece to the pressure restrictor valve and to fit TWO (compression) stop taps. One to each side of the T. This will mean I can isolate the downstairs cold water supply separate from the upstairs - which needs lots of plumbing.

[Graham.]

Like a networking course I was once on. The lecturer was horrified that some of us got our hands dirty actually terminating cables etc.

He also was convinced the plug on the end of a British telephone was called an RJ11 because the American course material implied it was.

[Tim S]

ARWadsworth coughed up some electrons that declared:

OK thanks. Mind, they look better than plastic pushfit on copper :)

Not just any T&E will do - it must be the ground floor lighting circuit on a dark winter's night.

Ah, the Scotty approach...