Yorkshire fittings with lead-free solder fillet

[Stephen Howard]

Phew!

In which case....flame on!!!

Regards,

[Arfa Daily]

Yes indeed Ian ! Sounds like you're quoting from one of the articles that I did ... I'm very well, thank you. Trust you are too ? Have you seen that TeleMag is back on the shelves (well available to buy direct or from a couple of the big component suppliers, anyway) in a new incarnation that very much resembles the original, before it's previous sad demise ...

Arfa

[Thomas Prufer]

Might a hot air gun be gentler and more controllable?

For "just warming", I use a old hair dryer that runs too hot -- the plastic grille on the front's melted a bit -- because it's hard to scorch or burn with it. Won't solder, though.

Thomas Prufer

[Stephen Howard]

It's not hot enough quick enough - and can't be focussed sufficiently.

Regards,

[MM]

Update on Yorkshire fittings:

Well, I've now tried both, the capillary sort that you add solder to, and new Yorkshire fittings that, presumably, are the lead-free variety.

The Yorkshire fittings are hands down better to use. The joints are far neater and the whole job is more satisfying, since one only needs to play the flame over the fitting until the solder appears. Also, so far I've not had a Yorkshire one leak, but I have had to return to several of the capillary ones and re-do them.

The only downside is that the Yorkshire fittings are quite expensive compared to the plain, capillary kind.

MM

[Clive George]

And they look worse. Done properly, end-feed looks tidier. 'Course it requires slightly more skill, but it's probably worth it a lot of the time.

cheers, clive

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd dispute the joint being neater - you have that ring showing for ever.

Nor should there really be any difference in the actual soldering - if the joint is hot enough for the ring to melt so will the applied solder.

I'm not sure that makes sense. Perhaps you weren't heating the capillary ones enough before applying the solder - or not using enough? A slight excess doesn't matter - apart from perhaps the look. And you can remove it if you must after it's cooled.

That is the big difference. Plus the more restricted range.

[MM]

Mine look worse! That is, the non-Yorkshire fittings. I would say that the Yorkshire fittings is "Fittings for Dummies", to which category I certainly belong, compared to a plumber who has been in the business for twenty years. No doubt with practice the cheaper kind can be made to look good!

MM

[MM]

That ring looks a lot neater than the abortion of solder spewing everywhere, which is how the worst of my non-Yorkshire elbows turned out (I've re-done them with Yorkshire and are now nice and neat).

But with the non-Yorkshire fittings you have to move the flame away and make sure it's not pointing at the cat, then you have to hold the solder wire (in my case) to the join and hope that the right temperature has been reached. All of this kerfuffle falls away with the Yorkshire ones, since (a) you don't need to hold any solder in your other hand, (b) you just keep the flame there long enough until the solder shows, (c) there are no "cold spots" so the solder flows evenly ALL around the joint (that's how it appears to me), (d) the job is faster, (e) less likelihood, in the case of novices, for the joint to leak.

I am ONLY going on the experience of a couple of hours of soldering. As soon as I tried the Yorkshire design, I started making progress. Sure, if I bought a couple of dozen plain capillary types and test soldered them all first, then my joints might have looked more professional after the twentieth. With the Yorkshire ones, that "professional" result occurs without practising.

I should however point out that our local hardware shop which sells the Yorkshire fittings loose charges 45p per 15mm elbow and 35p per

15mm straight connector. The Focus price was a prepack of ten elbows for around £8 (I believe it was). Therefore the local hardware shop is considerably cheaper AND one only needs to buy what one needs. Now I have a surplus of non-Yorkshire elbows. What do I do with 'em? This is how we waste so much in this country.

SUPPORT LOCAL SHOPS!

MM

[John Stumbles]

For small sizes and common types (15, 22 and mixtures) I use solder-ring types because despite costing more they still don't cost that much. Sometimes you need all the hands you've got and a few extra just to hold the pipework in place and apply the blowtorch, or you can only get one arm at full stretch holding the torch into an awkward space, and having the solder ring in the fitting can make a difference between a good joint and an expensive duff one.

For bigger sizes and odd fittings where solder rings types may be £5-10 a fitting compared to less than half that for end-feed I use the latter.