Solger joint failure - Paranoia

I had to add a tap (angle stop) to a cold water line in the basement to add filtered water for the inhabitants (fish). The plan was to split the line after the ice maker tap , insert my Tee and Angle Stop. Splitting the line (pipe cutter) went fine, but the space was too tight to get my Tee in place. Attempts to shorten the pipe were fruitless, as the Pipe Cutter kept corkscrewing (don't own a stubby). So I took the pipe off at the nearest elbow, and installed new elbow, replaced short pipe, new Tee, new short pipe and Angle Stop. I'm glad I bought a few spare parts (besides the Tee) in the event something unforeseen happened. :)

Sorry for the long preamble. So I sanded, deburred and fluxxed all the parts and put them in place. Soldering seemed to go OK, although it was a little slow (Propane) to flow around the joints and does not look overly shiny. I really wanted to take the Angle Stop apart before soldering it, to avoid damaging the bushing. But without a vice, I didn't bother.

The good news is that there are no leaks, but does this mean I'm safe? Can a cold joint not leak, but blow off later? Will I wake up swimmin with the Fishies. LOL.

Reply to
Bill Stock
Loading thread data ...

IMO, the only way this could happen would be if you did not have the pipe and fitting well seated before soldering. The pipe should go about a half inch into the fitting. If you did that and don't have a leak, I think the probability of a solder joint being so bad that it could suddenly let loose without visible leaking is extremely remote

Reply to
trader4

Thanks they all seem well seated, although the first elbow I did looks nasty. I may redo the one joint.

Reply to
Bill Stock

I have been soldering copper pipes for over 40 years. Thought I knew how to get a leakless joint every time. Had to cut some filters into my water line, and used a combination of a new flux and lead free solder. What a mess. The solder with this flux did not flow well and did not always form a filet at the edge of the fitting. Had some leakers at the first test. Re-did them with some old fashioned flux.

However, I have never had this happen before, two joints started leaking weeks after I was finished, one fairly bad, 2 months later and one after 3

1/2 months. Fixed them both with some older, more reliable lead free solder, and the old fashioned flux.

In my experience the newer solders and fluxes were terrible to work with.

Reply to
EXT

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.