The modern "handgrip on a thing that screws onto the top of a gas bottle" style torches (mainly Bernzomatic and Rothenberger) have quite small nozzles (less than the width of 15mm pipe), so you can get a nice focussed application of heat.
There are sealants designed to be safe on gas and water. Some threaded gas union fittings with a metal cone fitting will usually seal dry, but are often assembled with a sealant just to be certain. Others that seal on tapered threads, must be used with sealant or PTFE.
I find getting rid of the squeaking etc is an added bonus. I find you soon get a feel for the force required with whatever set of spanners you are using.
(having said that, I try and avoid compression fittings for normal pipe joins unless I have a particular need for one - much prefer doing everything with end feed)
Depends on the pipe I am lubricating ;-)
Not sure I have a favourite for plumbing as such, but recently got a tub of:
(Jet lube I thing the brand was (B&Q))
I don't use it as a matter of course - but there are times when access to a nut is tricky, then its handy to reduce the torque required.
I normally keep a tube of LS-X handy for the occasional bastard that won't seal perfectly in the desired location (typically those cranked screw in adaptors used on bar mixer showers where you have to get a seal on the threads and also do it at an exact rotation position to match the mixer, and for posh chrome basin wastes for bedding on the plug hole receptacle)
And can have spark ignition built in.
And faster (ie hotter) I presume, so you don't have to set fire to the house before the solder melts...
Yup.
I had to get a new torch last autumn, when I went to use my old one and it was misbehaving in soem way.
Bit of a distress purchase - Sunday morning, so it was whatever Screwfix had. Bought a Rothenberger and was well impressed in how well it worked compared to my old torch
Interesting to know (not that I'm going to mess with it personally), thanks.
Yup, it seems pretty quick (mine is the propane version). I am tempted to try the mapp version since that is supposed to be able to cope with damp / slowly dripping pipes - although I reserve judgement until having tried one!
The only downside of these torches is their pathological need to fall over if you stand them on end!
Is there a danger of overheating the solder with mapp?
Not sure about lead free, but leaded 60/40 solder can be spoilt by overheating (goes crystalline).
It's still not, but it's not illegal to do so.
They aren't always same across-flats size, because that's not part of the standard. I have a Conex spanner which fits theirs and quite often fits other fittings too, but not everything.
ISTR the 15mm threads are same as 1/2" BSP, but 22mm threads don't match 3/4" BSP.
Should not have thought so - you just make the joint more quickly since warm up would be faster - once its soldered you normally stop heating it.
I would guess and end feed coupler on 15mm takes about 10 secs from cold (start to finish, both ends) with lead free using my torch. So mapp may shave a few secs off that.
In reality much is said about overheating solder, but its surprisingly difficult to do in reality.
(there is a youtube video series called TomsTips or similar where an old school plumber does various demos etc. I seem to recall he deliberately tried to create a bad joint with overheating. Even keeping the fitting and pipes cherry red for 30 secs or so, did not seem to impact the performance of the final joint).
Are you sure its actually illegal? To quote Tolley's (volume 2 - domestic gas installation practice):
"Making compression joints
The end of the pipe must be clean and not scratched or distorted. It must be squarely cut and all burrs should be removed. The cap should be tightened sufficiently to form a sound joint, but not over-tightened and the pipework should not be strained when the joint is made. Some people prefer to smear the joint lightly with jointing compound before assembling it. This is not necessary but it does, perhaps, act as a lubricant between the surfaces as the joint is tightened."
I have added more photos, and hopefully collected together most of the useful bits from this thread...
See if that does it:
Makes sense to me. (not a plumber)
"Copper and brass olives both work fine." - why is there two types?
"Once the nuts are done up hand tight on the joint, and additional half to three quarter turn with a pair of spanners (one on the body of the fitting to hold it still, the other on the nut) is usually adequate to make a seal. If the joint leaks, and additional tightening tweak will normally fix it."
Couple of "and"s in there should be "an"?
I am a coward. I use solder ring fittings. One less thing to worry about. I believe putting on too much solder on end feed can be an issue if some excess drops inside the pipe. But I've done end feed sometimes (e.g. end caps) with no problems.
Simon.
"The great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from."
I have found that end feed are quicker and more reliable than solder ring ultimately. They heat faster, and you quickly learn how much solder is "enough" (surprisingly little in fact). I keep a few solder ring fittings in my fittings box for the odd occasion you need to make a joint at arms length and can one get one hand to it.
(although there were a few choice phrases uttered last time I used a
22mm coupler like that, only to work out after much difficulty (and ultimate failure) attempting to get both ends of the pipe into the fitting under floor, that it was actually a 22mm to 3/4" reduction solder ring fitting!)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.