Pipe soldering Questions

What do you mean by a standard blow torch. (Meaningless term)

Another meaningless term

Add more flux and solder and reheat.

Not relevant to household plumbing. Used more on car braking systems.

You buy the proper stuff if you want to be successful.

It could with a lot more effort

Are you trolling?

Competition?

I've done 28mm without any difficulty, providing cylinder isn't getting close to empty (in which case power output noticably drops, but it will still do 22mm and 15mm).

No idea - I never tried to use one for plumbing, and how small is *mini*? I suspect my Aldi one might do 8mm if I tried.

Depends on the situation, and why it failed. Fortunately, it's not something that happens to me often.

I have a flaring tool. I wouldn't try without one (and I rarely use it anyway, and ISTR it's not allowed for gas use).

If that's all you've got, you won't be able to afford any proper tools/fittings, so forget about plumbing.

Jeeze - how much is a ball of steel wool? Even a kitchen scourer would probably work.

Dry sand can be used to pack pipes before bending - I've used it to bend 28mm pipe for which I don't have a proper pipe bender. You do need to get it all out though, and you really don't want it contaminating any fittings during assembly, or any appliances after assembly.

And any hydraulics and refrigeration and air conditioning and gas connections

Mine can do 28mm. Just.

No idea.

If you make them properly, they won't. But take apart, clean properly and do it again. Using a decent flux.

I have a tool for that. But not many bother these days.

No idea. A decent flux is critical to good soldering. And a tiny part of the budget, so really not worth skimping.

Old or spare ceramic tiles can be used for some things.

I'd not want sand rattling around inside pipes. Wire wool or proper cleaning strips.

These questions are for plumbing in the developing world. Nothing is spent that doesn't have to be. Buying a tin of branded flux is out of the question.

Flux possibilities include tallow, soap, ZnCl, rosin, and who kows what else. But I've not tried them with plumbing. A heat mat of wet cardboard sandwiched between opened flat food tins works, someone might have a better idea.

If sand for nothing works, anything else is too expensive. Money is not wasted like that in the developing world.

thanks

NT

Flaring avoids buying a fitting, at the price of time & work. I've seen it done on domestic piping.

I do. The question is how could it be done for much less.

No, I want to know how to solder pipes at minimum cost for developing world use. I'll try sand cleaning a pipe, see if it works, I suspect the sand will leave too much contamination.

NT

So they can afford 28mm copper tube at £20/length but not £5 for a tub of flux that will do hundreds of joints?

Ah, you mean socket forming. I do it all the time, no fitting and only one solder joint. it might be feasible to make a hard wood version of the tool that makes the socket and harden it with fire. But if money is so tight then how will copper pipe be availablle? also the pipe will be stolen in short order.

My father encountered a similar problem in Egypt just after WW2, every time a power cable was put up, it was cut down for the copper cable. So he installed barbed wire instead, still carried the current and had little value as scrap.

Pretty much any domestic size - although you may not be able to flow the whole joint in one hit and may need to work round on larger pipes.

As in pocket blowtorch type thing?

Take them apart, clean carefully, reflux and resolder.

Its of dubious value these days... manipulative compression fittings in domestic use are almost unheard of now, and straight end feed capillary fittings cost pennies, so its hardly worth the time unless you have a particular need for the smallest and slimmest joint possible.

Depends on what you are soldering.

Bit of rockwool perhaps...

Can't say I have tried, but a pipe brush or some wire wool works well...

That's because it's used when you want to braze. Can be used for soldering too, but takes longer than just soldering a coupler instead.

En el artículo , MrCheerful escribió:

I like it :)

En el artículo , snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com escribió:

A piece of slate?

when did you last buy any slate?

En el artículo , MrCheerful escribió:

Old roof tile.

Copper pipe plumbing is used in the developing world, albeit not as widely as here. An unnecessary £5 spend is out of the question.

NT

Which third world country is this?

Bradford

I bought some used slates in the dead right size for my roof (IIRC they are called princess size) came to nigh on a pound each delivered (100 of em)