yeah, just slightly off topic
are we talking sweating copper? you'll need solder,
flux/w brush, a wire brush, sandpaper, propane torch,
pliers, tubing cutter, maybe some asbestos pads in
order to keep from burning the house down & perhaps
some gloves. oh and a de-burring tool(i've never used
one)
best to work with pipes that are dry...meaning no
water in them. best way to do that is to open a water
valve below where you're working...the water should
run out. we'll assume you turned the water off. use
your tubing cutter to cut the pipe...it's round blades
that you clamp down over the pipe to be cut. rotate
the tubing cutter round the pipe & keep turning the
cutter adjustment. eventually, you'll cut thru the
pipe. some water may rush out? you'll be cutting the
bad spot out. measure(oh i guess i forgot the
measuring tape in the list of ingredients) how much
pipe you need to replace. you can go from union to
union if you want to replace an entire section or cut
out just a small section. the plumbing stores sell
lengths of pipe...you make the call. if you decide to
cut out what's leaking you'll need to purchase a few
couplers. after you cut all the replacement pipe to
length, sand down the outside ends & the insides of
the unions(couplers)...use the wire brush for
that...they're in the plumbing sections at your
favorite hdwre store. so you have all sections
sanded...good. Use de-burring tool here if you decide
to use one at all. now, smear a little flux on the
insides of the couples & the outside of the pipes...a
little goes a long way(i saw an episode of dirty jobs
where they were doin it...way too much flux). join
all the fittings together. make sure they're nice &
snug...fit together. heat the female end rather than
the male end. after a few moments push the solder
onto the male end at the inlet of the female
coupler...the solder should "rush" all the way around
the pipe...in only a few moments. how hot does it
need to be...not sure...takes a big of getting used
to, but it might take about 10-15 seconds of heat?
that's about it...you might want to clean off any
extra flux...you're pretty much ready for use.
Remember to use the asbestos pads if you're working on
pipe that's near anything flammable. If you're gonna
remove any pipe from an exisiting couple, you'll need
to heat the union & hold onto the attached pipe with
pliers...when it's hot enough it'll separate.
Warning: I'm not a professional plumber. Use these
words at your own risk...if you're afraid that you'll
burn your house down...call somebody, but not me.
For my next lesson...plastic plumbing
Toad
CD198L
CF25768UO
use a tubing cutter to
--- oliver <sumton@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> hi, all.
>
> i live in a house from the 50's, and the hot water
> pipes like to spring a
> leak. since its pier and beam, the plumber has to
> crawl down into the crawl
> space (aptly named!!!) and fix it. due to safety
> issues, he has to have a
> spotter. bottom line, the last leak cost me almost
> $400!!!!
>
> i'm thinking brazing can't be that hard.
>
> i just know a bunch of you consider this sort of
> thing child's play, so i'm
> looking for advice on tools, books, websites, etc
> from someone aspiring to
> be an amateur plumber!!!
>
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