Master Soldering help needed for a clean solder

[deg]

What about using a Yorkshire fitting with a preloaded solder ring inside.

 

[Electronurd]

What about using a Yorkshire fitting with a preloaded solder ring inside.

Yeah I've considered but I don't really like the look of them. There must be a way to remove excess solder slodges

 

[Shower Engineer]

Well no matter how much I try I still get a slodge of solder somewhere on a join... without fail. Can solder sledges be wiped off?

Here is a picture of what I mean... there's always a splodge. The join is fine... but the slodge is annoying.

View attachment 29134

Try soldering one end of the joint at a time and solder with the joint vertical, shouldn't have that problem then.

 

[Electronurd]

Try soldering one end of the joint at a time and solder with the joint vertical, shouldn't have that problem then.

Tried this... but as soon as the solder touches the pipe you get the splodge of solder even when its vertical.

 

[Shower Engineer]

Tried this... but as soon as the solder touches the pipe you get the splodge of solder even when its vertical.

Then try using electricians solder which is much thinner...

 

[PhoenixServices]

Practice. File the solder to a point. You can solder snots off with a file.

 

[tamz]

I think i'll start making lamps.

 

[Electronurd]

Practice. File the solder to a point. You can solder snots off with a file.

Right ok so they can be filed off? After doing a little research quite a few people have suggested using a wire brush or a dry cloth while the solder is still liquid.

 

[Electronurd]

Practice. File the solder to a point. You can solder snots off with a file.

Right ok so they can be filed off? After doing a little research quite a few people have suggested using a wire brush or a dry cloth while the solder is still liquid.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

no dont do that will make it 10 x worse

 

[Electronurd]

no dont do that will make it 10 x worse

Right ok. I do think the joins look slightly better but not as good as I'd hoped because of the damned slodge... potentially a thinner solder wire like 2mm or even 1mm might help.

 

[Electronurd]

no dont do that will make it 10 x worse

Right ok. I do think the joins look slightly better but not as good as I'd hoped because of the damned slodge... potentially a thinner solder wire like 2mm or even 1mm might help.

 

[zzzjim]

Not a plumbing techinque , also un-tried as its not a skill I want to learn .
Have pondered if you made measured rings of fine electrical solder concealed within the joint ,heated and let slide the last bit , inside of joint fluxed to assist capilairy action .
( In effect emulating Yorkshire/solder-ring without unsightly bulges )
When there with quantity and heat should be able to do 90 elbow inclined 45 for each side- bottom of bend facing down !

 

[mache]

As has been mentioned try smaller diameter electrical solder, however rather than using a normal soldering technique try by cutting a length to make a solder ring that fits tight around the pipe sitting on top of the fitting. Then gently heat the bottom of the fitting until the solder flows into the joint. Just heat gently in short bursts till you get the feel of how much heat is needed. Hopefully that might help prevent your spludge.


Zzzjim beat me to it

 

[zzzjim]

Not a plumbing techinque , also un-tried as its not a skill I want to learn .
Have pondered if you made measured rings of fine electrical solder concealed within the joint ,heated and let slide the last bit , inside of joint fluxed to assist capilairy action .
( In effect emulating Yorkshire/solder-ring without unsightly bulges )
When there with quantity and heat should be able to do 90 elbow inclined 45 for each side- bottom of bend facing down !

 

[zzzjim]

Re Not a wire brush -on Hot splodges ..

Have wondered if leather (like moles skin) shammy would have similar effect.

Not a valid plumbing technique - as moving joint as it cools is a no-no .
Also likely to splash self and surroundings .

 

[Stoney Ground]

You can buy one of these for about £60, could solve all your problems.

COPPER PIPE RETRO INDUSTRIAL STYLE TABLE LAMP | eBay

 

[Best]

It hasn't been mentioned what flux you are using. The fluxes like greased based Fluxite or similar Yorkshire Traditional flux will let the flux flow very well and work very well if you constantly add a dot of flux to the joint as you heat it. Leaded solder flows better, wipes better and stays melted longer, but any lead isn't recommended to be handled as hazardous.
As the joints are not going to have to hold water, you just need to tack them together with one dab of solder.

 

[Last Plumber]

You could always solder the open fitting inside and clean and flux the tube, then shuv it into the fitting !
Whilst it's hot of course, you'll need to keep it hot with your lamp.
Stand the lamp on the bench or floor and use both hands
Like I said before, it's only to hold it together, not water tight !

 

[Radioman]

Why not wipe the joins with a damp cloth whilst still hot? Wear gloves of course. When I was a sprog we used make all sorts of nice bits and bobs from copper in metalwork class at school ( 1962 to 1969). For example I made a big 12 inch diameter planished dish with a ring as the base for my O level project. That was braised on with silver solder and the joint was invisible , that's what jewels do. So why not do that?

 

[Radioman]

Why not wipe the joins with a damp cloth whilst still hot? Wear gloves of course.
Anyway......When I was a sprog we used make all sorts of nice bits and bobs from copper in metalwork class at school ( 1962 to 1969). For example I made a big 12 inch diameter planished dish with a ring as the base for my O level project. That was braised on with silver solder and the joint was invisible , that's why jewellers use the method. So why not do that? Plenty of info on you tube on how to do it. It's much cleaner and stronger. Borax is the usual flux and silver solder comes in 3 types: easy, medium and hard, videos explain more. Bad joints are caused by ANY contamination of the joint, even a fingerprint will be a drama!

EDIT

Got me thinking and reminiscing now! Jee so Christo mr Elf and Safety would have a mare back in the day! Our little old secondary modern taught us 12 year old how to use oxyacetylene welding, lathes, braising, coke blacksmiths forge for wrought iron work. we had a full on gas alloy casting drag and set where we melted scrap alloy and pored molten aluminium into red sand hollow mould's, we used a gas furnace for melting the alloy. All the safety equipment we had was a cotton apron and swarfega hand cleaner!
Don't get me started on sports kit! I had 2 pairs of plimsoles, 1 Black for winter and 1 white for summer! It's a wonder I am still alive.

 

[zzzjim]

............ for about £60, could solve all your problems.........

In a world of industrial espionage , and cheap copies , buy one , saw it up ,
perform an autopsy !
Even solder paste exists (For SMD) -- not plumbing safe - but its not plumbing .

 

[SimonG]

Hi plumbers, I am popping here today to ask how do I solder a clean join? For example I am currently in the process of creating a lamp for my living room out of copper pipe. I started to solder today and realised I'm crap :smile5:. I cleaned the pipe and the elbows and fluxed, but no matter how hard I tried the solder went everywhere and I ended up with proper messy pipe joins.

I would like to create something like the following:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322443512149

as you can see the joins are spectacular and look very clean and nicely done. My question is how??

thought I'd ask plumbers as you may know?

Epoxy resin.

 

[zzzjim]

Epoxy resin.

That will kick up an awfull stink if you heat it , attempting to re -work something neat by !
( and that other product ? )

 

[SimonG]

For somebody that can't solder then just glue the fittings.

 

[Electronurd]

There are some excellent tips here and will have another go using some of them. One thing that I will definitely look at is the silver solder. That sounds like a very good idea. Will post back with results

 

[Shower Engineer]

One thing that I will definitely look at is the silver solder. That sounds like a very good idea.

If my memory serves me correctly, ordinary solder requires a temperature below about 200 degrees whereas silver soldering is somewhere above 700 degrees.
Check that as if I am correct then you need to take that into account....

 

[Radioman]

Silver solder in the UK comes in 3 different types , easy medium and hard. This relates to the temp it melts at. This is for when you are constructing a complicated piece that needs different joints soldering close together. In the USA they have 6 grades. Important to use propane gas if you can, but not entirely necessary.

 

[Whn1]

You can do but soldering with plumbers solder is a good skill to have

https://www.instagram.com/unequaled_heating/

Some pics and vids to help you

Thanks for the mention Shaun

 

[Radioman]

Excellent guide to brazing ( silver soldering) http://www.richard-whitehouse.co.uk/Soldering notes.pdf

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Thanks for the mention Shaun

Wasn't sure you were still around, how you doing ?

 

[Electronurd]

Wasn't sure you were still around, how you doing ?

Im still around Shaun cheers. Yeah I'm doing alright. I've found a few things out as I've gone such as if I make a mess of a join it's because the fitting wasn't hot enough or I'd applied too much flux. Also as the pipe is for decorative reasons, actually filing down blobs and then applying flux to the excess to darken it makes the joins quite appealing.

Did some archive searching and found this little gem from this forum actually
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-forum/39491-neat-soldering-how.html
And
http://www.ukplumbersforums.co.uk/plumbing-forum/43536-making-perfect-end-feed-solder-joint.html

That link has helped quite a bit as well as this one.

My next little dilemma now if trying to solder to end feed fittings together and have them flush... any takers on that? I'm using a small piece of copper to try and attach two end feeds together with no gap... very difficult indeed and a waste of copper fittings I've found and a great deal of swearing at the sky. Here's a picture of what I mean



Any help would be appreciated the image is the wrong way round... changed it on my computer but not happening on upload.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Solder the elbow or t first

And then solder the other through either the elbow or t hole

 

[1Steven]

Post your pictures when you have given it ago!

 

[Best]

Or just pull the two end feed fittings apart about a couple of mm, then heat and touch of solder and immediately tap the fittings tight together.
But Shaun's idea of soldering through other (open) end of fitting would do also as either method fine because it isn't plumbing