How do I get bad joints on copper

[plumben]

They ok for a few times bud but not worth the money. Get the strips!! wire wool only ends up stuck in your fingers anyways

thanks think ill stick with the strips then

 

[kay-jay]

thanks think ill stick with the strips then

Cut your own strips off a 5metre roll from toolstation. Costs less than 6quid

 

[goz666]

Steam will not be a bother as long as it stops steaming as you solder. Don't solder a fitting if water is able to keep coming up close to the fitting.
Yorkshire type fittings have a few disadvantages compared with end feed -
1 they tend to be more dirty & require more cleaning
2 they are dirty behind the solder ring
3 they have the groove where the ring of solder is & that groove breaks the capillary action (which will stop you end feeding solder vertically)
4 they have only a lead free ring of solder inside them which is harder to solder & not needed for heating pipes.

My guess is you are overheating the fitting which would explain why you say the top joint of a tee piece is leaking. Try to clean everything first thoroughly & flux well & then keep adding dot of flux on the end of the solder wire as you heat. Just heat until the solder melts (your solder wire tip melting will show correct heat reached) & do not heat much more than a few seconds - literally one or two seconds extra! If you need to keep reworking the joint, pull the flame away from the fitting rather than constantly blasting it with heat.
15mm & 22mm require very little power to heat them & I used butane for years & it was plenty.
Propane is however faster & good for damp pipes.

Too many young lads these days using Mapp gas thinking it's the dogs danglies and overheating fittings to quickly. Got to agree here Best, more than likely far too much heat which isn't needed.

 

[pipefitter]

Mapp gas is good,if you use it correctly....same as most things

 

[sheff paul]

Mapp gas is good,if you use it correctly....same as most things

use Mapp all the time if your on price work it saves time,water in the pipe Mapp will boil it out faster than propane once you have been using it, you never go back to propane..

 

[PhoenixServices]

I always use propane. Much neater joint IMO. Then mapp if there is water or larger pipework.

 

[plumben]

I always use propane. Much neater joint IMO. Then mapp if there is water or larger pipework.

I prefer propane I've found map over heats the pipe and Yorkshires don't solder as nice with map, but use map for bigger pipes or endfeed

 

[Ch4 plumbing]

Doesn't mater what you use as long as you know how to use it! I use Mapp gas but I just go steady with it!

 

[kay-jay]

nobody seems to sell just mapp any more. its all map-pro which as name suggests is a propane mapp mixture. because its in a yellow tin most people havent realised it isnt just mapp any more......

 

[kay-jay]

in fact there isnt a great deal of difference between propane and map-pro. simply because one of the things that make mapp what it is (a constituent of mapp called propadiene) is much more valuable in the plastics industry than it is in the industrial gases industry. mapp was produced by only one company, who pulled the plug on the gas in favour of the more lucrative market

 

[sheff paul]

I prefer propane I've found map over heats the pipe and Yorkshires don't solder as nice with map, but use map for bigger pipes or endfeed

Some Plumbers just aint 'man enough' to handle Map Pro.... Hee Hee Haa Haa..

 

[Best]

I was soldering 8 end feed 15mm connectors on Friday using my Surefire torch & Propane.
Had to raise four newly fitted column rads that a builder brought some idiots in & fitted nearly at floor level yet it was straight valves from bottom of rad & pipes were from solid floors.
I used the end feed because nice & slim fittings for pipe covers. I couldn't believe how fast they soldered & I used lead free for strength. Only seconds & they near overheated with Propane, so I normally wouldn't bother thinking of using Mapp.

 

[plumben]

That was the reason I started using propane, but I was soldering up 10-15mm straights and found map to be heating the pipe far to much, also my laps a bit vicious looking to get a superfire2

 

[Best]

..........., also my laps a bit vicious looking to get a superfire2

Whats your "laps"?

 

[plumben]

Whats your "laps"?

Dam auto correct , I meant to say "lamps"