just spent my evening taking apart all the end feed fitting that i have been practising my soldering on, and all of them were soldered correctly even the 28mm straight couplers,, they just looked rough. also ive seen on a few vids on u tube people wearing gloves to remove the solder runs,, while the solder is wet, i this a good idea or not. also can the fitting be re used to practise on, do i have to file all the solder out of em. thanks men
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re-soldeing
- Thread starter pipeline
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View the thread, titled "re-soldeing" which is posted in UK Plumbers Forums on UK Plumbers Forums.
W
wheeto
If you mean using the gloved hand directly to wipe the solder then I'd say this is a bit risky.
If it fits you can re-use it directly. If not then you need to remove solder, probably by abrasion, until it does. If you think the fitting has been abused (really cooked, perhaps, or deformed) then it's not worth re-using, especially solder-ring ones. Good to practise soldering on nevertheless.
SimonJohns
Gas Engineer
Personally I use wirewool to get the solder out. It has to be hot thou. Be careful!
that sound like hard work john,, also u for got to tell me where plumbs was in bridgend? thanks
P
PlumbBobBob
plumb centre
tremains road
bridgend
cf31 1tz
tremains road
bridgend
cf31 1tz
ahh yeah, i know where that is,, didnt think he was talkin about plumb centre.. nice 1 steve
SimonJohns
Gas Engineer
see rich on the counter, hes the only happy chap in there, tell him you want discount too, plumbcentre can be a bit steep without having terms set up
yeah nice1 johns i was only after a pot of everflux,, ill stick on your account.. ftf ha
only kidding
SimonJohns
Gas Engineer
I find power flux to be awful. It sticks when you make fittings up.
B
Billy Bob Bob
rich is a maesteg boy
B
Billy Bob Bob
steel wool or kitchen roll is fine for wiping a soldered joint and making it look neat,you will find re using fittings hard work
SimonJohns
Gas Engineer
Explains alot! Lol
B
Billy Bob Bob
is he a manager now? had a tie on last time i seen him
SimonJohns
Gas Engineer
Don't know. Havent been there for a long time
He should be thou. I dont like the older chap on the counter. And the boy on parts is a pain in the rear
You have to speak to Chris if you wants parts from Bridgend
B
Billy Bob Bob
i dont go there that often theres a right muppet on spares and the older guy on the counter is in a time warp he has 2 speeds slow and stop
To remove & reuse a soldered fitting you have to either, heat it gently & tap it off, & provided it is fully soldered inside, hold it with pump pliers while heating it till solder melts & push it on fluxed pipe & resolder.
Or, after removing fitting, immediately clean solder out of fitting using a rag. Easier on 22mm & larger fittings. Don't leave a trace of solder or fitting won't slip onto pipe later, as it should do. As someone said, you should be wearing gloves, goggles or face shield & a firesuit, but in the real world - I don't!
Be sure the fitting hasn't got dark untinned parts inside! If it does, clean them with emery. Also file the edge of fitting clean, as it may be very tarnished & won't allow solder to get near it.
Or, after removing fitting, immediately clean solder out of fitting using a rag. Easier on 22mm & larger fittings. Don't leave a trace of solder or fitting won't slip onto pipe later, as it should do. As someone said, you should be wearing gloves, goggles or face shield & a firesuit, but in the real world - I don't!
Be sure the fitting hasn't got dark untinned parts inside! If it does, clean them with emery. Also file the edge of fitting clean, as it may be very tarnished & won't allow solder to get near it.
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T
tamz
In the real world you wipe the snots with your bare finger. You won't feel in but in the risk assessed world of impracticability, you have a pair of welders gloves on and knock the pipe so much doing it that it is leaking like a sieve.
If you are unsweating it just wipe it with a bit steel wool or cloth while it is hot to make it smooth inside. You will never be able to wipe off the solder that is there. If you want it off you will need to file it.
When doing other joints with old fittings, unless you water test them you won't know if you did it right. An old fitting once it is tinned (has solder stuck to it) will take even if you are terrible at it.
The only way to do it right is use new fittings. Solder them then take them apart and check. In the real world, turn the water on, turn the water off lol
If you are unsweating it just wipe it with a bit steel wool or cloth while it is hot to make it smooth inside. You will never be able to wipe off the solder that is there. If you want it off you will need to file it.
When doing other joints with old fittings, unless you water test them you won't know if you did it right. An old fitting once it is tinned (has solder stuck to it) will take even if you are terrible at it.
The only way to do it right is use new fittings. Solder them then take them apart and check. In the real world, turn the water on, turn the water off lol
Tamz, I can usually clean the solder off inside fittings fully, just using a cloth with my fingers inside it & a lot of speed. Lol! Guess it is just something I am used to.
Very easy to miss a tiny bit solder though.
The 15mm or smaller are a bother to clean obviously.
I have no worries about reusing a clean fitting, but usually wouldn't as easier to fit a new one.
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T
tamz
You must have a lot of patience as the solder is chemically bonded to the copper.
You can join 2 tinned ends together without flux or solder if you know how (you may need a dab of solder to fill out a bit but you will now by watching).
Learning is a slow process best supervised :wink:
If you originally meant that literally ALL the solder cannot be removed - ie the tinning, then no, I don't & can't remove it, unless I emery it when it is cooler, but don't need to remove the tinning obviously.
I also have put both an already heavy soldered pipe end & a fitting just removed & thick with solder together in one go, & then I redo the joint, but always the risk of letting solder inside pipe.
I generally only do this with my own work, if it is a change of idea or if it years old as it should already be fully soldered. I find a lot of fittings are a mess with others work so tends to be not tinned.
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A
adam84
Ire-use end feed fittings all the time, just clean em out with the fittings brush and re-flux with the added advantage of being tinned! was the plumbing video on utube by plumberx? and yes you can "wet wipe" the joints but risk desturbing them before they harden.
M
Mr leaky
when i was learning soldering i used a socket forming tool to make a socket on the end of a length of pipe then used a hacksaw to cut that off and made another socket with the tool cut that off and just continued like that until i had used that piece then i cleaned and fluxed them and soldered the pieces back together again
G
Guest123
Do they teach you young uns in college how to get solder off your plastic push fit fittings or am I using them wrong? LOL
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