solderless?

Hollis

OK I have seen demos on a product called "Just for Copper" not a glue supposed to react with copper to "weld" the joint together  or something to that effect,..seems impressive but anyone trust that on a hot water boiler?  What about shark bites or similar?

Hard to accept these newer things on more critical parts.



I wonder about soldering ball valves. How does one protect the seal in the valve from burning up from the heat?

clammy

just for copper

They carry it at one of the local supply house ,i have talked to a few guys who have used it where they just could not get a system (domestic water ) to drain or get a postive shut off on the main ,they stated it works great and have had no issue with the joint or two they used it on .i would not do a whole house with it ,it has it's place where you just can't get the water to drain.I have a tube in my truck it has been there for about 2 years just in case all my usually tricks don't work and it's 2 in the morning other wise use the tourch and do it right .As for soldering in valves if it  is a ball valve i usually solder them with the valve closed this way the telfon seat does not get out of shape ,globes i do with open or dis assemble and gates really don't matter but open is better .always remenber lean the pipe and the female side of the fitting well make sure they are dry apply enough flux but don't use to much and apply heat evenly if it is a valve apply heat away from the fitting side of the valve away not towards the middle of the valve and use only enough heat to get the solder flowing perventing you from damaging the valve .Hope this helps after a couple of thousand of joints it nothing peace and good luck clammy

icesailor

Soldering:

My old Auto Shop teacher used to say "You can't buy a mechanic in a can." I'll stick to the real deal.

As far as soldering ball valves, the only valves I have ever ruined were ones that I soldered with the valve closed. If you use 50/50 solder, (360') the chances are slim that you will overheat the valve. If you use Silverbrite, lead free, (400'+), not likely, but if you use 97/5, (750+) the chances are good if you are not very careful.

Heat from the back of the fitting, end or tube socket, and do both sides of the valve. Wipe immediately with a rag. If the solder still flows and you can wipe the grape off, you got it hot enough. If it has already set when you wipe it, the fitting was not heated enough. If you heat from the front, you may only solder the front part of the fitting. Paste the pipe AND the fitting. That way, if you forget to paste one, the other one will surely be pasted. There's nothing worse than soldering a bunch of complicated fittings and finding one that isn't pasted.

I blow 99% of what I repair soldering with compressed air. The fact that you have carted a tube of the stuff around in your truck for two years shows how often you have used it.

Paul Fredricks_3

Red Stuff?

If you are talking about the red liquid in a bottle, I'd say forget it. That stuff worked as long as no one ever touched that pipe again. We tried it in our training room and had more leaks than you can imagine.

Ironman

Sharkbites

We've been using sharkbites for about 4-5 years now with no problems at all as long as the pipe is clean and round. We do alot of outside wood boilers that run constant circ. @ 170 - 180 and haven't had any leak so far. They also work well for repairing a kink in radiant floor - no restriction as compared to a barbed coupling. Also good for transitioning from pex to copper - just make sure you use the insert on any plastic pipe. Certainly wouldn't do an entire job with them.