Solder Hot water Ball Valves

ChrisJ

mattmia2 said:

I don't do a whole lot of sweating of pipe. i have gone to buying NPT valves and adapters. The extra buck or 2 is cheap insurance against burning up the valve. I especially do it for expensive valves like zone valves and such.

I was going to do that, but a bunch of male adapters I bought had absolutely terrible threads. I had to over tighten them to get them not to leak.

GroundUp

I don't know that I've ever wrecked the nylon seat in a soldered ball valve. Open, closed, vertical, horizontal, overhead, underfloor, MAPP, air/acetylene, and everything in between. I'd guess an average of 500 soldered valves per year over my 13 year career, and not once have I used cooling gel or even a wet rag. Never. They're not as delicate as you might think fellas, just gotta watch where your heat goes. When the solder starts to flow, it's hot enough. Move the heat away from the valve and back onto the pipe where you started. A 1" ball valve with a basic TS4000 MAPP torch maybe 15 seconds heating the pipe, 2-3 seconds heating the valve cup, 2-3 seconds flowing solder with centralized heat on the joint cap pointed toward the pipe, and it's done. Quench the valve after the solder hardens if you really feel like it or need to cycle it quickly (so as to not tear the hot nylon) or just wipe the excess flux and move on with your day. I don't mean to be a know-it-all or anything, but a lot of people make soldering a lot harder than it needs to be. If I can do it, so can you.

JUGHNE

I have tried to explain soldering to someone, about like you just stated above. However, in explaining any process like that there are about a dozen things you just automatically and subconsciously so to produce a good result.
So practice is what it takes.

Other than once, I have not torched any valves beyond use in 40 years. Some had to have the stem packing tightened (if possible) after heating.

The one time, I had a real brain lapse and while connecting a 3/4 OD ACR line into an AC service valve. I used no wet rag and cooked the O rings, with a large B tank torch, on the stem and had to replace the service valve.....and R-22.
I have made almost every minor mistake possible in 4 decades, but only once.....so far.

The new lead free brass valves solder a little different than the old school ones. Not like a regular 90 or coupling.

EBEBRATT-Ed

I agree with @JUGHNE , when you in a tight spot you have to know your limitations. There's ways to get it done. Practice makes perfect. There is no 1 right way for every situation

mattmia2

I cooked a teflon seat ball valve when the joint didn't wet right and i had to take it apart to clean, re-flux, and re-solder. the teflon seat popped right out. granted some of this was probably after watching a plumber that was a little more on speed than good joints that didn't clean stuff that was already shiny and didn't flux both surfaces.