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Wiping Solder Ingots

Mad Dog_2
Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

Ma Bell 🔔 old stock I reckon...I have a few guys practicing for their exams in the fall..yes..lead wiping in 2024...its hangin in there. Mad Dog 🐕

Comments

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    It's getting harder & harder to procure the materials. Mad Dog

  • CLamb
    CLamb Member Posts: 323

    What's the composition?

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    It should be 40-60 (Tin-Lead) or thereabouts...Mad Dog 🐕

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    The Phone company did a ton of wiped joints too. Mad Dog 🐕

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,858

    I don't think bar solder is hard to get. It is hard to get in small quantities.

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    By us it is..Quite a few supply no longer carry OR will bring in...

    Lead Bends

    Sheet lead

    Solder fittings above 1"

    Mad Dog 🐕

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,858

    What I mean is if you want the wholesale quantity from a metal supplier you can get a pallet or truckload of it but if you only want a couple ingots that is hard to get.

    Mad Dog_2
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,291

    I suspect Matt isn't interested in ordering 10 skids of it.

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

    mattmia2Mad Dog_2
  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,293

    Huh. No one does sheet lead shower pans out east?

    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
    CLamb
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,858

    I would probably look at a roofing supply for sheet lead. The plumbing supplies that would even know what sheet lead is wouldn't talk to me.

    delcrossvMad Dog_2
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    Chris...I was looking for NO MORE THAN 8 SKIDS!! = 8.5 tons ..ha ha. I have had the occasion to do a Lead pan in a few years, but guys that were still doing them stopped due to the poor qaulity sheet lead.. The reports that I got were rusted out pans in just a few years. Iron in the imported lead? Mad Dog 🐕

    mattmia2
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 17,364

    Left over from the days when phones worked reliably………….

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
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    JUGHNEMad Dog_2
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,581

    at the price Ma Bell charged per minute, and with her monopoly, she could afford to engineer the hell out of everything. I prefer today

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
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  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,268

    Paul, yes, today is good. Until someone cuts a fiber even 200 miles away from you. This has happened numerous times. Knocks out 911 service and even cell service.

    Many are confident that they don't need the landline switch office, but cell service is routed thru it via UG fiber. IIUC, cell calls do not go tower to tower, rather they shoot down UG to a switching station then perhaps go out to the appropriate tower.

    However, I do appreciate that our little CO-OP phone company has fiber buried right up to the house giving us high speed internet and TV if we choose it. It might fail maybe once a year for less than 1 hour. And being a Co-Op we get almost 1/2 of out bill back in dividend checks every 2 years or so.

    Mad Dog_2PC7060
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,581

    you never got the “fast busy” of a failed trunk line in the 40s through 90s?

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
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    CLambPC7060
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,291

    The phones seemed to go down and awful lot in the old movies and shows I watch.

    Of course they're fake but it suggests it was typical of the time.

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 17,364

    Only time I remember that was when a fire gutted a NYC central office- 1975, I believe. Twelve exchanges that used Panel and #1 Crossbar switching, plus five tandems with similar switch types. It caused a ripple effect for hundreds of miles.

    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    Mad Dog_2
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,858

    i think it was just a convenient plot device

    you might have the pair or crosspoint to your house fail once or twice in your lifetime but the co itself was built to be very reliable and redundant and to automatically route around a fault and alert techs to repair the fault.

    att stopped putting resources in to maintenance of the plant 20 or so years ago so it is now much less reliable than it was designed to be

  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,178

    Hey there @Mad Dog_2

    Why is lead wiping still hanging in there in 2024? How is it used in the field? I haven't seen it in…decades?

    Is there a curriculum change coming?

    ethicalpaulMad Dog_2
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    Because the Plumbing boards of the municipalities are still requiring it. I happen to agree with it. A rigorous screw pipe project, soldering and brazing should also be part of every practical Exam. Mad Dog

  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    I wanna go back to Hooterville and the party line. Simpler times. Mad Dog 🐕

  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,291
    edited August 6

    Why are they still requiring it and why do you agree with it if it's never used in real life plumbing?

    Or are these skills currently being used?

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

  • mikemac52
    mikemac52 Member Posts: 49

    McMaster-Carr might be a source for small quantity ingots.

  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 16,291
    edited August 6

    Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.

    mattmia2PRR
  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,178

    I am fine with what @Mad Dog_2 is saying with one exception. Why the lead? Why? Its poison. I haven't used lead in more than thirty years and even back then It was frowned upon. I hear you @ChrisJ .

    ethicalpaul
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511
    edited August 6

    Poison? That's a stretch. You shouldn't ingest copper, asbestos, cement, airplane glue, Top Job, Spic & Span, et cetera, but they all have important everyday applications and uses. There is alot of hysteria surrounding lead and mercury especially. Don't eat it and you'll be fine.

    I still support lead wiping as part of a practical plumbing exam, because it's hard to master, shows great hand-eye coordination and skills, grace under pressure whilst working 💪 with hot molten metals. I am a traditionalist. Even though most carpenters today with never have to make a mortise & tenon and dovetail joint,.shouldn't they be able to pull it off? You want to call yourself master? Step up.

    Part of many Black Belt degrees require competence with Samurai swords and various weapons...they may never come to use them in a combat situation, but they should know how. It's a very honest question, but it seems those who are so against it either haven't attempted it or refuse to get skin in the game and use it as an excuse NOT to get their Masters' license, or wave the Bio-Hazard Flag... Mad Dog 🐕

    ethicalpaulCLambdelcrossv
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    I drank from the garden hose today! Mad Dog 🐕

    yellowdog
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,858

    I think wiping a joint requires a lot of metalworking skills that you need to have for many other plumbing tasks. You need to lay it out right then you need to have the feel for how to move the metal around and control the heat and the oxidation to weld the pieces together rather than tun it in to a big molten blob.

    Mercury is rather more of an issue because it evaporates. In something like a manometer it isn't an issue because there is so little surface area, but if you spill it and spread it out you suddenly have a problem.

    This is the archive of military manuals I was thinking of:
    https://tpub.com/

    Mad Dog_2
  • Intplm.
    Intplm. Member Posts: 2,178

    Not a stretch @Mad Dog_2 . If the proper PPE is used ie. a respirator, there is less chance of breathing in the fumes. So, if that is what the practice is that's great. Use a respirator. It is a poison and it is harmful and in my humble opinion, unnecessary.

    The C.D.C. and the W.H.O. do not recommend lead as a medium.

    Mad Dog_2ethicalpaulChrisJ
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    PVC & pex are not to be ingested, drinking water out of plastic bottles that have sat in sun is not recommended. Today's materials are not harmless either. As far as Mercury: Getting away from the Mercury Test Columns was a good move (easy to spill), but I really do miss my Mercury T Stats. Mad Dog 🐕

    PRR
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    As we have seen over years, The CDC & WHO are not unimpeachable sources of information. Be skeptical 🫤! Mad Dog 🐕

    ethicalpauldelcrossv
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,581

    Lead and mercury are far different than those other materials, Matt.

    I can’t say anything about your other statement without running afoul of this site’s rules.

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

    Mad Dog_2mattmia2
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,858

    If I understand right, lead shouldn't get to temps where it vaporizes in soldering or wiping. The only caveat to that is I could see where if it is heated directly with a torch the torch could heat scale or fine strands enough to vaporize them. I'd bee curious what my exposure has been although I suspect I have had far more exposure from leaded gasoline than from soldering.

    ethicalpaulCLambMad Dog_2
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,581
    edited August 7

    I agree with you @mattmia2, leaded gas and leaded paint are probably the greatest harm by far. They lower the average intelligence across the population leading to all kinds of social problems. It's just good to get it out of circulation.

    Here's probably the most harmful man who ever existed. Of course he invented CFCs too so there's a direct connection to the HVAC industry: https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/research/thomas-midgley-harmful-inventor-history/

    The article is worth the read…right to the end. But I don't know why links are now silly on this site 😓

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

    PC7060Intplm.
  • BrassFinger
    BrassFinger Member Posts: 11

    So, leaded gas has been largely gone for the last 30-40 years. Leaded paint has been gone for just as long, yet people are still getting dumber every day. 🤣

    Yes, I know about leaded av-gas. Luckily my 1946 Cessna 140 was certified to run on 73 octane av-gas, which was lead free, and the plane subsequently eligible for the STC (supplemental type certificate) that allows the use of mo-gas (non-ethanol only). The amount of lead emitted from piston aviation engines is absolutely miniscule compared to the what was spewed forth in the "bad ol' days" of leaded gas.

    CLamb
  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Member Posts: 6,581

    lead paint continues to poison kids, especially low-income kids. Cool plane story though

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

    STEAM DOCTOR
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 7,511

    Pica...

    Mad Dog 🐕

  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,436
    edited August 9

    and lead remains in the soils around many roads .

    ethicalpaul