Rothenberger Tee Extractor HELP

kevin_5

My husband just got one of these babies after waiting almost 2 months. He can pull the Tees fine but he is having major problems trying to silver braze the Wirsbo brass fittings into the 1 1/4 copper tubing.

Any ideas on special alloys or fluxes or would soft soldering work too?
maria pulver

keith

just a thought

wouldn't it be easier to braze a piece of copper tubing into your extracted tee and then soft sodder the adaptor onto the tubing?

hr

Brass to copper is

a little tricky due to the different melt points. This picture shows one side silflosed with the Harris 15%. 6% is a little cheaper and Silabraze cheaper yet. (Less silver) 15% meets ASTM spec on t-drill joints. All the silver/ phos stuff is self fluxing, and it all works in the 1100- 1400 degree range. Clean and heat!

The right side is brazed with brass rod and the flux shown. This can be touchy as the fitting and braze rod melt at the same point. No flux with the silfos solder on the left.

You need a mighty torch on large diameter tube. I like the braze tip in an oxy/actylene set up. Regular Mapp or actylene may not be enough heat. The small tip "works" a bead nicer also.

Need lots of heat compared to soft solder. The picture shows about the right melt temperature the copper starts to turn pretty colors at the correct point. Generally the tube will need more heat than the fitting point the tip towards the manifold 1-1/4" not the fitting or you will overheat the brass fitting and it will pop and disapper on you

Definitely wear safety glasses as the solder will pop if you overheat it, and it burns to the bone at 1100 degrees F believe me.

I have also used regular 95/5 also, but it is a weaker joint and may not meet code. Keep trying

JW Harris has a good web page for solder application and selection. Keep trying

hot rod

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Canuck

Brass & Copper brazing

Used to work for a company that did a lot of work for the navy (Canadian)(Send in one rust-seeking missile and we're gonners). There was a lot of brass to copper brazing we had to do and it seems that not all brass is created equal. The only method that I found that worked in all instances, was to use Easy-Flo 45 (45% silver) with Handy-Harman flux. I don't know if that's a common trade name in the US. The flux is a white/wet/grainy material that leaves a hard opaque residue after brazing. Brush and water will remove it if done immediately after the braze.
Truth to tell - we used to use this to braze socket weld S/S fittings as well. Worked like a charm.

hr

Here are some more pics

Showing brazed, silver solder and regular no lead Bridgit. Actually for low pressure, low temperature soft solder seems to work ok. Most of the manifolds in my house and shop are soft soldered.

Probably the prettiest manifolds out there is this Watts Radiant all brass "Custom Cut 18 port). Available in all sorts of connections and valved versions.

Sometimes it is easier to buy a factory built one that has been leak tested:)
Takes the fun out of the project, however.

hot rod

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kevin_5

Thanks guys. You're great

All your varied advice is very helpful.
The Stay Silv 15% is what I was using. I had plenty of heat.I think I need more practice. I also think that the copper to copper braze, followed by a soft soldered fitting might be the way to go for now. I have always used Wirsbo's cast brass/Bronze? manifolds, but needed a lot of them on a big job and my supplier suggested the tee puller would pay for itself on this job. I'm a sucker for a new tool. I'm a little disappointed in Rothenberger's failure to include an owners manual with the tool. Hey even a fifteen dollar toaster comes with a manual. There's a lot they could tell you about use and care, tips etc...
Thanks also for the picture some time ago of the homemade tubing uncoiler. I'm going to make one and throw away my Wirsbo uncoiler. It's right next to worthless.

I appreciate you guys helping me out. I'll try to post photos when I have some success. Kevin

Floyd

Had to let the wife....

ask for help??????
That's okay.... it's a MAN thing!!!!!!
Thank God for the woman that can swallow our ego and get us help!!!!!

Floyd :-)

Colin

Flux & silfos

I find that I get better results when brazing brass to copper joints when I clean, flux with Harris safety silv flux, then braze with 15% silfos. Be sure to clean the joint of any flux or a splash of water while hot to clean the flux off as it will form a glass like coating that will hide a leak until a latter in-oportune moment.
Colin

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