Anyone here have any tips on soldering?

[kazaam]

Never soldered before. Have to rebuild a bypass for a water softener using threaded ball valves instead of old thread-less gate valves. Not particularly nervous or anything, just have no experience.

Seems pretty simple: clean inside of fitting, outside of pipe, flux both fitting and pipe, apply heat, apply solder, done.

As always, things are probably not as simple as they seem, so I'm looking for some tips. Thanks !

 

[bass pro]

Apply heat to the fitting and it will draw the solder into it. Be sure all parts are clean and fluxed well.

 

[Mgderf]

Make sure you have ZERO water in the lines. If necessary, use a soda straw to blow out any excess.
Also, when you "clean" the fitting and pipe, use an abrasive cloth or sandpaper. You want a rough ( but shiny clean) finish on both surfaces to give the solder a better purchase.
Don't be sparingly on the flux. It's cheap.
Make sure your solder is lead-free
Make sure both sides of joint are hot before introducing solder. Heat a bit, then just touch the solder to the pipe. If it doesn't start to melt IMMEDIATELY, back the solder off and heat some more.
The trick here is, you don't want to over-heat.

Finally, when water is turned back on and you're sure you have no leaks, flush your lines by opening each valve for a few seconds to get rid of sediment in the lines.

 

[kazaam]

Thanks for the info! Question: since it's a bypass valve I'm installing (here), and one side is coming in and the other side (right side, I assume) is going up, how can I flush that side? Apologies if this is an extremely stupid question, and thanks again for the help!

 

[chocktaw2]

Don't get any heat near the ball valve, as heat will damage the neoprene seal.

 

[LtScott14]

I will wrap a sopping wet rag around the body of the valve and leave the ends exposed. You can purchase some fittings and small pieces of copper and use a vice to practice if you like. Some solders(Swif brand) have the solder and flux together. Clean and heat till you see silver flowing. Done. Agree about the water, you need to remove it from the pipes. If your main shut off doesn't hold, open a far away faucet and let the pressure drain from that point. Offer the neighbor beer and pizza to help!
Good luck.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

Not to dissuade you from doing it yourself...

But is your water supply to your home really the place you want to attempt this first?

There are more than a few INGO plumbers around who'd be happy to help you out.

And why yes, I am indeed projecting my own insecurities about my own capabilities onto your project.

 

[Navykid05]

One thing I've learned...don't over heat. It won't seal well.

 

[bigus_D]

One thing I've learned...don't over heat. It won't seal well.

One thing I've learned... Don't under heat. It won't seal well.

 

[indytechnerd]

Thanks for the info! Question: since it's a bypass valve I'm installing (here), and one side is coming in and the other side (right side, I assume) is going up, how can I flush that side? Apologies if this is an extremely stupid question, and thanks again for the help!

Just did this myself, well installed a water softener, so the soldering part. To drain that line, turn off the water to your house, turn ON all COLD faucets to drain the water. Then, in your case, put a bucket under your fitting and open your valve to drain anything that's left in that side of the line. Repeat for the other side.

Those Gate fittings suck to solder, because the brass is heavier than the copper. Heat one side while periodically touching the solder to the other side, when the solder melts and sucks into the joint, then you're in good shape. Quickly run the solder along the joint in a 'C' motion then swing it around to the side you heated last.

Are you soldering a direct connection to the softener, or do you need to run some extra copper because of positioning? If you're doing more than just those fittings, do the rest first, then mount the whole run to the fitting and solder it last. This keeps you from doing all of your soldering within 'burn down the house' range of the studs.

Here's mine from a couple weeks ago, ran about 5ft to the side so the truck would fit in the Garage:

Be careful to keep the heat away from the valve handle area, otherwise you could damage the rubber packing washer inside and cause the fitting to leak.!