Trainee and my soldering is crap !!

[lufcmark]

Get yourself a little angled dentist mirror...They are handy for checking the blind side of joints once you have finished soldering to check that the solder has run around completely.

 

[gassafeman]

Whilst your playing with pipes and solder, apply it to the rear of the fitting.

1: You can see when it fills the joint your making.
2: Looks impressive as you see no solder on the pipework your looking at.

Decent flux will clean dirty pipes anyway. I never bother cleaning them. Waste of time IMO.

Doitall has a good vid on soldering.

Paul.

 

[mickyg]

if he hasn't worked out how to solder joints in 2 years i suspect he's probably working in asda by now

 

[JayJay1978]

Ah!

Hadn't noticed it was one of those long threads that gets ressurected!

Good tips though, and where else but a plumbing forum can you get the council of 10 - 15 experienced plumbers (on this thread) to learn from all at once.

Who is it that calls this site Diydoughnuts again?

 

[kevindgas]

just out of interest why shouldn't everflux be used on gas?

 

[Nige F]

Wire brush .french chalk.Smudge. Scraper. tallow . keep the moleskin moving . keep the lamp pumped up and moving the flame . Don`t let the tin drip out

 

[XKESTONMAN]

its power flow flux,still very corrosive after use,not good for copper on gas.
everflux is ok,for gas.

 

[kevplumb]

everflux is ok,for gas.

it flamin well is not

it is still corrosive after use

 

[XKESTONMAN]

i stand corrected

 

[XKESTONMAN]

correction la.co flux ok for gas,no zinch chloride,none corrosive.

 

[kevplumb]

you are correct sir

 

[Garfeild]

Wire brush .french chalk.Smudge. Scraper. tallow . keep the moleskin moving . keep the lamp pumped up and moving the flame . Don`t let the tin drip out

Dont forget the Plumbers "Black",or are we not allowed to say that anymore?

 

[kevplumb]

thats smudge

and the youngsters think copper takes a bit of practice

 

[compheat]

I must admit that everflux is the worst flux i've ever used burns your skin badly. I've been using Powerflux for years , i only put a smear inside the fitting the rest on the pipe. Dont like map gas its to hot. and i've been using my finger for years i got fed up with brushs ect.
Any plumber or gas installer who's not had a leak as never put anything in there pipes. (I HATE WATER)

 

[hewie]

Right, time to ask the experts. Im a trainee plumber and whatever I try, my soldering seems to be crap. How do I know this ? - leaks !! and the joints just dont seem as clean as ones Ive seen. What am I doing wrong, or more importantly, how can I do it right ?

Is it the cleaning ?, too much flux, not enough flux etc etc

help................!!!

might take u a bit longer try tinning the pipe end an old fashioned way of making sure 2 surfaces are going to stick