soldering - butane or propane

bernardgreen · 22 Nov 2011

I am having serious doubts about the quality of my plumbing joints in my present DIY pipework with end feed joints. The solder is not flowing evenly round the joint and appears to be "charred" in places.. Copper is clean and fluxed.

I can only think it is because I am using butane in the blow torch ( Rothenburg ) and this is producing a flame that is too hot to allow even heating of the pipe and joint without overheating som parts to the point that the solder oxides.

The last install I did was 30 years ago with propane and so far no joint has failed

Would using propane be the better option to get a cooler flame and more even heating ?.

landyandy · 22 Nov 2011

Probably more down to your technique.

Turn your torch down a bit.

Try playing the flame more on the pipe than on the fitting.

Take your time.

Andy.

rego · 22 Nov 2011

i would change to propane. with end feed i would tend to heat fitting more than pipe. solder will run towards heat

bobthebender · 22 Nov 2011

Try playing the flame more on the pipe than on the fitting.
Andy.[/quote]

So that's where i've been going wrong for 40 years

Don't they teach you anything on these courses ?

bernardgreen · 23 Nov 2011

I have the flame at the lowest is can be set but even then the pipe discolouration seems to become excessive before the heat reaches the joint area which makes me think the flame is too hot.

I think a larger but cooler flame would spread the heat more evenly over the fitting and pipes. So does propane produce a cooler flame ?

Take your time

I am but I need the heating working before Christmas.

doitall · 23 Nov 2011

try fluxing just the pipe and applying the heat to the fitting only.

Dip the end of the solder in the flux and keep dabbing the joint, when it's hot enough to melt the jobs a good en.

Common DIY problem is melting the solder with the flame.

If the fitting goes black you have a dirty flame or it's too hot.

Nige F · 23 Nov 2011

bernardgreen said:
I am having serious doubts about the quality of my plumbing joints Would using propane be the better option to get a cooler flame and more even heating ?.

Are you moving the flame / taking it off the pipe/fitting - that`s what you do when using a paraffin lamp- no turning them up + down

kirkgas · 23 Nov 2011

heat from the front and load solder from the back, when you see the solder appearing at the front you know it has run all the way round, TBH i have never noticed what gas is best, so it must be down to practice, make sure pipe is clean, minimal flux, heat for 8 or 9 seconds and apply the solder and it runs round the joint

bernardgreen · 24 Nov 2011

Thanks for the advice.

Last night I was able to compare my torch with a neighbours that runs on propane and his is much cooler. So a can of propane might be the answer.

doitall · 24 Nov 2011

Propane is cleaner and hotter than Butane

bernardgreen · 25 Nov 2011

Using a can of propane is giving much better results. Still not perfect in appearance but seem to be sound.

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soldering - butane or propane

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