Soldering close to plastic pipe

[John Williamson]

I need to desolder and replace this tee. It's very close to the Buteline plastic pipe below (approx 45mm). I have a soldering mat to protect from the flame but worried that the heat will compromise the plastic pipe fitting (Buteline).

Is there a safe way to do this or should I consider replacing with a compression tee instead?

I'm a soldering noob so sorry if this is a dumb question

 

[jj4091]

Clamping some mole grips to the brass part, along with your mat will help plus heat rises,but don't know if it will be 100% safe. Was the brass fitting soldered before the plastic was attached

 

[oldbuffer]

1. If you are new to soldering (for plumbing, not electronics) I would advise you not to remove using heat.
2. It should be possible for someone experienced, by covering the plastic and its brass connections to the copper pipework with water saturated cloths / towels. He / she would need to constantly monitor the towelline and add more cold water if necessary.
3. De-soldering often requires more heat than soldering in the first place.
4. Order of operations is important to ensure minimum heat input to the plastic. I'd suggest:
4.1 De-solder bottom (leading to plastic) pipe first.
4.2 Then the horizontal branch from the centre.
4.3 Then the top connection.
5. Any soldering / de-soldering requires the pipes to be entirely empty of water. Otherwise the solder won't melt.
6. You might get away with a compression fitting, but:
6.1 Without heat you would have to cut the pipes, and extend them (more compression fittings?) to fit again.
6.2 Compression fittings are much bulkier than soldered ones so might be difficult to fit without additioal pipework modifications.
7. A more detailed explanation of what you are trying to achieve might help elicit a more focused answer

 

[John Williamson]

Clamping some mole grips to the brass part, along with your mat will help plus heat rises,but don't know if it will be 100% safe. Was the brass fitting soldered before the plastic was attached

Thank you. Yes the brass fitting was soldered before the plastic was attached. This is how Buteline solder transitions are made.

 

[jj4091]

Takeb from screwfix community if that helps



speed fit tech say 450mm minimum from soldering area thats thats about 18 inch in real money,
http://www.speedfit.co.uk/Home/Technical-Support/FAQ-s.aspx

 

[John Williamson]

1. If you are new to soldering (for plumbing, not electronics) I would advise you not to remove using heat.
2. It should be possible for someone experienced, by covering the plastic and its brass connections to the copper pipework with water saturated cloths / towels. He / she would need to constantly monitor the towelline and add more cold water if necessary.
3. De-soldering often requires more heat than soldering in the first place.
4. Order of operations is important to ensure minimum heat input to the plastic. I'd suggest:
4.1 De-solder bottom (leading to plastic) pipe first.
4.2 Then the horizontal branch from the centre.
4.3 Then the top connection.
5. Any soldering / de-soldering requires the pipes to be entirely empty of water. Otherwise the solder won't melt.
6. You might get away with a compression fitting, but:
6.1 Without heat you would have to cut the pipes, and extend them (more compression fittings?) to fit again.
6.2 Compression fittings are much bulkier than soldered ones so might be difficult to fit without additioal pipework modifications.
7. A more detailed explanation of what you are trying to achieve might help elicit a more focused answer

Thank you. Definately leaning towards compression now. I have the space for a compression fitting so this is the way to go.

In terms of what I am trying to achieve, sadly the plumber reversed the flow and return for my UFH manifold so I need to fix this.

Once drained if I cut the pipe where the red line is I can use the pipe below for the compression fitting and mess around safely with the pipework above with a torch if they need extra length.

The new compression tee and then grip on to this length of pipe. This way all heat is completed before the compression is back on