soldering

[jhnnegus]

Can anyone tell me why after i soldered some pipe yesterday it leaked so i have come back today to do it but the solder will not stick, any solutions would be grateful

 

[aptsys]

Have you got rid of any water in the pipe? You won't be able to heat the pipe up enough to solder properly if it's wet.

 

[jhnnegus]

i drained it down but naybe there is still some in there how do i get rid of it

 

[EliteHeat]

So, you are asking "how do I dry something?"

 

[roguetrader]

cut the pipe off either side of the joint you can't solder, take it outside, leave it in the sun to dry off, make the joint on the dry pipes then take it back indoors and solder the piece back in place.

 

[Kes]

'The solder won't stick' could mean anything. If the pipe has a lot of water in it then you will not get anywhere near to solder melting temp. If there is a little water in it then the pipe will get scalding hot over a considerable distance as the water turns to steam. If there's no water and you have plenty of heat then split the joint, clean the pipe and fitting properly and reflux before trying again.

If you have water in there then if you can't get enough heat to split the joint then open a few nearby taps/drain points. This might drain enough to get the job done. If not, put your mouth over the nearest (open) tap and blow until you're feeling giddy. Water should flow from the other taps. Then try to split the joint. When split, clean pipe and fitting, reflux and solder. If the joint is already split do the open taps/blow down the pipe technique. If it hurts you should have let the pipe cool before kissing it.

 

[John506]

Or..... cut the joint out and use compression fittings, sorted, voila!

 

[mattylad]

I once had a similar problem where I could not drain all the water out of the piping because some numpty had made it so it couldn't.

I ended up[ putting a plastic pipe down the radiator piping asn syphoning it all out.