Lobster wrote:

Well, it does seem odd. I'm not normally totally cack-handed with
tasks like this! Just before I buy my new blowlamp - how far either
side of the joint should I be heating? I'm playing the flame over an
area about 1.5" either side of the fitting: could that be too much?

I usually only go about half the width of the flame - so that it is half
on the pipe and half on the fitting.

Thanks for the continued advice! TBH I'd have probably given up by now
but for the fact that I can't buy the fittings I need in Yorkshire
style (various 10mm - 15mm stuff).

If it is any encouragement, of the last few hundred joints I have
soldered, the only ones I ever had leak were a yorkshire fitting (due to
a pinhole flaw in the manufacture), and a very old heavy weight fitting
that firstly I could not be sure was totally dry, and secondly had so
much metal in it my (ailing) blowlamp could not heat it fast enough. All
the end feed stuff I have found to be 100% reliable.

I recently changed blowtorch because my old wickes one was developing a
small catalogue of problems. I got one of these cheap on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BERNZOMATIC-QU...c mdZViewItem

It has a propane canister and very focused flame which makes it easy to
get lots of heat exactly where you want it.

--
Cheers,

John.

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