Seeing green has nothing to do with the coppers heat, that's the gas your
using. Hear is what you want to do heat the pipe evenly make sure you go a
couple inches each side of the fitting your soldiering. When the solider
starts to flow put the heat on the back of the fitting the heat draws the
solider in. I also like to feed the solider in on the top side most leaks
seem to be on the top so this helps. Most the time with 3/4" and 1/2" it
doesn't make that big of a deference but it's a good practice. In time you
will learn to pull your torch back to control the heat. I also would
recommend no-corrode ( brand) flux. Some people don't even sand the pipe or
fittings before soldering I always do I think it makes for a better job.Once
you solider your joint/joints let the cool if you bump it or wipe the joint
to soon while the solider is still molten you will have a leak for sure.
Just take your time it's not Rocket science.


"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Usually if you see much green the copper is too hot. Even heating is
important. I just gently tap the joint with the solder until you feel/see
it melt, heat just a little more, then push the solder onto the joint. If
the surfaces are clean and well fluxed the solder should quickly flow into
and around the joint. Don't pile excess solder on, always a sign of
unprofessional work.

"Eigenvector" wrote in message
...
So far my efforts are working out learning how to do this, but I have a
couple of questions

I'm heating up the fitting and the flame on my torch turns green. I say
"Okay it's time to apply the solder" so I'm finding that I can't make it
around the entire circumference of the joint without reheating. Is that
normal or am I soldering too early?

Also, when torching a 1/2" fitting, I'm moving the flame around the heat
the fitting evenly - is that really necessary?

Anyways I don't need a primer on how to solder, there's plenty of
resources out there for that. But I just had a couple of questions about
what I'm seeing.