"Ken" wrote in message
...
Eigenvector wrote:
"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.


Well I'm all about unprofessional. However I do have about 10 elbows and
T's to practice with.

I take it that heating doesn't take long at all. I'm seeing a green
flame after about 10 to 20 seconds.

For what it is worth, I too struggled with my soldering technique with
respect to copper tubing. The tip that helped the most for me was to
watch the bubbling of the flux. When it stopped, it was time to put the
solder on it, and remove the heat. Over heating causes the solder to
bubble out rather than flow. Practice is the best way to prepare for a
job. Good luck.


Well that's why I bought lots of fittings - practice practice practice. Any
idea how long a bottle of propane lasts?


"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.