On Jul 22, 5:37 pm, "Eigenvector" wrote:
wrote in message

ps.com...



I'm a total newbie at this stuff, but it shouldn't be this freaking
hard. All I'm trying to do is a simple repair on a 1" brass pipe. I've
cut away a section of the old pipe and I've got the new section ready
along with two 1" coupler fittings. I've never done any soldering, but
I've got a book that explains it and it didn't look that hard. I even
talked to people who made it sound like a really simple thing.

Well, my first attempt went really, really poorly. I couldn't get a
solid bead of solder around the joint. It was a total mess. So, I cut
that away, cut another section of new pipe, bought some more couplings
and tried again. I'm still having a similar problem. I can't get the
solder to go onto the pipe. It's really ****ing me off!

This should be simple. I sanded the fittings and applied soldering
paste, put the fittings together, heated them to the point where the
paste is bubbling, and then tried to apply the solder. Both sets of
instructions I've read said to stop applying heat at that point and
the solder should just go on easily. Well, I tried that and it isn't
working. Someone else said I should keep applying heat to the solder.
I tried that and it isn't working. It seems like no matter how much I
heat the joint or the solder, it won't stick to the pipe. It's like
the solder just breaks off into little chunks and falls right off.

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? This is seriously ****ing me off and
I'm about to do some serious damage to my plumbing on purpose. This is
freaking simple stuff, yet I can't do it and I'm ready to put my fist
through a wall, which is a bad idea. I'd like to get this done without
breaking any bones.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
John

To go against what someone else suggested - you may be getting the joint too
hot. The solder won't stick or wick into the joint if its too hot.

BTW: This isn't something you can learn in one day - trust me. It takes
quite a bit of practice and on top of that brass is even more difficult to
solder because it's typically thicker than copper. If it all possible I'd
practice in the garage on a couple pieces of spare until you get it down
right - then work on the real problem. It's something you have to get right
and it won't be obvious to your untrained eye when it is right.

Thanks, that opinion does help. I was beginning to think that I had
gotten it too hot. The solder is definitely not wicking into the joint
like it's supposed to. It just clumps up and falls away. Very
annoying. I'm trying to avoid having to pay a professional to come do
it, though. I've called a couple of places and given them very good
information about the job and they still won't quote me a price over
the phone. And they charge $40 just to come out and look. I don't
know if they're going to charge $50, $100, $200...I have absolutely no
idea. But hell, I've already spent nearly $80 for the supplies to try
it myself. What a pain in the ass...