DIYbanter - View Single Post - Soldering a tractor radiator (disaster story)

Christopher Tidy

wrote:

What Tim and William said. But also the torch flame needs to be hot
and concentrated. With regular plumbing solder, silver bearing or not,
I can easily bridge a 1/8 inch gap. Bigger too. Not my skill but the
way solder melts. The solder doesn't transmit heat as well as brass.
So the trick is to use concentrated heat that gets a small area hot
fast. Remove the torch and apply the solder. Just keep repeating. As
the solder gets thicker it gets easier. Be careful to apply just
enough heat to melt a small area. And if the solder starts to look
kind of mushy over a larger area remove the heat and let it cool down
a bit.

I have a stick of the solder used for wiped joints in lead pipes.

Chris