In article m,
F Murtz wrote:
May be plumbers buy their stuff at plumbing wholesalers and not at
general hardware shops, or if screwfix etc are trade suppliers you are
not looking hard enough

In the UK you'd be hard pressed to find a 'general hardware store' these
days. And there are also virtually no trade only suppliers.

I can not imagine that the UK is so different to here
Anywhere copper is used on new flats, units or multistory living spaces
5% or 2% silver is specified,

Ah. You seem to be talking about so called lead free *soft* solder. Which
does contain small amounts of silver. It is now the norm in the UK too -
sadly.

In the UK, silver solder refers to a form of *hard* solder containing
perhaps 40% silver. More akin to brazing than soldering.

It could be that is used for some specialised copper pipe jointing - but
would be expensive and unnecessary for domestic heating systems.


Small single dwellings now seem to be going
plastic but if copper is used it is silver soldered
Why don't you do what I suggested and ask a real plumber?

--
*A day without sunshine is like... night.*

Dave Plowman London SW
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