"F Murtz" wrote in message
eb.com...
harryagain wrote:
"F Murtz" wrote in message
b.com...
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 18/07/14 07:43, F Murtz wrote:
Do British plumbers use silver solder (copper silver phosphor
alloy)for
joining copper pipe in the uk

No. its not for plumbing. Or soldering.

Its for barzing and heating engineers might use it, but not plumbers.


or are they stuck with the old fashioned
methods .

Nothing old fashined.

May be joints are not soldered as much in the UK and you use
quickfit substitutes but if they are soldered what do you use?
In Australia silver solder is specified in new buildings (units,
flats,domestic complexes, high rises, industrial) for copper pipe
(mostly 5% sometimes 2%

In the UK lead free solder is specified for POTABLE water plumbing. It
has 2-5% silver in it. It is not silver solder, it is not brazing and
it
is not 'hard solder'.

Shut up and LISTEN.

you have completely confused 'hard soldering' - brazing - with 'soft
soldering' and the difference between 'silver solder' and 'solder that
has a few percent of silver in it '


I think you have comprehension problems
I am not talking about any form of solder that melts at low temperature
with or without lead silver etc
You keep bringing that up
I am talking about a form of soldering or brazing normally called in
australia and if the truth were known in the UK by the term silver
soldering in which you need a temperature above red to achieve.

May be the problem is word meanings in different countries
It makes no difference to the fact that plumbers extensively use the
first
silver solder on this list in Australia.
http://www.metalspraysupplies.com/ms...lversolder.pdf

It seem that maybee the UK does not which seem strange to me as this
method is the most permanent and safest.
If I had joints in concrete or walls or floors or anywhere inaccessible
I
would much rather them silver soldered with (copper silver phosphor
alloy)(melting point red)than any form of soft solder


I never heard of a properly done soft soldered joint coming apart. The
pipe
would fracture first.
Ergo hard soldering is over the top, a waste of resource.

Large copper pipes in the UK are sometimes brazed.

Why if soft solder is the best?

Soft solder fittings are only available up to 54mm/2".
The socket in fittings for large diameter pipes are very shallow relative
to small diameter copper pipe in order to save metal and so keep the price
down. There would be no possibilty of heating large fitting withanything
less than oxy/fuel gas anyway.
Many large fittings/flanges are intended to be brazed with a fillet round
the joint.
Compression joints are available in quite large sizes but they have a ring
of bolts round them rather than a single nut.

Stainless steel has replaced copper for many applications and that is
welded.