DIYbanter - View Single Post - Is sweating copper with electric soldering gun feasible?

(Doug Miller) wrote in message m...
In article , Peder wrote:
Greetings. I know a torch would be best for this job, but the problem
joint is a sillcock very badly positioned for a torch. Is is very close to
the floor joist and the floor above (about 1" max for both) and recessed
far from the inside wall which is a full 2x4 stud wall inside a concrete
foundation. I would almost have to hold the torch by the very bottom of
the bottle to reach it. I worry even about turning this over to a pro, but
winter's coming and now the sillcock is just capped off at the spigot.
What are my options here? Thanks for reading.

You can't possibly supply enough heat with an electric soldering gun.

Options would seem to be:

a) Buy a soldering blanket to protect the wood framing from the torch flame.
Any plumbing supply store would have them. Don't bother looking at home
centers like Lowe's or Home Depot. They don't have them. (Been there, done
that, just last month.)

b) Hire a pro.

Does the OP mean an electric soldering iron? or some kind of hot-air
blower? Either way, if he does improbably find one capable of
soldering pipe, it will pose as great a risk to his joists and floor
as a torch. Heat is heat.

A pro knows how to solder quickly (with a hotter torch), and has
(should have) insulating blankets etc. Though of course, they aren't
his joists, if you catch my drift.

If you want to keep this a d-i-y project, I'd vote for cutting the
pipe to make the solder joint elsewhere, if possible, as has been
suggested. In this case, cut the pipe well inside the house where it
is accessible, pull the sillcock and stub of pipe out of the house,
solder a new stub onto it on a workbench, and re-insert it to meet the
pipe where it was cut, and where it is more convenient to solder. (And
if I'm reading this right, it might help to toss the old sillcock and
replace it with one with a longer shaft. A good excuse to get one of
the new ones with built-in vacuum break.)

Chip C