"BillR" wrote in message
...
David W.E. Roberts wrote:
Just thought I would re-iterate my love for Speedfit.

I can't solder to save my life, despite years of trying.
I have made many successful soldered joints.
However I have made at least the same number of unsuccessful ones,
and they are generally a b*ggger to fix once the water has been
turned on and off again.
snip
However, let us lift a brimming glass to John Guest and Speedfit -
saviours of the marginally incompetent!

Cheers
Dave R

I love speedfit too but tend to solder where the pipe is exposed and I
want
it to look neater or more compact.
The secret of getting a solder joint right 1st time imho is
a) clean pipe and inside fittings with wire wool. Ignore how clean or new
they look, just do it.
b) use flux.
If its had water in it already and it can't be made perfectly dry, I use
compression.

Yep - tried that - always used the trusty wire wool and then flux.
My problem was I could never get the heating quite right.
I tried various high and low heat nozzles on my Gaz blow lamp, but to no
avail.
Heating the pipe near the joint, heating the joint, heating away from the
joint for a slower raise in temperature.
There seemed to be about a microsecond between no solder and the 'spifzz' as
the ring of solder spat out of the yorkshire joint.

Usually ended up tinning the end of the copper pipe with solder and then
easing gently in.
Used a load of solder but usually worked in the end.

As you say, those that leaked were often easier to replace with compression.

After a while I decided that the general trauma of trying to solder plus the
time wasted justified using compression joints for everything.

I also found it much easier to dis-assemble and re-assemble compression
fittings.

Now I have started using the push fit joints and they seem so far ahead of
compresssion joints that they will be my joint of choice in future
(until/unless various dire predictions on this thread come to pass).

Thanks
Dave R