You will have to turn off the water supply to it, and let the water drain
out. If there is water inside, and you are trying to solder the pipe, the
water will not allow the metal surface to come up to the proper temperature
to be soldered.

After the water is properly drained, carefully sand down the surface to be
very clean. Then apply solder flux, and rub it in with a tissue paper or
disposable cloth. Add some more flux to make sure that there is a coating of
it on the pipe surface where you want the solder to flow.

Heat the area very well with a propane or equivalent torch. Once it is hot
enough, apply the solder in a fashion to have it flow around. Add the solder
as necessary.

It is best to solder copper pipe. The old steel type of pipe does not solder
very well. It is best to use welding with an assetlene torch if it is a
steel pipe. It will take a fair amount of heat to do this.

The best way, is to fit new pieces of pipe in, that are properly threaded.
You will have to make some new threads on the older pipes that are in place,
and use the proper fittings, with the proper sealing tape. This is the best
solution.

If you cannot do all this, it would pay to spend the few dollars and have a
professional plumber do it for you. They are properly equipped, and must
guarantee their work.

--

Jerry G.
======


"Joe S" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a threaded water connection (brass into brass) with a tiny leak.
It won't even make a drip over several hours, but when I rub my finger
on the bottom side, I can feel and see the water that was there. I
don't want to close up the wall with it this way, and I also don't want
to undo the connection (lots of work and I don't want to disturb the
rest of it for fear of worse problems).

I have tried Seal-All, but it remains pliable and bubbles from the
leak. I have tried PermaGasket (from my car repair kit) but it's too
soft...the water comes on through. I have tried a tape that resembles
electrical tape, but you stretch it and then it recovers to make a
tight "seal", but the water still eventually comes through.

I have considered turning off the water, draining the section, drying
it thoroughly, and applying some epoxy, but before doing this, it
occurred to me that you guys may know the perfect solution.

What would you do?



Joe