wrote in message
...
On 30 Apr 2005 00:40:38 GMT, Ignoramus1723
wrote:

On Fri, 29 Apr 2005 17:19:17 -0700, Eric R Snow wrote:
On 29 Apr 2005 21:08:55 GMT, Ignoramus1723
wrote:

On 29 Apr 2005 13:45:28 -0700, jim rozen
wrote:
In article , Proctologically
Violated©® says...

Am I bein a wus??

IMO yes. I was buying 1/2 inch ball valves by the box for a while
after we bought our house. I sweated them all in without taking
them apart and removing the teflon seal, and they all work quite
well.

I also sweated them without removing the ball, everything worked
well. My approach was to use solder as soon as it becomes possible,
rather than wait until the valve overheats.

i
Something that really helps is having enough heat. A small flame will
overheat the valve. I use an air-acetylene torch for doing copper
pipe. It is more of a hassle lugging the little cylinder around, but
it makes the job way faster because the joint heats so fast.

I have a relatively decent $20 propane torch.

i
If it isn't a "turbo torch" or other high swirl type torch, you are
wasting your time, and gas. The old bernz-o-matic mixer heads are
obsolete.

Yep! The Turbo Torch is the best thing to hit the market. They will
easily solder 1" copper fittings. Try that with the standard propane torch!
(Ain't gonna happen).

When soldering ball valves, clean perfectly to bright metal, flux
sparingly, get the heat in as fast as possible, solder, and cool it with a
wet rag. That removes the unwanted flux and heat. I've done several of
them with no failures.

Harold