I'm working in my old Philadelphia victorian rerouting the copper
supply lines, and I'm trying to tie into some older copper line with
new stuff. But the joints keep failing on the old copper side. The
lines are bone dry, and I've sanded them down to shiny copper so the
fittings slide on nicely, I've got it all fluxed up, but the solder
isn't taking. It looks like it's even being repelled! Any ideas why
I'm having such difficulty? All the other joints, where the copper's
all new are just fine.

Anrew

Andrew wrote:
I'm working in my old Philadelphia victorian rerouting the copper
supply lines, and I'm trying to tie into some older copper line with
new stuff. But the joints keep failing on the old copper side. The
lines are bone dry, and I've sanded them down to shiny copper so the
fittings slide on nicely, I've got it all fluxed up, but the solder
isn't taking. It looks like it's even being repelled! Any ideas why
I'm having such difficulty? All the other joints, where the copper's
all new are just fine.

Anrew


Try a small tub of Oatey No. 95 Flux.

See if you can get solder to flow onto the end of
the old pipe (no fitting).

On Mar 1, 12:56 pm, "Andrew" wrote:
I'm working in my old Philadelphia victorian rerouting the copper
supply lines, and I'm trying to tie into some older copper line with
new stuff. But the joints keep failing on the old copper side. The
lines are bone dry, and I've sanded them down to shiny copper so the
fittings slide on nicely, I've got it all fluxed up, but the solder
isn't taking. It looks like it's even being repelled! Any ideas why
I'm having such difficulty? All the other joints, where the copper's
all new are just fine.

Anrew

Go ahead and play the torch over the old copper for a minute or two to
really dry them out and then clean them bright and flux them and try
again.

In article om, "Andrew" wrote:
I'm working in my old Philadelphia victorian rerouting the copper
supply lines, and I'm trying to tie into some older copper line with
new stuff. But the joints keep failing on the old copper side. The
lines are bone dry, and I've sanded them down to shiny copper so the
fittings slide on nicely, I've got it all fluxed up, but the solder
isn't taking. It looks like it's even being repelled! Any ideas why
I'm having such difficulty? All the other joints, where the copper's
all new are just fine.

First, make sure you're sanding down to bright metal for half an inch or so
past the part of the pipe that goes into the fitting -- IOW, for 3/4" pipe,
sand about an inch and a half of it.

If that doesn't help, try wiping the copper with a rag dipped in acetone or
rubbing alcohol before fluxing -- there may be an oily residue of some sort
present.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

I would try tinning the pipe with solder, to ensure that you get it coated
before adding the fitting. While it is hot wipe excess solder with a cloth
rag to reduce the amount of solder build-up. Reflux. Add fitting, then
re-solder.

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. ..
In article om, "Andrew"
wrote:
I'm working in my old Philadelphia victorian rerouting the copper
supply lines, and I'm trying to tie into some older copper line with
new stuff. But the joints keep failing on the old copper side. The
lines are bone dry, and I've sanded them down to shiny copper so the
fittings slide on nicely, I've got it all fluxed up, but the solder
isn't taking. It looks like it's even being repelled! Any ideas why
I'm having such difficulty? All the other joints, where the copper's
all new are just fine.

First, make sure you're sanding down to bright metal for half an inch or
so
past the part of the pipe that goes into the fitting -- IOW, for 3/4"
pipe,
sand about an inch and a half of it.

If that doesn't help, try wiping the copper with a rag dipped in acetone
or
rubbing alcohol before fluxing -- there may be an oily residue of some
sort
present.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"EXT" wrote in message
anews.com...
I would try tinning the pipe with solder, to ensure that you get it coated
before adding the fitting. While it is hot wipe excess solder with a cloth
rag to reduce the amount of solder build-up. Reflux. Add fitting, then
re-solder.

Yes. That's usually the best approach because you can inspect after wiping
and see if the coating is even.

On Mar 1, 5:29 pm, "Charles Schuler"
wrote:
"EXT" wrote in message

anews.com...

I would try tinning the pipe with solder, to ensure that you get it coated
before adding the fitting. While it is hot wipe excess solder with a cloth
rag to reduce the amount of solder build-up. Reflux. Add fitting, then
re-solder.

Yes. That's usually the best approach because you can inspect after wiping
and see if the coating is even.


Excellent! The tinning procedure worked, and the sweat connections
are holding so far. It's nice to be able to shower again!
I have a couple of other questions I'll launch in new threads I guess.