I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

No, haven't done it but sounds at least feasible if make holes very
small. I've done pinprick leak-fixes by simply filling w/ solder that
have held indefinitely.

Question though--is there not enough space around the pipe to bend a
piece of solder into a U and reach behind the coupling that would be
covered by an escutcheon or similar?

Alternatively, you might try tinning the fitting first, then heating it
and slipping on.

Oh, and the slip-joint fittings (the ones w/o the ridge in the middle
would let you reach from the inside of the pipe open end to wick the
solder in.

--

On Sep 5, 11:34*am, dpb wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

No, haven't done it but sounds at least feasible if make holes very
small. *I've done pinprick leak-fixes by simply filling w/ solder that
have held indefinitely.

Question though--is there not enough space around the pipe to bend a
piece of solder into a U and reach behind the coupling that would be
covered by an escutcheon or similar?

Alternatively, you might try tinning the fitting first, then heating it
and slipping on.

Oh, and the slip-joint fittings (the ones w/o the ridge in the middle
would let you reach from the inside of the pipe open end to wick the
solder in.

--

I'm assuming you have some kind of trim plate to cover the potrusion.
If so, try using a dremel tool to trim around the opening giving you
just enough room to solder, at the same time small enough so the trim
plate can cover the hole.

On Sep 5, 11:34*am, dpb wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

No, haven't done it but sounds at least feasible if make holes very
small. *I've done pinprick leak-fixes by simply filling w/ solder that
have held indefinitely.

Question though--is there not enough space around the pipe to bend a
piece of solder into a U and reach behind the coupling that would be
covered by an escutcheon or similar?

Alternatively, you might try tinning the fitting first, then heating it
and slipping on.

Oh, and the slip-joint fittings (the ones w/o the ridge in the middle
would let you reach from the inside of the pipe open end to wick the
solder in.

--
None of the other pipes have an escutcheon.
Tried getting the solder in it is really close.
Past experience with tinning didn't work for me.
I hadn't even thought about soldering from inside the coupling. That
is a great idea.
BTW : Since I made the original post I tried a few more test with the
solder holes drilled in the coupling and that worked great on each
test . Maybe something to keep in your bag of tricks.
I am probably going to go with soldering from inside the coupling.

Thanks Jimmie

JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.


Can you trim the coupling?

If the coupling is 3/4" maybe cut it back to 1/4" would provide enough work
space.

JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

I've used flux that had powdered solder mixed in. I got it
at Home Depot and I believe it was Oatey No.95 Tinning Flux
in a small tube. You can coat the outside of the pipe and
inside of the fitting with it and when hot enough, stick some
solder through the open end of the fitting on the joint to
completely fill the gap. Here's a link:

http://tinyurl.com/n6st89

TDD

JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

How about using one of those "self soldering" couplings? They have the solder
built in. Just heat and the solder melts. I don't know if they also have the
paste built in.

JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

One method would be to try a diamond hole saw, slightly larger than the
outside diameter of the pipe. Drill the hole around the pipe into the tiles.
This would make a neat but larger opening around the pipe which may give you
some extra room to solder. Fill with grout.

Another method is to locate some 1/2" outside diameter copper pipe. It
should fit snuggly inside the normally 1/2" inside diameter pipe. With some
carefull cleaning of the old pipe with a chuck mounted wire brush made for
copper fittings, you could clean the inside of the old pipe and then solder
a piece of the smaller pipe inside it as an internal coupling allowing you
to extend the old pipe enough to solder on the fitting.

In article
,
says...
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.


Don't make this harder than it needs to be. First off, just buy a
coupling with a built-in solder ring. Home Depot has them, although they
seem to be cutting back on them this year for some reason.

Or, do it the old fashioned way, sweat the fitting on. Clean and flux
the stub, and coat it with solder, wipe off any excess. Heat the
coupling and slide it on.

--
Dennis

I forgot to add, after sweating, touch a bit of solder on the *inside* of
the coupling where the tube ends, to fill the joint a bit more, than slide
the next tube in place.

--
Dennis

On Sep 5, 8:14*pm, DT wrote:
I forgot to add, after sweating, touch a bit of solder on the *inside* of
the coupling where the tube ends, to fill the joint a bit more, than slide
the next tube in place.

--
Dennis

All great ideas. Presume no room to use a compression fitting?

I have run into similar situations with a/c lines coming out of a slab.
The suggestion about slipping a piece of the next size smaller tubing
into it is a good one. The OP didn't say what size pipe he has, but 1/2"
ref will fit snugly into the 5/8" that plumbers call 1/2. If he has
7/8"- (3/4" plumbing) then 3/4" ref tubing will also fit inside it
perfectly. Larry

"JIMMIE" wrote in message
...
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie


Why not use epoxy glue?

Some years ago "they" had a copper bearing epoxy mix that was intended to
replace replace solder in joining Cu plumbing parts.

The main drawback is that you have to wait 24 hours before you can pressure
test the joint. It definitely didn't tolerate "playing" with the joint once
the parts were assembled.

The main advantage is that there is no risk of setting the house on fire.

Alternatively, you can use compression fittings or just use plastic pipe
adaptors/joints which use an "O" ring for leak tightness and some kind of
grip to keep the water pressure from blowing the joint apart.

These fitting are bulky but if you follow directions they are quite good.
They can be about $4/fitting but they are close to idiot proof.


Even if you screw up and have a leak, you can often just take the joint
apart, smooth the old pipe and try again.


"JIMMIE" wrote in message
...
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

On Sat, 5 Sep 2009 08:02:19 -0700 (PDT), JIMMIE
wrote:

I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie


A Sharkbite coupling will make the work fast, easy, and water-tight.

In article , (JIMMIE) writes:

| I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
| unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
| wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
| the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
| Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
| years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
| from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
| thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
| coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
| technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
| Anyone here ever done something like this before.

I've noticed that the original copper fittings in my late-50's vintage
house have such a hole. I was never sure whether it was to add solder
or to confirm that solder had flowed in.

Dan Lanciani
ddl@danlan.*com

On Sep 5, 2:31*pm, "Bob F" wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

How about using one of those "self soldering" couplings? They have the solder
built in. Just heat and the solder melts. I don't know if they also have the
paste built in.


Exactly what I was thinking. They carry those at HD. The other
obvious concern though is to make sure the pipe end is accessible
enough so that you can get it properly cleaned and fluxed.

wrote:
On Sep 5, 2:31 pm, "Bob F" wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.
How about using one of those "self soldering" couplings? They have the solder
built in. Just heat and the solder melts. I don't know if they also have the
paste built in.


Exactly what I was thinking. They carry those at HD. The other
obvious concern though is to make sure the pipe end is accessible
enough so that you can get it properly cleaned and fluxed.

They even have new solderless connectors with an O ring for copper pipes.

EXT wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

One method would be to try a diamond hole saw, slightly larger than the
outside diameter of the pipe. Drill the hole around the pipe into the
tiles. This would make a neat but larger opening around the pipe which
may give you some extra room to solder. Fill with grout.

Another method is to locate some 1/2" outside diameter copper pipe. It
should fit snuggly inside the normally 1/2" inside diameter pipe. With
some carefull cleaning of the old pipe with a chuck mounted wire brush
made for copper fittings, you could clean the inside of the old pipe and
then solder a piece of the smaller pipe inside it as an internal
coupling allowing you to extend the old pipe enough to solder on the
fitting.

At one of the big box stores I saw they had copper pipe sized to fit
over the original pipe. Looked like it was marketed to fix burst pipes.
Cut out bad section then slip new pipe over the old pipe. Maybe it's
been that way all along but I never noticed?

Tony wrote in
:

EXT wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the
pipe the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly
100 years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the
plumbing from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I
was thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of
the coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

One method would be to try a diamond hole saw, slightly larger than
the outside diameter of the pipe. Drill the hole around the pipe into
the tiles. This would make a neat but larger opening around the pipe
which may give you some extra room to solder. Fill with grout.

Another method is to locate some 1/2" outside diameter copper pipe.
It should fit snuggly inside the normally 1/2" inside diameter pipe.
With some carefull cleaning of the old pipe with a chuck mounted wire
brush made for copper fittings, you could clean the inside of the old
pipe and then solder a piece of the smaller pipe inside it as an
internal coupling allowing you to extend the old pipe enough to
solder on the fitting.

At one of the big box stores I saw they had copper pipe sized to fit
over the original pipe. Looked like it was marketed to fix burst
pipes.
Cut out bad section then slip new pipe over the old pipe. Maybe
it's
been that way all along but I never noticed?

That's called a "repair coupling/pipe".

On Sep 5, 11:02*am, JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the pipe
the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly 100
years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the plumbing
from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I was
thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of the
coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

I soldered it in this AM. I removed almost all of the stop ridge from
a coupling slipped it over the pipe a nd soldered it in feeding in the
solder from the opposite end.
Took five minutes. Well I did my civic duty for a while.


Jimmie

On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:29:30 -0500, Red Green
wrote:

Tony wrote in
:

EXT wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the
pipe the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly
100 years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the
plumbing from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I
was thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of
the coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie

One method would be to try a diamond hole saw, slightly larger than
the outside diameter of the pipe. Drill the hole around the pipe into
the tiles. This would make a neat but larger opening around the pipe
which may give you some extra room to solder. Fill with grout.

Another method is to locate some 1/2" outside diameter copper pipe.
It should fit snuggly inside the normally 1/2" inside diameter pipe.
With some carefull cleaning of the old pipe with a chuck mounted wire
brush made for copper fittings, you could clean the inside of the old
pipe and then solder a piece of the smaller pipe inside it as an
internal coupling allowing you to extend the old pipe enough to
solder on the fitting.

At one of the big box stores I saw they had copper pipe sized to fit
over the original pipe. Looked like it was marketed to fix burst
pipes.
Cut out bad section then slip new pipe over the old pipe. Maybe
it's
been that way all along but I never noticed?

That's called a "repair coupling/pipe".


Right. They do not have an inner stop so you can slip the entire
coupling over the pipe. There are "repair couplings" for PVC also,
and sometimes that is the only practical "bandaid" solution. Use a
Sharpie to mark the pipe such that the coupling is evenly spaced on
the joint.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...

That's called a "repair coupling/pipe".


Right. They do not have an inner stop so you can slip the entire
coupling over the pipe. There are "repair couplings" for PVC also,
and sometimes that is the only practical "bandaid" solution. Use a
Sharpie to mark the pipe such that the coupling is evenly spaced on
the joint.

For these I look for the standard connectors that have three little dimples
on the inside. The little dimples are easy to remove with a small file, and
they are about 1/4 the price of the "repair couplings".

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

Phisherman wrote:
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:29:30 -0500, Red Green
wrote:

Tony wrote in
:

EXT wrote:
JIMMIE wrote:
I don't usually have a problem sweating Cu pipe but this is a little
unusual. I need to put a coupling on a short pipe protruding from a
wall covered with ceramic tile. When I place the coupling on the
pipe the coupling extends back into the wall so I cant solder to it.
Removing the ceramic tile is a last choice, it is very old, nearly
100 years and I doubt if a match could be found. Getting to the
plumbing from the back side of the wall is also not a good choice. I
was thinking of drilling some solder holes around the perimeter of
the coupling to feed the solder into. I have experimented with this
technique on a couple of pieces of scrap and it seems to work OK.
Anyone here ever done something like this before.

Jimmie
One method would be to try a diamond hole saw, slightly larger than
the outside diameter of the pipe. Drill the hole around the pipe into
the tiles. This would make a neat but larger opening around the pipe
which may give you some extra room to solder. Fill with grout.

Another method is to locate some 1/2" outside diameter copper pipe.
It should fit snuggly inside the normally 1/2" inside diameter pipe.
With some carefull cleaning of the old pipe with a chuck mounted wire
brush made for copper fittings, you could clean the inside of the old
pipe and then solder a piece of the smaller pipe inside it as an
internal coupling allowing you to extend the old pipe enough to
solder on the fitting.
At one of the big box stores I saw they had copper pipe sized to fit
over the original pipe. Looked like it was marketed to fix burst
pipes.
Cut out bad section then slip new pipe over the old pipe. Maybe
it's
been that way all along but I never noticed?
That's called a "repair coupling/pipe".


Right. They do not have an inner stop so you can slip the entire
coupling over the pipe. There are "repair couplings" for PVC also,
and sometimes that is the only practical "bandaid" solution. Use a
Sharpie to mark the pipe such that the coupling is evenly spaced on
the joint.

Are these new or have I just not seen them until recently? The copper
ones look like a permanent fix but the PVC ones... I don't know if I'd
trust it to be glued properly. Yes, a "band aid" indeed.