Which solder is best for joining copper tubing?

Buy lead-free solder that’s designed for copper water pipes; you’ll find it in the plumbing section of the store. Solder with lead is still available, but the lead can leach into your water supply, so don’t use it.

Do you solder or braze copper pipe?

If you have ever been involved in medical gas piping or refrigeration piping, brazing is where it’s at when joining copper tubing. On the plumbing side, we tend to solder copper tube joints when using a torch. When looking for a stronger joint, brazing is one of the options.

What can I use to braze copper?

The most commonly used brazing filler metal types, used to join copper tube and fittings fall into two distinct categories: BCuP Alloy (pronounced b-cup) – where the B stands for Brazing, Cu is the chemical symbol for Copper, and P is the chemical symbol for Phosphorous.

What solder do plumbers use?

Acid core solders are most often used in plumbing applications to join metal pipes or sheet metal. Rosin core solder is also fabricated with a hollow core inside the solder wire, but the flux used is a milder variety made of rosin, which is a solid form of resin derived from conifers such as pine.

Why does my solder not stick to copper pipe?

Most likely you don’t have the base metal hot enough for the solder to wet it. Make sure the pipe is empty, and try waiting a bit longer before applying the solder. The base metal should be hot enough to melt the solder directly.

What temperature will copper pipes melt?

1,981 degrees
Copper melts at a temperature of 1,981 degrees, and you obviously can’t heat solder or alloy to that point or you will destroy your pipes in the process. That temperature sounds absurdly high, but some brazing jobs do actually use torches that heat the alloy as high as 1,550 degrees.

What is stronger brazing or soldering?

Soldering, in addition to having a lower processing temperature, typically results in a lower-strength joint than a brazed joint. For many applications, this is suitable and even desirable. The shear strength of brazed joints typically exceeds that of soldered joints by a factor of five.

Can I braze copper with a propane torch?

Here is the answer to whether you can braze with a propane / air torch. You can but you have to control the environment so that the heat loss to the atmosphere and parts is lower than the heat being put into the braze joint. I used a common everyday, readily available propane torch to solder the copper tubing together.

Can you use too much flux when soldering?

If you are using normal solder wire, it contains all the flux you need. If you are soldering copper pipe for example, excess flux will simply probably not compromise the joint, but will simply drip away. Excessive flux is just that much more you have to clean off your work.

How long should solder cool before turning on water?

The only good way to test is to put pressure on the joint (turn on the water to the house). Be sure to wait until the solder has cooled (2-3 minutes) before pressurizing the line to avoid the solder cracking due to a quick change in temperature.

Can I solder copper pipe without flux?

Flux is a chemical which helps you solder. Flux prevents the copper from oxidizing as you heat the copper with the torch. You can solder without flux, but it is really difficult! Flux is applied to both the pipe and the fitting with a handy miniature paint brush.

What kind of metal is used for soldering and brazing?

The filler metal is a metal alloy that has a melting temperature below that of either the tube or fitting. The melting point of copper (Cu) alloy UNS C12200 is 1,981°F/1082°C. As such, the filler metals for soldering and brazing copper and copper alloy tube and fittings must have melting temperatures below this temperature.

What kind of soldering is used for HVACR pipes?

HVACR Pipe Soldering Brazing – In HVACR there are two major types of soldering done. Soft Soldering for soldering water pipes and brazing or silver soldering for soldering refrigeration piping.

What kind of torch do you use to braze pipes?

Brazing smaller pipes is possible with a small propane torch, but larger pipes such as 1” and up require more heat, therefore, it’s recommended to use an oxy/acetylene system with an appropriate torch seeing silver solder melts at a higher temperature than normal solder.

What happens when soldering copper and copper alloys?

• Improper heat control and heat distribution through the entire joining process. • Improper application of solder or brazing filler metal to the joint. • Inadequate amount of filler metal applied to the joint. • Sudden shock cooling and/or wiping the molten filler metal following soldering or brazing.