Soldering question

I want to change out my supply inlet from a leaky gate valve to a ball valve. The supply comes from the street up through the concrete in the basement. Valve is about 6 inches from the floor. I can shut off the water at the street and drain the pipes in the house, but I have no way to drain the pipe between the meter and the house.

I can probably suction out water from the vertical supply pipe maybe 6 or 8 inches down. Is that enough to get the pipe hot enough to accept solder?

Also, since you can't dissassemble a ball valve before soldering, how do you avoid cooking the internal parts?

1. Yes

2. Direct the flame away from the body of the valve.

get as much water out of the incoming pipe as possible, as water (and steam) will cool the pipe and increase heating time. It's clean water - get a long straw and suck it out. Also make sure the valve is OPEN during the soldering.

use a very hot flame (consider MAPP) and focus on the solder area. The quicker you heat the joint, the less time there is for the rest of the valve to heat up. And don't try to speed things up by heating the solder - it must flow into the joint and that means heating the joint properly. The key is to do it quickly. The worst thing you can do is to use a low heat flame that ends up heating the entire valve. After the solder has set in the joint you can also wrap the valve body with a very damp towel to help cool it a little quicker, and don't do the other side until the body has cooled.