Noobie Copper Soldering Questions

Hi Everyone - I'm a very green do it yourselfer with some questions.

I just finished installing a new shower and I was curious about the quality of my soldered joints.

Is there a way to tell whether or not a joint is soldered 'correctly' ? I don't have any leaks and some of my joints look great (there's a thin, not bubbly thick)bead of solder all the way around the pipe)

The ones that scare me have the solder bubbled up and 'chunky' around the edges. It looks like it penetrated more on one side than the other - but like I said, no leaks - I cleaned the pipes very well and used plenty of flux.

Any advice?

Thank You!

Probably okay...when you soldered, you heated the fitting, and let the solder be sucked in rather than melting it in the flame? The key to making them look pretty is to wipe it before it solidifies.

joints

There is no way to look at a joint and tell whether it was made properly. If the heat was applied to the front of the socket, then the solder you see could be perfect, but if the solder did not penetrate to the bottom of the socket you have a bad joint.

You have to test it to know if it's ok. Turn the water on and monitor the joints for moisture and in a couple days/weeks you'll have confidence that it's ok or confirmation that it needs fixing.

joints

You have to test it to know if it's ok. Turn the water on and monitor the joints for moisture and in a couple days/weeks you'll have confidence that it's ok or confirmation that it needs fixing

But I have had customers with poorly soldered joints that were 20+ years old, and they came apart when the joint was bumped accidently.