Soldering valves - testing my work

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AdrianMariano

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I am redoing my utility sink, which affects the hookups for the laundry. I got hose bib valves (the 1/4 turn type) and soldered them to the end of pipes using street 90's. Now I'm no expert at soldering, but I've done it a bit and I think I do OK (maybe not real pretty) on regular pipe junctions. But it seems to me like these big heavy hose bib valves make it a lot harder because they are so heavy it's hard to heat them up. It seemed like maybe some of the flux was burning. (Little black specks.) But I swear I kept my small torch on it only until the solder would melt and flow into the joint. (The flux that was burning might have been just the excess flux that wasn't inside the joint.) There also seemed to be more space in the joint than with a regular pipe connection. Before I connect these to the rest of the system I'd like to test them.

So what is the simplest way to connect these pipes that have a valve at the other end to pressurized water so I can check for leaks? I left extra length. I've heard the idea of soldering on a threaded hose connection and then using a hose. Is that the easiest way?

What if I discover that one of my valves is leaking at the solder joint? The usual advice in cases like this for regular pipe junctions is to start over with new parts, but in this case the parts are not 50 cents. Is it reasonable to clean out the valve and try again?
 

Terry

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When soldering, you clean, flux, heat, then add solder.

If you redo the joint, it's the same method.

A quick test would be to blow air into it.
It tastes kind of funny, but I haven't died from it yet.
 

AdrianMariano

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Will blowing into the open end (with the valve at the other end in the closed position of course) actually find tiny leaks? (I don't think I can blow at 60 psi or whatever the house water pressure is.) Does a joint ever pass the blow test but fail the real test?
 

Terry

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Blowing into the open end will find an obvious leak.

Is it perfect?
No, but I'm damned near perfect anyway when it comes to soldering.

No brag, just fact.
 

AdrianMariano

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I tried the blow test last night and didn't observe any leaks.

I can certainly understand that if you do this a lot then you'll be confident in your work and there would be no reason to test it before installation.

Suppose I find that I need to redo the joint between the valve and the street 90. Is it possible to disconnect only the one connection or will I be weakening/loosening the joing where the street 90 connects to the pipe? My observation when I made the joint was that I did the valve connection first and it took for ever before the valve was hot enough, but when I moved over to do the other connection it only took about 15 more seconds before the solder wicked into the joint. This suggests to me that if I have to disassemble the joint I probably need to take apart both sides.
 
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