Soldering Tips

Hi all!

Are there any links to possibly a video on the steps involved to obtain a good solder joint. I have done very, very little soldering in my days, so I would like to know the steps and correct procedure involved in order to get a good solder joint the very first time. Thanks in advance.

This video was pretty good. Soldering is pretty simple once you do it a few times. Just make sure your pipes are clean(sanded) on the joints that you want to solder and apply plenty of flux. Heat the joint side overlapping the pipe. Do not heat the pipe to solder. Then simply touch your solder to the topside and watch it get pulled into the joint (flux is working its magic). When you see solder all around the rim of the joint and the start of a bubble at the bottom you're done.

I've watched that guys videos before and to me that don't look right. He's applying the solder right next to flame, he keeps heating it when it's obviously hot enough to take solder. I'm far far far from being any kind of expert, but this guys videos seem a lot better. He gets into the soldering around min 3.



As a rookie who's gotten better my biggest piece of advice is get yourself a nice torch. For $40 you can get a Bernozomatic TS-4000 that comes with a tank of Map-pro gas or pay more yet and get a turbo torch. Something that can use map gas and has a swirl flame. I wasted a lot of time monkeing around with Cheap brass pencil flame torches. They work, especially if you get a jumbo size one, but why not start out with more professional set up.