yannick
New Member
Hi,
I bought a house and since insurance companies didn't like the fact it was all plumbed with polybutylene, I decided to replace it all for copper.
And because the main water shutoff valve was letting a bit of water pass, I decided to ask the city to cut off my water supply and to redo the main water as well.
The underground pipe coming from the service box to my house is 3/4" flexible copper. So in essence I'm soldering a 3/4" ball LF (lead free) valve to the main supply pipe.
Honestly I had to do a few tries (4-5) before getting it right. Now I'm getting good at heating it quickly and uniformly. I also cut open two to see if I melted the seals, which I didn't, even when I was sure I did.
Now soldering my 6th valve (the previous times I re-used the same 2 valves for practicing).
I just had finished soldering the first cup. It was quite good, there was a bit too much solder on the back because it's 1 inch from the wall so I cannot see it properly (I'm using a fire blanket ofc) on the back, but otherwise very nice coverage all around.
Being a perfectionnist (almost a sickness in my case tbh), I decided that wasn't good enough, and wanted to remove the excess solder all around the joint. I tried just after 30 seconds of finishing the soldering, but had put my flame too low and it didn't work.
I then thought I'd call it a day, let it cool completely, but then I re-wanted to remove the excess solder again, so I re-heated it with more flame and this time could remove the excess solder with a cloth.
My question now is... was it a good idea? Can it make the joint less strong to have reheated it while it was allowed to cool down to room temperature completely? I can notice a part of the solder that remains is less "bright" and "shiny" than it initially was.
Thanks!
I bought a house and since insurance companies didn't like the fact it was all plumbed with polybutylene, I decided to replace it all for copper.
And because the main water shutoff valve was letting a bit of water pass, I decided to ask the city to cut off my water supply and to redo the main water as well.
The underground pipe coming from the service box to my house is 3/4" flexible copper. So in essence I'm soldering a 3/4" ball LF (lead free) valve to the main supply pipe.
Honestly I had to do a few tries (4-5) before getting it right. Now I'm getting good at heating it quickly and uniformly. I also cut open two to see if I melted the seals, which I didn't, even when I was sure I did.
Now soldering my 6th valve (the previous times I re-used the same 2 valves for practicing).
I just had finished soldering the first cup. It was quite good, there was a bit too much solder on the back because it's 1 inch from the wall so I cannot see it properly (I'm using a fire blanket ofc) on the back, but otherwise very nice coverage all around.
Being a perfectionnist (almost a sickness in my case tbh), I decided that wasn't good enough, and wanted to remove the excess solder all around the joint. I tried just after 30 seconds of finishing the soldering, but had put my flame too low and it didn't work.
I then thought I'd call it a day, let it cool completely, but then I re-wanted to remove the excess solder again, so I re-heated it with more flame and this time could remove the excess solder with a cloth.
My question now is... was it a good idea? Can it make the joint less strong to have reheated it while it was allowed to cool down to room temperature completely? I can notice a part of the solder that remains is less "bright" and "shiny" than it initially was.
Thanks!
