water pipe soldering

stranger12

Hi Guys,

I am changing some of my house pipes. I had a quote of 2.5k for changing few pipes and joining them using solder fitting.

I am competent enough to lay the pipes and use yorkshire fitting which has the solder ring in it. All that is needed is heat to release it .

I have managed to spend around £400 to get all pipes needed and changing them now.

Few questions I have are:

1. When a pipe is soldered and it doesn't leak or pop when tab is opened, can it pop or leak at later stage ? I am asking to find out if more instance my joint is dodgy then would I realise straight away ?

2. Would you use solder ring in addition to the the bit that is inside the yorkshire fitting ? I did it on one of the joints and some of it was sucked in and the rest ran down the pipe. I soon learned of the amount needed .


3. Input to my house is led 22m which is then straight away reduced to 15 . that is then fed to boiler and cold water. shouldn't boiler be 22m and cold tab 15m ?

googler

The way to find out if your joint is 'dodgy' is to test it. Pro plumbers installing new systems do this with an air pump, pressurising it before actually turning the water on. This is less practical when making changes.

All I can recommend is practicing on some 'throwaway' joints that you can test separately from your actual house system.

You shouldn't need to add extra solder to a solder ring fitting. The solder that's built into it should be enough. If it isn't, you're doing something wrong.

stranger12

I can buy an air pump and pressurise it

Is UK water pressure 4-5 bar?

If I get a pressuriser and test it up to 10 bar, is it safe to assume it won't leak

What I was more after was if my joint is doddgy and not popping within few days, can it pop after a month let's say?

keith969

stranger12 wrote: »

Few questions I have are:

1. When a pipe is soldered and it doesn't leak or pop when tab is opened, can it pop or leak at later stage ? I am asking to find out if more instance my joint is dodgy then would I realise straight away ?

In theory yes, however I've never had a problem. Main thing is to make sure the pipe ends and the couplings are clean, use steel wool until they are nice and shiny.

stranger12 wrote: »

2. Would you use solder ring in addition to the the bit that is inside the yorkshire fitting ? I did it on one of the joints and some of it was sucked in and the rest ran down the pipe. I soon learned of the amount needed .

I do - use a small amount round the fitting. Just don't go over the top and leave solder all over the place...

stranger12 wrote: »

3. Input to my house is led 22m which is then straight away reduced to 15 . that is then fed to boiler and cold water. shouldn't boiler be 22m and cold tab 15m ?

All the (visible) main coldwater pipework in my house is 15mm, including the main stopc*ck. I would have expected that to be plenty given that the limitation will be the flow rate the boiler can heat, but I'll leave that to the experts.

stranger12

Many thanks, what cofuses me is people saying I need 22mm for heating to radiator which is reduced to 15mm just before connecting it


Why would you need 22mm when your main supply is 15??

keith969

stranger12 wrote: »

Many thanks, what cofuses me is people saying I need 22mm for heating to radiator which is reduced to 15mm just before connecting it


Why would you need 22mm when your main supply is 15??

Because your cold feed is mains pressure (mine is limited to 3 bar) but your HW is probably 1.5 bar, or less if its unpressurised.

stranger12

Ok so because of less pressure you need a bigger pipe?

Is UK main water pressure 3-4 bar?

JP08

When a pipe is soldered and it doesn't leak or pop when tab is opened, can it pop or leak at later stage ?

From personal experience (though not my work), a definite Yes !

Happened while our kitchen was being fitted - fortunately before the doors were on the cupboard under the sink was on and the flooring was down, and just before going to bed, not just after. The joint had sat there quite happily all afternoon and evening.

What we think happened was that there was a weak area in the joint, and as the pressure in the main rose as demand dropped off for the night, it failed. Basically most of the joint held, but had a pinhole leak - which can be quite a lot of water quite quickly at mains pressure.

Ainsley1

As Keith writes joints not usually a problem long term.

They could be though if it is a poor joint, what is known as a 'dry joint' caused by either movement whilst the solder is 'setting' back to its solid state or a poor joint due to dirt or incorrect heat application.

For the first prevent pipes moving during cooling. For the second clean all fittings with wire wool or very fine emery paper, apply a little plumbing flux (not the electronic version) heat evenly to the correct temperature to get all areas of solder flowing (adding a call amount of lead free solder does no harm) ensure that a line of solder visible all round the fitting and has a shiny rather than crystalline appearance. Application of the heat should be concentrated on those parts that either take the longest to warm up (mass) or are subject to most cooling rather than only at the fitting itself .


Hey presto, job done! Will last for many a year. If it looks good it probably is good and no real need to air pressure test unless gas fittings!

stranger12

Many thanks, what do you mean by time g is visible all around?

Ainsley1

Sorry that was one of the edits!!

Ensure a LINE of solder is visible....