How To Solder Copper Tubing / Pipe - Part 1

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Watch and learn how to solder copper tubing in this easy-to-follow video.

There are several videos on YouTube showing how to solder copper tubing/pipe; some good, some bad, and some in-between. In this two-part series, I lay out the tools, cleaning procedure, and steps to take when soldering small diameter ( 3/4" & 1/2") copper tubing. I will do a video on larger diameter copper, but in this series, we're going to concentrate on the small stuff.

I want to point out that I prefer to use Mapp fuel as opposed to propane fuel only because it burns at much higher temperatures getting the job done faster. In combination with the Turbo-Torch regulator and STK-1 torch tip featured in the video, the job goes quite quick on the small sizes and saves time on the larger-sized copper tubing. You may certainly use a basic torch tip along with propane fuel, the job will just take a bit longer to complete. The key to a good strong joint is the cleaning and preparation process. I clean both the outside of the tubing as well as inside the fitting and depending on how dirty, I'll use a scotch bright pad or plumber's emery cloth. The next step is to liberally coat the pipe and fitting with flux hopefully using a flux brush, (you don't want to do this with your finger, flux is nasty). There are differing opinions on what to heat first (the pipe, the fitting) but since I started in the business I was always taught to heat the fitting. By heating the fitting a process called capillary attraction takes place whereby the heat from your torch will actually draw the solder into the fitting with minimal effort.

The first part of this video series is all about the tools and preparation, in part two I'll demonstrate a horizontal and vertical joint using 1/2" copper tubing. This is not that difficult to do, so when you're done with part 1, jump on over to part 2 and let's solder a couple of joints.

Here's a quick link to How To Solder Copper Tubing - Part 2:
bobsplumbingvideos.com/how-to-solder-copper-tub…

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Happy Plumbing!
Bob