What is sweat solder?
What is Sweat Soldering? Sweat soldering jewellery is a two part process whereby solder is melted onto one surface, cleaned, positioned and re-heated to join a second surface. As the metal reaches temperature, the solder floods or ‘sweats’ between the layers of metal, forming a strong and neat bond with no excess.
What is the difference between sweat and solder?
“Sweating” and “soldering” are synonymous terms used to describe the process of using heat and solder to join copper pipe and fittings to one another. You can tell your neighbor you’re heading downstairs to “solder” a joint—but “sweating” makes you sound much more worldly and DIY hip.
What kind of solder do you use to sweat copper pipe?
lead-free solder
Buy lead-free solder that’s designed for copper water pipes; you’ll find it in the plumbing section of the store. Solder with lead is still available, but the lead can leach into your water supply, so don’t use it.
What does sweating a joint mean?
soldering
Sweating a pipe refers to soldering a pipe or the joint. Sweating seals a new joint or mends a fault. When sweating a pipe, it is important to do the job correctly so that a soldered pipe can last for years and years. The flux paste will draw in the solder after the pipe is heated using a blow torch.
What is sweat fitting?
Soldered fittings, also called “sweat fittings,” are used to join copper pipes such as those commonly encountered in some in-wall tub and shower applications. The heat draws the solder into the gap between the fitting and pipe to form a water tight seal.
What happens if you overheat copper?
If the metal being joined is too cool or too hot, tinning cannot occur. Overheating is a major problem when brazing or soldering copper pipe because the flux will burn (become oxidized), stop working, and become a barrier to tinning.
What’s the difference between brazing and sweating?
The most common way of joining copper pipe is by soldering (it’s called ‘sweating’ mostly in the U.S., probably because the pipe ‘sweats’ as it heats up). Brazing is basically the same process, put performed at a higher temperature (if the soldering metal melts above 840 degrees, the process is called brazing).
What size solder do I use for sweated joints?
A handy rule-of-thumb we heard somewhere says to match the length of solder you use on a sweated joint to the diameter of the pipe – a half-inch of solder to do a joint in half-inch pipe, ¾-inches for ¾”-inch pipe and so on. Your mileage, however, may vary. 5. Wipe it off. Give the newly sweated joint a few minutes to cool down.
How does sweat soldering work?
As the metal reaches temperature, the solder floods or ‘sweats’ between the layers of metal, forming a strong and neat bond with no excess. Providing everything is flat and grease free, sweat soldering produces neat seams which require only minimal cleaning, thanks to the bulk of the solder being hidden from view.
Why is it so hard to solder pipe joints?
Many times they’ll bottom out on a ridge inside the coupling to make sure the pipe is seated at the proper depth. If that cut is angled, only a tiny part of the cut lines up, and that’s going to make getting a good solder joint difficult. 2. Clean and de-burr the pipe.
How do I Stop my soldering joints from overheating?
If the joints are all close to each other, try doing the joints out of order. Solder one joint, then move to a joint further away, then back to a joint near the first, etc. This should allow some of the heat to dissipate, and reduce the chances of overheating the joints.