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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Dahlonega , Georgia
Posts: 14,585
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sweated some copper plumbing today it's been 20 years
I have been installing the 3rd bathroom in our basement and have come to the point of needing the hot/cold water lines run. The house has copper plumbing and I was not looking forward to doing this job. Now I am a avid DIYer but I have not soldered copper plumbing in over 20 years. Because of that I decided to call a pro to do the job. The estimate from the " pro " to run aprox. 20' of pipe with the usual mix of elbows, tee's and shut off valves was $795.00 !!! What a joke so I decided to do it myself. Last night I made the run to the big box store to gather all the fittings, pipe , torch , flux etc. to get the job done. Today was the day to tackle the job. Turned the main off in the front yard and 3 hours later I was done. Now this is a mix of copper and CPVC but all went as planned. My heart was racing as I anticipated turning the main water valve back on. I had a few beers as I waited for the CPVC glue to dry. When I decided enough time had elapsed I had the wife in the basement with her cellphone as I was in the yard with mine as I slowly opened the main valve. No leaks everything was bone dry !!! Had a few more beers to celebrate
 Man it feels good when a project goes as planned.
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2002 Boxster S . Arctic silver + black top/int. Jake Raby 3.6 SS engine " the beast ". GT3 front bumper, GT3 side skirts and GT3 TEK rear diffuser. 1999 996 C4 coupe black/grey with FSI 3.8 engine . Rear diffuser , front spoiler lip with ducktail spoiler . |
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02-18-2012, 01:33 PM
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Gon fix it with me hammer
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Soldering copper these days is no biggie, i had never done it before, got it dry in one go..
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Stijn Vandamme EX911STARGA73EX92477EX94484EX944S8890MPHPINBALLMACHINEAKAEX987C2007 BIMDIESELBMW116D2019 |
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02-18-2012, 01:42 PM
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83 911 Production Cab #10
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Who Will Live... Will See 83 911 Production Cab #10, Slightly Modified: Unslanted, 3.2, PMO EFI, TECgt, CE 911 CAM Sync / Pulley / Wires, SSI, Dansk Sport 2/2, 17" Euromeister, CKO GT3 Seats, Going SOK Super Charger |
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02-18-2012, 03:04 PM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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Yup, sweating copper is easy, I could do it at 14.
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02-18-2012, 03:05 PM
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Lacey, WA. USA
Posts: 25,310
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Yup. I've sweated somewhere between 100 and 200 joints, and never had a leak. On one fitting, which was 3/4", I kinda knew I had gotten it too hot so I re-did it. Got to looking at the discarded one and, sure enough, it woulda leaked.
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Man of Carbon Fiber (stronger than steel) Mocha 1978 911SC. "Coco" |
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02-18-2012, 03:13 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,586
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No more copper for me.....pex is my friend.
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02-18-2012, 03:14 PM
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AutoBahned
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No pex for me..... copper is my friend -- especially after reading the concerns about leaching of plasticizers from pex into drinking water.
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02-18-2012, 03:18 PM
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19 years and 17k posts...
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Congrats!
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Art Zasadny 1974 Porsche 911 Targa "Helga" (Sold, back home in Germany) Learning the bass guitar Driving Ford company cars now... www.ford.com |
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02-18-2012, 05:44 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Western NY
Posts: 4,311
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Restored/remodeled a 15 room 1824 home, Installed 5 zones of Baseboard hydronic heat plumbed 3 baths sweated all of it, no leaks. Bottom line is CLEANLINESS and flux, get that right and you are golden.
I will say though, I have used a few shark bite fittings on a couple projects of late, and they sure work slick.
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Richard 2010 F800GS '04 R11BXA, '01 F650GS, '98 CBR600F3 track bike, '75 RE-5, '76 RE-5, '81 GS400E. Also residing in the barn my son's bikes: '89 GS500ES, Ducati Monster 620 dark |
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02-18-2012, 07:03 PM
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Registered
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I sweated my first joints a couple months ago for the hydronic heat in my workshop. No problems! Getting all the angles right for the apparatus would have been much easier with pex, but the end result is so much better with copper.
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02-18-2012, 07:17 PM
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Banned
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Earth
Posts: 31,744
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Give it a wiggle in a few days to make sure everything is tight. Sometimes a solder joint is hard as a rock, sometimes it is not.
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02-18-2012, 07:24 PM
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Cogito Ergo Sum
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Quote:
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02-18-2012, 07:27 PM
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Detached Member
Join Date: May 2003
Location: southern California
Posts: 26,964
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The new lead free solder isn't as good. I liked the sweet taste of the old stuff when smoking a cigar while I soldered.
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Hugh |
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02-18-2012, 07:41 PM
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JW Apostate
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Napa, Ca
Posts: 14,164
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I like copper.
KT
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'74 914-6 2.6 SS #746 '01 Boxster |
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02-18-2012, 07:43 PM
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I see you
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: NJ
Posts: 29,883
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compression fittings work well too.
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Si non potes inimicum tuum vincere, habeas eum amicum and ride a big blue trike. "'Bipartisan' usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out." |
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02-18-2012, 07:47 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Posts: 14,150
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PEX for me.
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02-18-2012, 08:18 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Clinton, NJ
Posts: 12,782
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Sweating copper pipe is a piece of cake.
I used to hate plumbing until a friend, who's a union steamfitter, showed me the trick. Clean inner and outer of the joint well, flux the pieces and put them together, aim your flame at the very bottom of the joint, heat until when you touch the solder to the top of the joint it just runs in. Wipe excess solder off with a wet rag, and done. No leaks.
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______________________________ Dave 1969 911T Coupe 1972 911E Targa |
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02-18-2012, 08:43 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 17,338
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I like copper. We just use PEX for the first time at the young owner's request. The guys seem to love it because it is so easy to install. No more cleaning, wiping flux, waiting for it to cool (if you are a real plumber, you will just stick that goddamnacid brush right onto the joint to cool it), and burning yourself. What's not to like? Those bastard got done in less then 3 days. Normally it would have taken them 5. They charge me for 5 like normal.
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02-19-2012, 12:38 AM
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Registered
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Dahlonega , Georgia
Posts: 14,585
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I was thinking about using sharkbite fittings but decided to do the copper and I'm glad I did. I did not consider PEX not sure why. I'm used to CPVC so that's what I used once I soldered in the copper tee's and female threaded adapters. Used teflon tape and pipe thread compound to be extra safe. Today I'm going to make the final runs to the toilet and vanity but that's just drilling some holes in the studs and running the CPVC and tying into the shut off valves. Should be an easy day.
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2002 Boxster S . Arctic silver + black top/int. Jake Raby 3.6 SS engine " the beast ". GT3 front bumper, GT3 side skirts and GT3 TEK rear diffuser. 1999 996 C4 coupe black/grey with FSI 3.8 engine . Rear diffuser , front spoiler lip with ducktail spoiler . |
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02-19-2012, 02:22 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,586
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I read that too but I would hate to see all of the funny things that come out of copper and flux. I have an interesting old house that has threaded brass water lines throughout and pex is the best way to fix problems. Also I own several rental properties and pex is an easy and quick fix, the new fittings have so many options.
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02-19-2012, 03:07 AM
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BimForce the Third, Esquire
Das Babe
Das Babe Metalberiech
1986 Porsche 944 2.5l
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