Soldering  Copper Pipe

Soldering copper pipe can be a very important task, and it is easy enough to do.  If you have faulty pipes, you should have the adequate equipment at hand to repair them if need be.  Soldering copper pipe is about as basic of a plumbing skill that you can get.  It's a really simple way to fix leaky pipes.

The first thing you'll need is the basic soldering equipment that is necessary to complete the task.  You'll need a propane torch,  a roll of solder, emery cloth and flux.  You can buy extra equipment such as a tube cutter, flame protector close, and heavy gloves.  You may even need some goggles for safety precautions. 

There are many how-to plumbing videos on the internet.  I provided a couple of videos on this website to show you how to solder a water tight seal on your copper pipes. 

The first step is to clean the surface you'll need to solder.  After that you need to heat the copper pipe with your blowtorch, and then you can begin to introduce the end of your solder coil to the heated pipe where it is leaking.  The solder should easily melt into the open space, and fill it up.  It won't take long for it to harden, and then you're pretty much done.

Sometimes you may want to replace a whole section of copper piping.  You can use a tube-cutter to cut out a portion, and then you can actually solder in another tube that is the same size.  This works really well, and this is the type of work that plumbers do very often.  

That might have sounded easy, but there are a few tips to consider.  You can't solder a pipe that has water in it.  You might want to hang a flame protector cloth over any flammable materials or nearby wood.  You don't want to create a fire.  Make sure the pipe is dry before and after you begin.  If you're soldering in a new tube section, make sure that there are no burrs around the cut where the tube-cutter cut or it can impede water flow.

Also, remember that a propane tank is combustive.  Be careful with it.  Don't drop it, or expose it to any heat outside around the bottle.  Don't set it down with the flame exposed or it will eventually fall over and start a fire.  Also, please review other resources.  I think that I gave you a good understanding of how to achieve this simple goal, but you can always pick up better details from other sources.

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