SteveDel

Thank you for the post Nestor, very informative. I definitely appreciate knowing why certain steps need to be taken and the science behind it.

Nestor_Kelebay

Steve: (and all the non-solderers in here)

Buy the torch, propane, solder, flux, sandcloth, fitting brush and a heat shield and practice soldering. You already know how from reading my post. Until you do that, you're going to be limited to using compression fittings for all your plumbing, and soldering is a much more reliable way to do things.

Maybe get one of those Black & Decker "Workmate" work benches so that you can learn to solder in your garage where you have a concrete floor and there's no chance of burning or scorching anything besides the Workmate. The sooner you start soldering, the fewer compression fittings you'll be wanting to replace later on.

majakdragon

louwatters, did you get tired of being told to quit leading members to your site on other DIY sites? Advetising it here, even though your disquise it, will get you banned.

__________________
if you have never made a mistake, you probably haven't done much.

Nestor_Kelebay

An experienced DIY'er lurking as a newbie? That's a switch!

Kilativv

Nestor,
thank you very much for your informative posts. I recently undertook some soldering projects at my house and planning to do more. I got a good head start by watching some howto videos on YouTube but I still wasn't completely confident since I didn't have a complete understanding of the processes behind soldering pipe. Your excellent posts made everything really clear to me. In fact I registered at this forum only to let you know that. You should right a book on a subject or at least post it somewhere more permanent than a forum.

Also I would like to say this to a member who thought this stuff is too elaborate for a newbie plumber. That couldn't be further from the truth. I'm actually pretty sure most professional plumbers don't know how soldering works. They surely do know how to solder and they probably learned their skill and some tricks from another professional as an apprentice. Thats something a do-it-yourselfer learning from media lacks. That's why understanding the chemistry behind the whole process is important. I really wish I found this post before - it would save me some frustration. Thanks again!!!

Nestor_Kelebay

Kilativv:

I couldn't agree more that newbie DIY'ers want to know WHY things work the way they do. I know I always did. I can imagine a DIY'er saying: I just wanna know what to do, not why. But that would only be in a situation where they figure it's gonna be difficult to understand, and they're not gonna understand or even remember it anyway. Every DIY'er I've ever met online wanted to know why things work the way they do if there was a simple and easy to understand explanation that would lay everything out clearly for them to see.

Thanks for the fan mail too.

travelover

Oh NO! Now ya did it...

Nestor_Kelebay

That's right, Kilatiff.

You don't wanna be boosting my ego cuz there's no telling what can happen.

I COULD decide to take over the world, and that wouldn't be pretty.


Best just to leave things be.

travelover

I'm funnin' ya, 'cause I'm a Nestor fan, too.

Nestor_Kelebay

Oh, I knew that. I just couldn't think of any other response.