JBWeld and H2O. wth?
 

I was already told, on these forums, that JBWeld + water is a no-no. Unfortunately I had already made some fittings using JBWeld. I made some shutoffvalves. The adapter went:
barbed adapter(Plastic) + ballvalve(brass) + straightthrough coupling(Brass)brass
naturally there are a pair. I have two of these pairs. So I can disconnect my PC from my external pump/rad and not have to drain the whole thing.

I made these fittings about 6months ago. I leak tested the part of my loop that was done (just pump and rad) and only used one pair of fitting/ballvalve adapters. So only one pair has gotten wet.

Well I got the rest of my parts lastweek so I leak tested everything today. I was already weary of the jbweld joints so I watched them as I primed the pump. One of the plastic+ballvalve joints started to leak. So I drained the system and took everything apart.

Thought this was a good chance just to remake all the adapters and get rid of any jbweld. The plastic+brass joints all came apart pretty easily. What was weird was in some of the plast+brass joints the jbweld didnt stick to the brass at all. The jbweld completely came off and left an unmarked brass surface when I twisted the fitting off. All of the plastic+brass joints came apart easily. Some left some traces of jbwel and some didnt, on the brass that is. This includes the 2 adapters that had been wet for 6months and the 2 that had only been wet for 30min.

Now the really strange part is I cannot break the brass+brass joints. Im torquing at them with a wrench and just banging a way with a hammer. No joy. Same for the copper+plastic joint... Thats thin copper pipe though so Ive put enough force on it where it is just below the force that would destroy the pipe.

What should I do? Try a brass barbed adapter instead of a plastic? So its brass+brass+brass?

Does jbweld do something like suck ions from the metal when forming the bond? I dont understand why the copper+plastic one is strong when the brass+plastic one broke easily.

Re: JBWeld and H2O. wth? - random thoughts
 

1. To remove - can you apply a heatgun/torch to them (OPEN AIR guessing fumes not go for your health), should make JBW friable, thus easier to split?

2. Guessing since the plastic is slightly more flexible and smoother, that would have something to do w/ bonding differences. :shrug:

Re: JBWeld and H2O. wth?
 

VERY sensitive to surface contamination, specifically oils
always degrease, then sand with new paper (enhance the mechanical bonding)
DO NOT TOUCH before bonding

JB is fine with water properly done

Re: JBWeld and H2O. wth?
 

I used it to patch my car radiator; works fine. Wire brush on the area before hand did the trick. Been holding for over a year now.

Re: JBWeld and H2O. wth?
 

I cleaned out the ballvalves, grinded the bonding surface down just to roughen(sp?) it up. Then cleaned all the surfaces with rubbing alcohol then let it dry out for an hour. I tried marine epoxy this time. Checked it this morning and its pretty strong. Going to just soak them in the sink for awhile and see how they fair.