AH! I need more of the Copper How To article!

mfpmax · 10-12-2002, 03:26 AM

Checked out the frontpage and saw a Copper How To article...and it stopped and teases me with pictures of the required items for soldering copper! I need that now for my heatercore so I can put new fittings on it

Anyone know got some nice information or useful links on the subject of soldering copper?

I proably already know how from my dad doing it...but I wanna cover all my bases.

*Goes off to find a working torch and the solder and flux.

Can O' Beans · 10-12-2002, 11:30 PM

Clean copper, apply flux, heat, solder.

Don't apply too much solder. The joint will draw the solder in. Just apply enough to fill the joint.

If you know how to do it from copper water pipe fittings, it's not that different at all. Same material, different shapes.

pHaestus · 10-12-2002, 11:34 PM

I have heard it is a good idea to fill the heatercore with water so that you don't run any risk of desoldering the fins from the core. Personally, I would be surprised if anyone applied THAT much heat, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

mfpmax · 10-12-2002, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pHaestus
I have heard it is a good idea to fill the heatercore with water so that you don't run any risk of desoldering the fins from the core. Personally, I would be surprised if anyone applied THAT much heat, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

Yeah, another method is wet towel around the area you're working on...

Well doesn't matter, decided to crash course some soldering myself. Did one barb fitting as I'm not ready to put the barbs onto the tank as i'm still having problems with how my tubing is gonna be routed.

Wish I had my MaxiJet pump and Waterblock already

mfpmax · 10-13-2002, 12:03 AM

As shown here.

g.l.amour · 10-13-2002, 02:13 AM

u guys are really really lucky asses to live on north america continent. it's not like i live in katmandu or something, but in europe u can forget to goto a diy shop to pick up some barbs of whatever spec, u just don't find that stuff here.
y fittings ; forget it, u just get t's

so if i want to step up from 3/8 to 1/2; i need to order some stuff over the internet; unbelievable

mfpmax · 10-13-2002, 02:32 AM

Whats even better...those fittings were laying around the house for at least 10 years

The barbs are new though, I picked them up Friday.
Don't be too torn up about it, for some reason, it seems our selection at the local stores is actually getting worse...which reminds me, I supposedly have a local "hook-up" at Ace Hardware...I need to exploit that

g.l.amour · 10-13-2002, 03:57 AM

that aces hardware must be something, every time i read a how-to article somewhere, they always say, grab that n that at ace's, half of that stuff, i never find.

it's like, my gf gets all crazy about going to IKEA (most girls in belgium). she and all her friends go berserk, when a new ikea catalogue gets distributed; for me, i get the same feeling about going to diy stores; heh, just picked myself up some riveting pliers; funfunfun

Gnozo · 10-13-2002, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by g.l.amour
that aces hardware must be something, every time i read a how-to article somewhere, they always say, grab that n that at ace's, half of that stuff, i never find.

it's like, my gf gets all crazy about going to IKEA (most girls in belgium). she and all her friends go berserk, when a new ikea catalogue gets distributed; for me, i get the same feeling about going to diy stores; heh, just picked myself up some riveting pliers; funfunfun

You are not the only one.....

Here in DK is there some hardware stores, but they don't have all the stuff like Lowe's, Home Depot and so on......they have garden furniture, stuff to your car, bikes, and toilet stuff and shite like that.....boooooring stuff

g.l.amour · 10-13-2002, 04:26 AM

xactly same situation here

Puzzdre · 10-13-2002, 05:36 AM

Can I join the club?

Same here, The only barbs and fittings I can buy is that garden hoses stuff...For other kinds one must go to the machine shop or order the goods from the net...talk about time/money consuption...

For my first block I used air compressor fittings which are initially 6 mm ID, and I managed to re-drill them to the 7 mm ID... and that's all...

I'm kinda happy, cos' I thought that shi##y situation is concentrated around here where I live...but actually, there's nothing to be happy about...:shrug:

nicozeg · 10-13-2002, 04:14 PM

Wow, I thought that hapens only when you live in south america, but seem to be the same in the "old developed world"

DarkEdge · 10-13-2002, 05:23 PM

Not that big of a deal. Lowes has the best selection where I'm at. Even then, most of the time I have to order stuff off the net. BTW Ace sucks! Atleast where I'm at.

redleader · 10-13-2002, 10:37 PM

Quote:

I have heard it is a good idea to fill the heatercore with water so that you don't run any risk of desoldering the fins from the core. Personally, I would be surprised if anyone applied THAT much heat, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

Unless you have one hell of a torch thats not going to work. The solder doesn't flow until its way above the boiling point of water. Which means you'll have to boil all the water out first.

Same reason you have to drain a pipe before you can solder a new fitting to a T.

Quote:

that aces hardware must be something, every time i read a how-to article somewhere, they always say, grab that n that at ace's, half of that stuff, i never find.

Aces is awesome. Theres about 30 in Tucson as best I can tell. Every 2 miles theres a store with all the fittings you could ever want. Ditto for Autozones, I pass 2 autozones and three 3 aces on my way to work over the summer.

Still for really rare stuff you need to goto a plumbing supply store. I'm sure they have these in Europe/where ever as well. Its not like theres no pipes there.

Quote:

so if i want to step up from 3/8 to 1/2; i need to order some stuff over the internet; unbelievable

1/2 is a common household pipe size. There will be places that sell the stuff. I'd check the phone book. I've never seen a place that cared if you were a plumber or not, so long as you got money.

Quote:

Clean copper, apply flux, heat, solder.

Don't skimp on the cleaning part. Really. When I was making a compressed propane flame thrower way back, I didn't clean the copper well enough and one of my joints came a part effortlessly as soon as I put ~20 PSI into it. I looked afterwords and it had a line were some spot on the copper hadn't been able to solder. I can just imagine this happening on a watercooled comp with awful results.

If its just one or two fittings, fine grain sand paper (150 or so is fine) is good enough. More and you should spend $6 for a pipe brush. Much safer if you're doing lots of pipe.

Quote:

Anyone know got some nice information or useful links on the subject of soldering copper?

Get your dad to help you out. Its the only way to learn. What I did was follow a plumber around for a few hours. Makes all the difference.

mfpmax · 10-13-2002, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redleader

Get your dad to help you out. Its the only way to learn. What I did was follow a plumber around for a few hours. Makes all the difference.

Thats what I did...all my life

Thats why I got tired of waiting and went ahead and Gung Ho'ed it instead. As shown above with the horrible job there.

10-12-2002, 03:26 AM	#1
mfpmax Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Rockledge,FL,US Posts: 731	AH! I need more of the Copper How To article! Checked out the frontpage and saw a Copper How To article...and it stopped and teases me with pictures of the required items for soldering copper! I need that now for my heatercore so I can put new fittings on it Anyone know got some nice information or useful links on the subject of soldering copper? I proably already know how from my dad doing it...but I wanna cover all my bases. *Goes off to find a working torch and the solder and flux. __________________ My old and retired watercooling setup. Watercooled K6-2 450 at 600 Also Retired - Watercooling an XP1800@1782MHz

10-13-2002, 02:32 AM	#7
mfpmax Cooling Savant Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Rockledge,FL,US Posts: 731	Whats even better...those fittings were laying around the house for at least 10 years The barbs are new though, I picked them up Friday. Don't be too torn up about it, for some reason, it seems our selection at the local stores is actually getting worse...which reminds me, I supposedly have a local "hook-up" at Ace Hardware...I need to exploit that __________________ My old and retired watercooling setup. Watercooled K6-2 450 at 600 Also Retired - Watercooling an XP1800@1782MHz

10-13-2002, 05:36 AM	#11
Puzzdre Cooling Savant Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Croatia Posts: 969	Can I join the club? Same here, The only barbs and fittings I can buy is that garden hoses stuff...For other kinds one must go to the machine shop or order the goods from the net...talk about time/money consuption... For my first block I used air compressor fittings which are initially 6 mm ID, and I managed to re-drill them to the 7 mm ID... and that's all... I'm kinda happy, cos' I thought that shi##y situation is concentrated around here where I live...but actually, there's nothing to be happy about...:shrug: __________________ 'Out of cheese error... ...please reboot the universe (press the GBL to continue)'

10-12-2002, 11:30 PM	#2
Can O' Beans Cooling Savant Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Pa - USA Posts: 264	Clean copper, apply flux, heat, solder. Don't apply too much solder. The joint will draw the solder in. Just apply enough to fill the joint. If you know how to do it from copper water pipe fittings, it's not that different at all. Same material, different shapes.

10-12-2002, 11:34 PM	#3
pHaestus Big Player Making Big Money Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: irc.lostgeek.com #procooling.com Posts: 4,782	I have heard it is a good idea to fill the heatercore with water so that you don't run any risk of desoldering the fins from the core. Personally, I would be surprised if anyone applied THAT much heat, but better safe than sorry I suppose.

10-13-2002, 02:13 AM	#6
g.l.amour Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: on da case Posts: 933	u guys are really really lucky asses to live on north america continent. it's not like i live in katmandu or something, but in europe u can forget to goto a diy shop to pick up some barbs of whatever spec, u just don't find that stuff here. y fittings ; forget it, u just get t's so if i want to step up from 3/8 to 1/2; i need to order some stuff over the internet; unbelievable

10-13-2002, 03:57 AM	#8
g.l.amour Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: on da case Posts: 933	that aces hardware must be something, every time i read a how-to article somewhere, they always say, grab that n that at ace's, half of that stuff, i never find. it's like, my gf gets all crazy about going to IKEA (most girls in belgium). she and all her friends go berserk, when a new ikea catalogue gets distributed; for me, i get the same feeling about going to diy stores; heh, just picked myself up some riveting pliers; funfunfun

10-13-2002, 04:26 AM	#10
g.l.amour Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: on da case Posts: 933	xactly same situation here

10-13-2002, 04:14 PM	#12
nicozeg Cooling Savant Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Santiago, Chile Posts: 403	Wow, I thought that hapens only when you live in south america, but seem to be the same in the "old developed world"

10-13-2002, 05:23 PM	#13
DarkEdge Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Sugar Land, Tx Posts: 176	Not that big of a deal. Lowes has the best selection where I'm at. Even then, most of the time I have to order stuff off the net. BTW Ace sucks! Atleast where I'm at.

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