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Early vs. late failure of sweat solder joints

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Early vs. late failure of sweat solder joints blueman 06-20-2008
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Posted by blueman on June 20, 2008, 10:05 am
I just re-ran some of the 1/2 and 3/4" lines in our basement. After
finishing, out of about 50 sweat solder joints that I did, 2 had small
leaks that needed to be redone. System has been completely dry for the
last 2 days now.

Question:
- Do most leaks do to bad solder joints show up immediately or do they
continue to show up over time?

Basically, since I did have a couple of bad solder joints I am
concerned that maybe some others are marginal and will fail later
(when I am not looking). Is that likely or does the initial
pressurization (along with some shaking of the pipes that I did)
pretty much show up the bad joints?

Thanks


Posted by Tony Hwang on June 20, 2008, 11:13 am
blueman wrote:
> I just re-ran some of the 1/2 and 3/4" lines in our basement. After
> finishing, out of about 50 sweat solder joints that I did, 2 had small
> leaks that needed to be redone. System has been completely dry for the
> last 2 days now.
>
> Question:
> - Do most leaks do to bad solder joints show up immediately or do they
> continue to show up over time?
>
> Basically, since I did have a couple of bad solder joints I am
> concerned that maybe some others are marginal and will fail later
> (when I am not looking). Is that likely or does the initial
> pressurization (along with some shaking of the pipes that I did)
> pretty much show up the bad joints?
>
> Thanks
>
Hi,
Need more practice, Eh? I hate to redo the job when it leaks.
I prepare 110% when soldering, LOL! Quality is doing right first time.
If soldering was marginal, when it is exposed to mechanical stress it
can leak later but if it does not leak now just leave it be.

Posted by jack on June 20, 2008, 1:04 pm

>I just re-ran some of the 1/2 and 3/4" lines in our basement. After
> finishing, out of about 50 sweat solder joints that I did, 2 had small
> leaks that needed to be redone. System has been completely dry for the
> last 2 days now.
>
> Question:
> - Do most leaks do to bad solder joints show up immediately or do they
> continue to show up over time?
>
> Basically, since I did have a couple of bad solder joints I am
> concerned that maybe some others are marginal and will fail later
> (when I am not looking). Is that likely or does the initial
> pressurization (along with some shaking of the pipes that I did)
> pretty much show up the bad joints?
>
Depending on how many of them were 3/4", 96% good is pretty decent.

I have never had one leak afterwards. But yes, I have worried about it just
as you are now. Relax.



Posted by EXT on June 20, 2008, 5:07 pm
I never had a leaker using the old 50/50 lead/tin solder. I did some work
last year with the new lead-free solder and flux designed for it, and had a
couple of leakers at the outset. HOWEVER, about 6 weeks after putting the
plumbing into service I had one joint that sprung a bad leak. Don't know how
it held up for 6 weeks before leaking, possibly the flux was burnt and left
a path that the water pressure slowly worked it way through pushing the flux
out until a clear path developed. I am normally meticulous in cleaning and
coating with flux and soldering a filet around the edge of the fitting.

>I just re-ran some of the 1/2 and 3/4" lines in our basement. After
> finishing, out of about 50 sweat solder joints that I did, 2 had small
> leaks that needed to be redone. System has been completely dry for the
> last 2 days now.
>
> Question:
> - Do most leaks do to bad solder joints show up immediately or do they
> continue to show up over time?
>
> Basically, since I did have a couple of bad solder joints I am
> concerned that maybe some others are marginal and will fail later
> (when I am not looking). Is that likely or does the initial
> pressurization (along with some shaking of the pipes that I did)
> pretty much show up the bad joints?
>
> Thanks
>


Posted by blueman on June 20, 2008, 5:51 pm
> I never had a leaker using the old 50/50 lead/tin solder. I did some
> work last year with the new lead-free solder and flux designed for it,
> and had a couple of leakers at the outset. HOWEVER, about 6 weeks
> after putting the plumbing into service I had one joint that sprung a
> bad leak. Don't know how it held up for 6 weeks before leaking,
> possibly the flux was burnt and left a path that the water pressure
> slowly worked it way through pushing the flux out until a clear path
> developed. I am normally meticulous in cleaning and coating with flux
> and soldering a filet around the edge of the fitting.
>

Maybe that's my problem... I bought some new lead-free solder because
I wasn't sure whether my old solder was or not (I bought it 10 years
ago and the label had faded). However, I still used my old flux.

- Is there really a special flux for the new solder?
- Is there a problem with using the "old" flux?

And, by the way, I too am meticulous in cleaning joints and using
plenty of flux.

Page 1 of 2       1 2 > last >>
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