How to BRAZE Copper Plumbing Lines

[@zackaryramos5085]

I freaking love the “well I DONT HAVE LEAKS “ that needs to be on a shirt

[@RogerWakefield]

New merch line!

[@waterheaterservices]

At my age that would be false advertising

[@adamdimaggio2237]

I can make them for you...

[@markallan9050]

Shout outs from canada. As a journeyman here i can day with both soft solder and brazing, a little extra material and full penetration and losing a little solder is far worth it to get the perfect solder joint be it soft soldering or brazing! Love your videos

[@misaelmorenoluna7299]

To all my plumber friends out there who also do A/C, stop soldering refrigerant lines. It worked with R-22 pressures but R-410a Pressures run higher. Also, brazing works better with an Oxyacetylene torch, because it heats the coppers more thoroughly.

[@adamdimaggio2237]

OMFG.. I thought i was the ONLY one who has OCD About the Writing going ALL in the same direction and faced Up.. lol.. if its in the 2nd floor, it all goes down.. I was taught easy for inspectors to see also..

[@yogwhatup2000]

Is there a need for flux? Wouldn’t that help the flow?

[@Redline_plumbing]

I have a genuine question . Is the difference from brasing and soldering the pipe size ?

[@shagidelicrobott]

Temperature and type of solder

[@weep227]

W good video

[@jeffliverman3401]

Where was the cherry red

[@Rwags2011]

Dude. That looks like crap

[@henrycovell4362]

0:23 1 0:25 is kinda sus

[@elvingzz3569]

Ngl started doing this and this brazing looks ugly. I would rather put the torch facing the fire to the joint pushing the blaze inside the joint. 6/10

[@ozman6602]

The black album is about when I stopped listening to Metallica nothing they do today can come close to their first few albums like ride the lightning Master of Puppets creeping death that's when they were on top every since the loss of cliff Burton they went down.

[@lennykelly9952]

We used oxygen and acetylene with those rods the flame was more defined and sharper giving you more control.

[@tunezghb9794]

Disappointed in this video bruv. I wanted to see more of the brazing, and less of the visual effects/editing. I love your channel, but I was left wanting more with this one.

[@TheDragorin]

i havent watched his videos in quite a while and im pretty dissapointed now. they are over produced and he seems to put 0 effort into the script now.

[@TheWaddafadda]

In finland we do this with oxy-acetylene. I would warm up the pipe until it changes color, and after that get both pipe and fitting cherry red.

[@michaelandres1363]

Always appreciate these vids. I've never needed to braze in my line of work but I've been wanting to learn. This is one of the best brazing instructional videos I've seen so far.

[@RogerWakefield]

Glad to help Michael!

[@waterheaterservices]

We have to be very brazen and try it

[@brrrayday]

two things that i do differently, but i typically solder smaller pipe and not brazing big pipes so these suggestions are for a slightly different application. one, rub the end and outside of the fitting with steel wool or sandpaper. this allows the hot metal to overlap the end of the fitting, strengthening the join. two, heat from the bottom to get your pipe/fitting hot enough, but apply the solder from the top, and it will flow downward as your apply and go around-- and you can take the heat off at that point, possibly helping prevent burnt pipes. again, these suggestions are for smaller pipes. you are 100% correct to begin by heating the pipe before the fitting. it takes more time and more energy to drive the heat from the outside of the fitting to the inside of the pipe, and while a minor decision that isn't necessarily make-or-break, it can save you some headache when you get to that pipe with water in it. if that happens, and you try to heat the fitting to melt the solder, you will burn the fitting into dust before the pipe gets hot enough to let the solder melt. so start with the pipe and then move the heat into the fitting, letting your solder follow it from the outside in. ps., i liked some of those little split screen produced pieces, because it is really important for people to see how the colors of the metal change as it goes through the heating process. when you get that pink copper color surrounded by all the colors of the rainbow, its time to apply your solder!

[@mannys9130]

It's hard to tell if you're talking about soldering, or brazing throughout your comment. "Soldering" means low temperature work requiring flux, usually with a lead/tin or lead/tin/silver soldering metal for electronics and non-potable pipes, and a lead-free 95/5 or silver-bearing solder for potable water pipes. Brazing is much higher temperature and requires no flux for copper. The brazing filler rod is sometimes called "silver solder" which is confusing, and most people I know (including me) call it "brazing rod" or "brazing filler." The pipes need no cleaning with brazing because the high temperatures prevents any oxides from forming or existing. That's the pinkish red copper color area you mention, seen in the hottest part of the torch flame. The brazing rod can melt in the flame and integrate directly into the crystalline structure of the copper in those spots because there are no oxides present at all. The flux is required for soldering because the low temp isn't enough to make the process "self cleaning" and the flux is what strips the oxides off of the surface. The concept of heating the pipe before the fitting is critically important in soldering when dealing with lead-free brass or bronze fittings, like valves and Tees. The lead-free brass and bronze alloys don't transfer heat around themselves nearly as good as the traditional leaded brass does. Let's say you try to heat the LF ball valve first when soldering it in place. The valve metal doesn't conduct heat well, so it doesn't spread through itself and not much gets to the copper pipe in a fast period of time. It just kinda trickles in. The copper pipe is great at conducting heat, so it sucks away all the heat down the length of the pipe away from the joint and it doesn't expand. The LF brass valve slowly expands as you heat it, and hopefully you're moving the torch around to apply heat to different areas constantly. Otherwise, the valve won't heat evenly and one side will melt solder while the other won't. As you heat the valve and it grows, the copper, which was already undersized to begin with and possibly VERY undersized if you went crazy with cleaning it with the emery cloth, does not grow in sync and the gap that the solder needs to fill is too large. It won't wick completely and properly. It also won't flow into the copper pipe surface because the copper isn't hot enough. You end up with awful adhesion and awful joint fill. The CORRECT way to do it is to heat just the pipe first. Blast it and expand that copper pipe tight inside of the valve socket, which thermally couples the 2 together very well. Then turn the torch 45° so you are heating the pipe end and the fitting socket at the same time. That keeps the heat from flowing down the pipe as quickly as it would like to. You have to keep moving the torch around alllllllll the time to be heating the brass evenly or you'll get hot and cold spots. When you get ready to add the solder, turn the flame so that it's heating just the middle and innermost end of the brass socket and then immediately feed your solder into the rim. This last blast of heating ensures the solder wicks fully inside. Prep is critical too. Clean the pipe very well without hogging it down to a tiny diameter, and clean the hell out of the brass including the mouth rims like you mentioned. Flux the shit out of it and wipe the flux off the outside of the copper pipe when it squeezes out so the solder doesn't gush the wrong way following that river of flux. The tricky part of this is that it requires a LOT of heat, in a specific sequence, and technique is vital. It's so easy to burn the flux when doing these LF parts, and that is why I *ONLY* use something like a 5% silver-bearing plumbing solder. It flows so much nicer and it melts at a lower temp than typical 95/5. Much easier to not burn the flux out of the joint. By far, one of the most difficult soldering joints to face is a medium or large sized LF brass valve going onto a copper pipe that has a trickle of flowing water bypassing a leaky valve upstream. That trickle of water will make the already troublesome heating situation WAYYYYY worse. You'll need to blast that bottom side to flash the water and overcome the water's theft of the heat during phase change, and it's easy to burn the flux! :(

[@Xenonmorph__]

Next up on Roger Wakefield's page: how to braze beef ribs

[@ElevatorWasher5000]

Wow! very informative! The only thing is it isn’t that easy to do this.

[@RayFranz-sb9gn]

Trying to get a Oscar?

[@blakekaveny]

Warning before use read instructions 😂😂

[@AirQualityInc]

awesome video roger! I think it was done right!

[@RogerWakefield]

I think so too

[@b.powell3480]

Great video, Roger !, I tried brazing a few years ago and wound up melting a shutoff valve and a fitting!!, does the brazing rod have a flux in the center of it ? When I did it, the valve melted and the brazing rod just puddled on areas of the fitting and valve ! Haven't brazed since, now I always solder my connections!, no leaks!

[@quickshticksstreaming6539]

nah you just gotta use some sort of thermal protection when you are doing it on valves or other sensitive equipment you just got the valve to hot so the the O rings and other sensitive parts melted. next time try wrapping the valve in a soaking wet towel and just leave the joints visible to heat up and apply the braze rod too

[@b.powell3480]

@@quickshticksstreaming6539 thanks 😊

[@OnlySnipe852]

Been a service plumber 15 years and a gas fitter 10. I have clamped hundreds of leaks. If it's a copper solder joint that is leaking its never one that has been capped. Not every joint that isn't capped will leak, but all leaks from solder joint are joints not capped.

[@mannys9130]

In 15 years you've never come across a single capped joint that was improperly vented and had steam channels that eventually let loose at the edge of the cap? I'm shocked. If a pipe is in service, incompletely drained of water at the joint area, and a fitting is sweated in which seals the loop up, it's very likely that the residual water will flash and blow the solder out before it's cooled, capped or uncapped. A little pinprick channel with a hair of solder at the mouth is all that's needed. It won't leak at first and everything will seem strong, but then a few water hammers or some years of corrosion later, and it ruptures suddenly which is when you get the panicked call from the owner. Never seen that? 🤔

[@OnlySnipe852]

@@mannys9130 I shouldn't say never. I should have said rarely. Was honestly thinking what you posted I while after posting the first comment.

[@robbysplinter9316]

This guy is a beauty love the vids

[@ESFRESNO1]

Why no flux?

[@Dragondezznuts]

2:05 gtfo thanks 🙏 for that information

[@Olemate1234]

I done my apprenticeship took me 6 years here I am watching this bloke braze pipe I need a hobby aye but I wanna ask y don't you use the oxy with proper oxy tips on bigger pipes you probably used up quarter of that tank doing the 3 joints

[@deej1834]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@davidmancilla2186]

Cant wait

[@Carmelldansen4eva2]

So me being a pipe fitter and welder, when I go to cut my pipe I rarely go above like 10psi of acetylene and I just crack the bottle open. But different industries we all learn different

[@stevencain3934]

I noticed you didn't flux the pipe. Is it understood that you did, or is it not required for brazing?

[@rainmoeinc]

👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿

[@josephhortin8738]

Out of curiosity, why didn't you use an oxygen tank setup?

[@austinkackley3057]

DAAYYUUUUMMMMM. You are savage my guy

[@jessemedsker2579]

No tubbing cutter big enough lol

[@AndrewShafer]

Nice intro! Can we see Roger dancing to that song? 😆

[@RogerWakefield]

Maybe on my members only page ☠

[@AndrewShafer]

@@RogerWakefield joining now!! Love your channel Roger, keep up the great work

[@erikyoung256]

Keep teaching a trade by man! Good job! 👍

[@ImYourHucklebery117]

Im waiting for the hvac guys to come comment, it's not the same to braze a large line like those ¼" lines y'all do, and like 6 joints total

[@quickshticksstreaming6539]

I'll have you KNOW its only four joints wise guy lmaoooo

[@Shadi2]

they all switched to propress because they don't have to get a burn permit.

[@giantgrowth4204]

Damn ac guys lol

[@boby115]

@@quickshticksstreaming6539 , You don’t install a filter dryer? The only way you can get away with four is not installing a filter dryer, preinstalled ones inside the condensing unit suck.

[@quickshticksstreaming6539]

@@boby115 you know what ya got me totally forgot about that was only thinking of evap to condenser still only makes it 5 joints tho

[@GlitchEmpireBrett]

Looks like w good video

[@plumbinginspector5513]

Oxyacetylene mixture is a must for brazing.

[@feeney2349]

No it isn’t 😂