soldering copper to stainless

[blueduck]

is there any thing special about soldering a piece of copper to stainless steal. can I use the same flux , silver solder, and prep method as if it were copper to copper?
I plain on do some practice runs be for a drill a hole in my boiler. during that time id like to be sure that the method im using is correct.

[bellybuster]

hundreds of posts regarding this... stainless requires special flux, Harris Stay Clean works great.

[carbohydratesn]

More than hundreds.

https://www.google.com/search?q=site:ht ... ess+solder" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[blueduck]

thx guys. I forget about the google search and trying to use the advanced search can drive you mad.

[Danespirit]

blueduck...i understand your confusion.
Google for solder and proper flux, you will find the answer out there.
Remember..if you are goin to silversolder stainless and copper together, you have to use a special flux as well as special solder.
Normal soft solder could do it..yes...but..if you want a joint to hold and last..use the appropriate material.
Tip: Anyway you solder, cleaning your material is essential..!

[ben stiller]

+ 1 on the Harris stay clean flux. Makes life easy even when using soft solder. As stated above preparation is key.
You really need to aggressively sand or grind the surface of the stainless. Search for pyewackets tutorial on soldering copper to stainless. Has a lot of needed info.

[corene1]

You absolutely must have clean surfaces and don't use heat on the solder itself let the material melt the solder. You will need to keep more heat on the copper than the stainless as it will dissipate the heat quicker than the stainless. My favorite flux solder combination is Harris Stay clean liquid flux and Harris Stay Brite 8 silver bearing solder and a good tight fit up helps a lot also.

[blueduck]

thx for youer help guys and gals I did 7 test runs to night they all came out grate +1 to corene1 your instructions were spot on.
the only thing that sucked was the solder its definitely worth its weight in gold

[corene1]

thx for youer help guys and gals I did 7 test runs to night they all came out grate +1 to corene1 your instructions were spot on.
the only thing that sucked was the solder its definitely worth its weight in gold

It is definitely more expensive than standard lead free but the quality of bond on stainless is worth it. I use regular lead free for copper to copper and save my Stay Brite for special needs.

[blueduck]

lol I put mine stay brite in the safe in a lock box