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My first solder ... with petroleum-based, oops.
Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:08 pm
by realestwhiteboy
I've searched the forum (unfortunately after) and see I've made a mistake others have ... using Oatey No. 95 lead-free tinning flux. I saw lead-free and grabbed it.
My question is, what confirms that it is "clean"? Do I need to just keep going until I can't see it anymore?
I've done a vinegar run and 2 sac runs, but I can still see some flux when I look down in this fitting. I have let it soak in boiling vinegar/water mixture, forced scotch brite scrubbies in and scrubbed the best I could (3/4" copper), etc.
From what I've gathered, some have used lacquer thinner with success to clean. I haven't done that yet, hoping to get by without forcing another cleaning cycle. But if that's the only way, then I will.
Re: My first solder ... with petroleum-based, oops.
Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:53 pm
by Wyododge
How water (or distillate) isn’t hot enough to melt the residual flux if it’s still in there. That’s actually why you don’t use petroleum based flux. But it won’t hurt you in that concentration. It’s just a good practice to use the appropriate components and never take short cuts.
Clamp the pipe so it the opening of the fitting will drain. Heat it with a torch enough that the solder will liquify, but not so much that the solder in the adjacent joint will soften. It won’t take much heat to melt the flux. Watch it liquify and wipe it out. For that little bit of residue I see no need to do an additional cleaning run. The fores’s should take any little bit left away with them. You may see a distortion in future patina where that bit of flux was.
And, yes. Clean copper down to a shine and there is nothing left to worry about.
On edit - for anyone reading, safety protocols and practices, especially in light medium and heavy commercial and industrial processes (which we practice once we light a flame or plug in a heating element) are generally developed through the blood of our predecessors. This is why so many are so meticulous and demanding with them. Others, sometimes many, have paid quite heavy prices for our knowledge and the master distillers and admins on this site have a great deal of respect for that. So heed their warning and expect and respect their wrath for if you do not.
Re: My first solder ... with petroleum-based, oops.
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 6:42 am
by realestwhiteboy
Wyododge wrote: ↑Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:53 pm
How water (or distillate) isn’t hot enough to melt the residual flux if it’s still in there. That’s actually why you don’t use petroleum based flux. But it won’t hurt you in that concentration. It’s just a good practice to use the appropriate components and never take short cuts.
Clamp the pipe so it the opening of the fitting will drain. Heat it with a torch enough that the solder will liquify, but not so much that the solder in the adjacent joint will soften. It won’t take much heat to melt the flux. Watch it liquify and wipe it out. For that little bit of residue I see no need to do an additional cleaning run. The fores’s should take any little bit left away with them. You may see a distortion in future patina where that bit of flux was.
And, yes. Clean copper down to a shine and there is nothing left to worry about.
On edit - for anyone reading, safety protocols and practices, especially in light medium and heavy commercial and industrial processes (which we practice once we light a flame or plug in a heating element) are generally developed through the blood of our predecessors. This is why so many are so meticulous and demanding with them. Others, sometimes many, have paid quite heavy prices for our knowledge and the master distillers and admins on this site have a great deal of respect for that. So heed their warning and expect and respect their wrath for if you do not.
Thanks, I'll give that a shot. It's a small still, 3 soldered joints (both sides of that 90-degree fitting and 1 side of a 3/4" to 1/2" reducer). I'm assuming all 3 are in about the same shape, so I'll hit them with some heat and see what I can wipe out.
Re: My first solder ... with petroleum-based, oops.
Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:17 am
by Wyododge
If you can’t reach the fittings, you can make up a rope barrel cleaner. Tie a few knots in a piece of sash chord a bit smaller than the ID of your pipe with a tail about 1.5 times the length of your pipe. Thread it in and put a shop vac on the other side to suck it through. Warm the pipe and pull the knots back and forth through the fittings.