Here is a couple good ones.....

[DUNBAR PLUMBER]

I use hyperdermic needles with the needles removed and have plumber's grease inside them. This way I can use the grease without wasting it by having too much on my fingers, use it sparingly in areas where I could not reach with my fingers before, and eliminates the dirt getting in the can type canisters of the grease. If you have athritis like I do, the squeeze tubes can be very difficult to get the grease out.



Another trick I figured out this year was the issue of solder chunks and drops on top of water heaters while reconnecting to water source.

I have used rags, or a straight edge of a tool laying around that would remove the small bits of copper.

What I found out to work best is the plastic ring on teflon tape rolls. It is flexible and if you place it on top of the water heater and slide it around, it will easily remove the solder that is embedded into the paint and leave the surface clean without scratches.


Its all part of a good, clean job and there is nothing worse than seeing someone who didn't take the time to clean a mess such as that up.



I have tried the idea of covering the top first, but I don't always make a mess with the solder all the time, depends on if I am fighting water in the piping.


Hope someone gets the opportunity to try this out, works for me!

[Wgoodrich]

Dunbar, gives us your nonfailable trick when repairing a water pipe with water in the pipe being an existing pipe. Such as a pipe that has damaged split due to freezing inside an existing wall. I really hate the repair discribed above. Always have trouble. Tried the stuffed bread trick etec. Only way I found was cut the pipe at its source where I could drain the system pipe facing down. then to do repairs in teh wall and then make the upstream final connection soldering. Now you have a challenge !!! Ha Ha

Wg

[DUNBAR PLUMBER]

Whelp here it goes. I have learned alot in my days as a plumber. When working for myself for most of them, I always ran into this problem, and figured out how to stop the most of them.


First, if working on a house with fixtures, like all of them, whether it is cold or hot, if you are trying to repair a water line with half of the valves open and half closed is like partially closing a valve and letting it drip.

It is not hard to open all valves in the home, even if it is just one joint. There is a vaccum holding the water in the lines when the valves are shut, including the toilet fill valve. Opening all the fixtures in the house, moving the single handled valves to the middle position will break the vaccum and allow the water to drain.


Thermal expansion off the water heater can also produce flow from the heater even after the gas burner is off or the elements are not on. Either crack open the T&P or open the boiler drain to the heater and draw a few gallons off of the tank to remedy the possibility to send water up the hot side line and into the area you are working on.


Humidifier water feed lines are notorious for dripping water back into water lines. I don't know if it is just the solenoid valve slightly releasing or the valve not operating properly with pressure not against the valve itself. I eliminate this possibility by shutting the valve off completely to cover basis of this causing water to flow.


Thermal expansion tanks also create a slow return of water in the system, but usually dies off once the water is fully removed from the tank.

We all know that sometimes that there are drops in piping in systems that cannot be avoided. If you have a leak that will not stop, you can create your own drop in the piping by means of shoving a nearby tool, tape measure,,,piece of pipe, piece of wood between the pipe your working on and somewhere downstream of the pipe you are working on. This gives you a small amount of time to allow the solder to suck into the joint since no water is travelling over the joint. Just remember that steam means water, and until the steam stops, the joint will not close.


If it is a vertical pipe, and you are trying to solder a connection directly above where the water is laying level inside of the pipe, you must either take a supply line (pex) small enough to get inside the pipe and either suck the water out to a lower level or try blowing the water out to where the water is going to be at least 6" below the solder connection. Reason for this is as soon as the water in the pipe reaches boiling point, the water will violently start to bubble and the combination of water and steam will keep the joint cold and not allow solder to follow proper capillary action.


Now as a plumber, and this might be considered cheating, I have a W-6 torch tip for my acetylene tank that will pratically make any solder joint take solder even if water is flowing through pipe in minimal amounts. And it does not burn the joint or turn it red or white. I use this tip mainly for silver soldering underground connections. But I keep it in my kit with my torch when I have either tried all the procedures above, or I just need to go to get to my next job.


All in all, Sometimes it only takes one of these methods and sometimes it takes all of them,,,,,,and a little time. I always get them to solder regardless.


One very important note: if you are soldering a joint between 2 spots,,,,say a kitchen sink faucet and a shutoff valve underneath in the basement, you must have that faucet open to allow the thermal expansion from the heat created in the pipe. I don't know how many times I have seen where people have done this in numerous areas in thier plumbing system and got all the joints soldered except the last one. Reason being? Pressure built up in the line with the only way to escape, which is at the last joint soldered. It will usually leave a very small pinhole leak since the solder will take, but leave a hole where the air inside pipe was rushing out. Larger pipe systems can and will displace this thermal expansion, but it is always recommended to open a valve.


I used the bread trick one time in my days, I didn't know that I had to take the crust off, I used two pieces (3/4") and after I got the valve soldered along with the joint that would not close up, the bread travelled to the top of the water heater and stopped at the dip tube. I ended up having to cut the pipe again to find the bread, and once I got most of it out, had to go around cleaning aerators after that. I was definitely a green thumb back then. (1981)

[Wgoodrich]

Loved the tips. I am guilty often times of not opening all the valves. Hate it when I do that.

Thanks

Wg