My first soldering job (tub/shower plumbing)

Hey guys, figured I would post some pics of the plumbing I did for my bathroom reno. I did learn soldering in school but this is my first real world work. Twelve fittings, the only leak I had was on an existing T which for whatever reason heating it to make a connection at the top caused the bottom connection to leak. There are several boogers due to the tight space I was working in but I am happy for my first time.

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Good job man! Thanks for sharing. Hope to see more pics from your reno

Good job man I haven’t mastered that yet either but ur looks good!!

looks great man! are you doing all the work on your bathroom yourself?

Nice job with practice you will be a pro. Just a tip you should heat up your fitting a little than use a rag to wipe excess flux off solder than wipe again to smooth out your solder. Did you un sweat the pipe from the tee? 

Justin Hernandez wrote:

Nice job with practice you will be a pro. Just a tip you should heat up your fitting a little than use a rag to wipe excess flux off solder than wipe again to smooth out your solder. Did you un sweat the pipe from the tee?

Thanks for the tip I will definitely try that on the next one. I did unswet the pipe on the top of the T but it is the connection at the bottom of the T that is leaking. Any tips for fixing a leaking joint without disassembling it. I get the feeling it’s going to be tricky to get an old solder joint to accept more solder

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PeteW wrote:

looks great man! are you doing all the work on your bathroom yourself?

Yeah man, learning as I go lol there are a lot of firsts. Unfortunately if I’m working for myself I tend to work slow but It’s getting there.

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bradboulanger wrote:

Yeah man, learning as I go lol there are a lot of firsts. Unfortunately if I’m working for myself I tend to work slow but It’s getting there.

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I’m not as fast as a contractor but I like to do all of my own reno work mainly because I just get a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself.

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kruton wrote:

I’m not as fast as a contractor but I like to do all of my own reno work mainly because I just get a lot of satisfaction from doing it myself.

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I do enjoy learning new things and being new in the hvac field any work like this certainly helps me learn. But truthfully I’m just to much of a cheapo to pay someone to do the work for me haha

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bradboulanger wrote:

Thanks for the tip I will definitely try that on the next one. I did unswet the pipe on the top of the T but it is the connection at the bottom of the T that is leaking. Any tips for fixing a leaking joint without disassembling it. I get the feeling it’s going to be tricky to get an old solder joint to accept more solder

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Its never really a good idea to reuse a fitting its best to un sweat the whole fitting and use a new one but sometimes you have no choice. I would have cut the tee with a sawzall in the middle and un sweat all three pieces then use a rag to wipe the old solder off the pipe. In your case you need to get all that paint off the tee and clean it to make it look like a new penny. Then you need to get all the water out the pipe you could use a shop vacuum. Then you need to heat it up add flux and try to add solder remember solder only sticks where there is flux. The only problem I see if the old solder is lead solder and your going back with lead free solder it might leak in a few years or it may never leak. What type of torch are you using??  

bradboulanger wrote:

I do enjoy learning new things and being new in the hvac field any work like this certainly helps me learn. But truthfully I’m just to much of a cheapo to pay someone to do the work for me haha

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You cheapo..lol What type of Hvac work do you do installs or service tech, I do some installs and service but service is where its at

Justin Hernandez wrote:

You cheapo..lol What type of Hvac work do you do installs or service tech, I do some installs and service but service is where its at

I’m using map gas. House was built in the 60’s not sure what the solder standard was then? I work for a college so it’s mainly service. I haven’t had a job in the “real world” yet lol so sometimes I feel like I’m missing out.

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bradboulanger wrote:

I’m using map gas. House was built in the 60’s not sure what the solder standard was then? I work for a college so it’s mainly service. I haven’t had a job in the “real world” yet lol so sometimes I feel like I’m missing out.

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Cool, most likely its lead solder you got to heat it up quick and try to resolder it but you have to work fast or else you will disturb the other joints. Let me know if you fix it 

All fixed. .. it put up a bit of a fight but eventually sucked enough solder in

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Nice job and thanks for sharing.  That is always my favorite part of plumbing, the soldering.

bradboulanger wrote:

All fixed. .. it put up a bit of a fight but eventually sucked enough solder in

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Sweet!