Thread: brazing/silver solder help

yellow tip 2% silver (SBA102) no offence to any plumbers but this is the crap that most of them seem to use
Silver tip 5% (SBA105) not much better than SBA102
brown tip 15% silver (SBA115) what us fridgies use
Blue (dark) 30% silver (SBA230)??...never used this stuff
Blue (light) tip 45% silver (SBA245)

For brazing brass to copper, blue tip is recommended but I find I get away with brown tip on brass to copper fittings and it holds on with the new higher pressure refrigerants. The older refrigerants went up to 450psi while the newer go up to 800psi

Blue tip will do steel to brass etc etc..need to use flux

brown flows easy ......copper to copper, clean you dont need flux...but for brass you need flux. brown tip does not work on steel

Yellow is awful stuff!!! doesnt flow well and it gets eaten by clay soils ...must eat the zinc or what ever out out of it eventually making the joint pourous...

Blue 45% is easy to use but dont get it too hot...you can boil/ burn it real quick making the joint pourous ...flux required

I can use mapp gas on still days ( no wind) for copper pipe up to 28mm...but its still a struggle to get enough heat into it on cold days..... works a treat on stuff up to an inch (25mm) [one minute its metric the next its imperial]

this may help............SILVER SOLDERING

Thanks for the info. I will research some prices. Cost is an issue of course. My plumbing is a gravity fed system so pressure is not a problem. Will try to remember about clay but I use plastic pipe in the ground and only use copper in the walls. Also my soil is sand. Not sandy, sand. Clay is about 75cm down. I would like a solder that flowed better tho.

The last lot of copper plumbing done at work by a plumbing contractor had crimp connections only. No solder at all as far as I could see. Must be an o-ring inside the joint and end was crimped into a hex shape to hold. This was on 2 inch and inch pipe. I love learning things like this. Keeps my brain active to learn. Also gives me better understanding.

Would BOC be a suitable place for purchase. I am limited with local resources. Blackwoods as well but I think they are very expensive. Will have a look online as well.

Dean
Dean

boc will have it as would the refrigeration wholesalers ..Actrol, Heatcraft and airefrige and others in nsw and vic ....plumbing stores such as Reece will also have it

if its for copper definitely use brown tip..best stuff..

Thanks Eskimo, good advice SBA-245 (Just realized that SBA stands for Silver Brazing Alloy... doh!)

Regards
Ray

Thanks Eskimo.
Glad you cleared it up.
I happened to get a bunch of siver solder off-cuts form the Bendigo Ordinance factory. They cut it to length to fit around a particular joint that was subsequently oven soldered and the off-cuts were about 5" long - too short to be bothered with apparently.... It's only about 1mm in diameter.
I've almost used them all up so haven't bought any for about 15 years....
I'ts brilliant for silver soldering carbide tips onto steel tools.

Incidentally, plumbers' 1 or 2% silver solder will solder steel parts together with the right flux. It just isn't very strong, though significantly stronger than soft solder. It donesn;t flow all that easily. You have to kind of push it into the gaps and seems to require more heat.

Joe

Originally Posted by eskimo

boc will have it as would the refrigeration wholesalers ..Actrol, Heatcraft and airefrige and others in nsw and vic ....plumbing stores such as Reece will also have it

if its for copper definitely use brown tip..best stuff..

Ok. I have a Reese only 55 km away. Will ask. They are good people to deal with. Boc is 90 km in oppisite direction and harder to access. No refrig wholesalers in this neck of woods.

I remembered today I have used silver solder that is silver in colour and about 1mm in diam. Many years ago I did a little bit of production work on the original Dillion Oxy Torch as part of my work at an engineering factory in Adelaide. Only a couple of days, but we used rings of silver solder as supplied, to solder copper tube to brass valve assembly and gas connection components etc.I often wonder what happened with the Dillion torch. Maybe it was carp or maybe he was pushed out by the big guys. It was the Mr Dillion who was a friend of the boss of the firm I worked for. Somehow I ended up with a vicegrip with Dillion engraved on it. Oops. Anyone remember the torch?.

Dean

Hi Dean,
Its Dillon, appears to still be about Welding Equipment & Supplies Australia DHC 2000 Welder Amweld
I've heard the name and seen the adds over the years but have never used one. I have a 15ish year old memory that they were pretty pricey.

Stuart

Still pretty pricey but now made in USA or at least the patent is. Mate bought the kit 212-18 months ago and cost about $700-$800. To rich for my blood.

the Bernzomatic and the other set listed look to be the way for me to go so just need to find a retailer near here to get it. Just need to decide on which 1.
Nice that there are so man helpful people on this forum
Pete

Hi all got one
cig lot easier to use .
it ant no tig Torch .
$800.
Tony

Thats the one. How about that! I thought they went the same way most better mouse traps go. Bogged down, bought out and hidden in the name of corporate profits or something. Don't know why they are so expensive tho?

Dean