Copper water pipe soldering

Slowpoke

Well-known Member
Home Depot used to carry the Antex electric pipe heater tool, but has dropped it from inventory. Would a plumber use it instead of a torch? Does it have any problems? Maybe slower than a torch, but safer under the house?
 
I'm going to be watching this for comments. I saw one somewhere recently, cannot recall where, could have been a HD clearance rack (I've been in several HD stores many miles apart in the past month.) or it could have been Habitat ReStore, or the flea, cannot recall where. Almost bought it, will now be kicking my self if everyone says it works OK.

Charles
 
I seem to remember HD selling them for about $150 with the 1/2" jaws. The optional 3/4" jaws were $25. The jaws are on clearance for under $7, so I bought the 3/4" just in case. I need to replace my water heater so I might as well get rid of the galvanized and go with copper. But then there's the question of corrosion with copper. A friend replaced part of his ganvanized with PEX. Said it was easy. But is it code yet? And what about Sharkbit fittings for the copper? Are those code? Questions & more questions.
 
Looks like it clamps on the pipe and NOT on the fitting. If that is true, I wouldn't waste your money.
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I use the turbo torch with the MC tank that I use for refrigeration work, just don't use silver solder for water lines. I would have my reservations that the clamp that you show below would get hot enough to bond the solder and copper.
 
I still have my skeptical doubts. Perhaps it comes from a system that I am satisfied with, maybe it's my poor eye sight, but I ain't seeing it.
 
PEX is the only way to go. I replaced a water softener the other day and used the PEX push on fittings. Kinda pricey but guarenteed not to leak. Measure twice. Cut once. Very simple to use. Sharkbite fittings are in code.
 
I also have a hard time plumbing a house with PEX.
I used all copper line, soldered, the real way to do it.
I cannot (would not) put plastic line in a wall where it could be punctured by a finishing nail. (a fricken mess) I would use hard PVC before I used flexy plastic poly ethlene or poly urethate tube.
I am not claiming to be an expert, just trying to think with common sense.
Also the push to connect fittings are nice........Only if they are in view, never behind a wall. I did use compression brass fittings for all my sinks and toilets when I built a home many years ago.
 
I think anyone that has lived with quest plumbing is going to be apprehensive about another garden hose plumbing. I for one don't live where the water is acidic so I'm going to stay with copper.
 
I am no expert either but we used Zurn pex and crimp ring fittings to plumb up our OWB 6 years ago and have had zero problems so when the plumber reccmended pex to replumb a rental this past spring we said go ahead, time will tell. People say CPVC is junk too but when I was close to broke and had to replumb my home I had to use it,, that was 30 years ago and it is still in service, never a leak, never a problem.
 
(quoted from post at 03:16:39 11/29/12) I cannot (would not) put plastic line in a wall where it could be punctured by a finishing nail.

You don't think that a nail can pierce copper? Copper is pretty soft and hit just right a nail will easily go through it. I've personally seen it happen.
 
I too would go to Pex.
Cheaper and much easier.
It keeps the thieves at bay too.
So many forclosed, empty homes have had their entire plumbing systems stolen by scrappers.
Pex systems are left alone.
When I put the addition on my house 5 years ago I replumbed the entire house - two bathrooms, laundry and the kitchen. Did it all in copper. Were I to do it today I would use pex.
As for putting a nail into it through the sheetrock, you can puncture a copper line just as easily as plastic so that notion does not convince me.
 
PEX is very expensive. I tried to take one fitting apart after a few years, O-ring was damaged. Another fitting went from pex to copper, couldn't stop it from leaking. I use cpvc instead.

Can't come up with a good reason to use pex. It's like quest, a joke.
 

When you have acidic water, and I can think of three municipal supplies in the area off the top of my head, copper makes no sense. I knew of a good sized fifteen year old nursing home that had a guy pretty much full time pulling out sections of copper and replacing them. He could not go systematically through it because he kept getting called to emergency leaks.
 

Another option to consider: They do make copper fittings which are prefilled with solder. All you do is clean the pipe, apply flux and heat. It may be a little easier to use these fittings under the house or in tight spaces. The Menards store stocks them in my location or at least did a year or so back. I have not used them myself so I can not comment on how they are to use.
 
If your going to use copper I would recomend getting a TS4000 torch. Its a trigger start torch that lights every time. Use propane or MAPP gas, mapp is better for fittings 3/4 inch and up. It gets the joint up to temperature before you burn all the flux out of the joint. No electric cord to wrap yourself in and fire is out when you don't need it.

PEX is some good stuff but expensive for a small job. One thing to consider with PEX is you can have far less joints than copper. Copper seems there is always one joint in a hard to reach location that leaks.
 
My wife's sister had all her plumbing replaced using pex. She lives in Florida and had polyurothane pipe that was installed when the house was built in the late 1980's or or early 90's. She had to get 3 estimates from plumbers
and her homeowners association paid $7000.00 for the new plumbing. I used pex and sharkbite fittings on my water filter in the basement where they're easy to get to. They used crimped fittings with the pex at my SIL in FL. Hal
 
Built my house almost 15 years ago with an addition 10 years ago using PEX, CPVC, Gatorbites and Sharkbite fittings. Zero defects, zero leaks and very easy and simple to tap into existing lines for modifications. Gatorbites style fittings are easy to disconnect with the disconnect tool. Have built dozens of structures since using the same materials, no problems or complaints! Just my 2 cents.
 
I have used a similar iron made by Ridgid. It was designed to use in places that had too many combustibles too close. I used it in very tight places that fumes from torch would be bad or of a fire did get going I couldn't get out fast enough to get it stopped. Also in places that you could not risk scorching a finished surface.

It worked perfect. Pipe had to be dry with no running dripping water. Not as forgiving in this respect as compared to a torch. A torch will boil a pipe dry faster.
 
Here I had the water line that came to the house that was too thin to heat.
Also I had a pipe that was in an impossible place to heat with an iron or torch.

In both cases I used a (loctite?) epoxy product that they use for new installations on copper. Thing is once it sets heating does not loosen it so its a one time deal.

Did it as a temporary measure to get water back into the house five years ago.. still holding.
 
I have had Pex in my house now for over 15 years without the first leak. Easy to work with and less time to install. Only drawback I have found is getting into tight spaces with the crimp tool, but not a big problem. I do prefer to use a copper stub-out for toilet and sink connections to valves. I have seen where people just turn the Pex out of the wall and crimp on a valve, looks cheap and the valve is not stationary.
 

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