Kludge fixes are common here!

(quoted from post at 22:35:45 07/06/20) Epoxied radiators and mangled battery cables, doesn't anybody SOLDER anymore?
I've made some horrible messes trying to solder a radiator. On the other hand I've successfully JB welded and patched a couple. I'd rather see a nice solder job but that won't happen if I try to do it.
 
You're preaching to the choir man.
But just wait. The heathens are gonna weigh in and start telling us about all the great fixes they've done with JB Weld. It happens every time someone even hints at soldering.
 
Well it is kind of hard to solder some of the plastic and aluminum radiators they make now days. And to have them fixed is just frightful on cost. And they make them so easy to get off. I can see why those things get used on jobs like that. If you can fix it in an hour and have to spend half a day just to get it out then why not.
 


I have sweated hundreds of copper pipe joints, but never a radiator. My concern is just that when sweating you always clean the inside as well as the outside. How do you clean the inside of a crack on the edge of a radiator tube? Or are you just hoping??? I avoid repairs where I am only hoping for a good long term outcome. My radiator guy soldered a tube leak for me once and it is still holding but that tractor gets little use. His repair was a blob of solder.
 
I do. Over the weekend, I installed 3 LED off road lamps on my neighbor's new Jeep Wrangler. Every connection was soldered with double shrink tubing and liquid tape on the joints where 3 wires connected so moisture could not get between the wires. They lights up the night like day, and cannot be used on the highway. I solder quite often. Two weeks ago I soldered a body joint on my 49 IHC cab on my Jeep. Just like "leading in" filler used 50 years ago. Jim
 
(quoted from post at 04:32:58 07/07/20)

I have sweated hundreds of copper pipe joints, but never a radiator.. His repair was a blob of solder.
Ok, you just reminded me that I did repair the radiator in my IH Loadstar many years ago when a stone came through the grille and damaged a tube. That blob of solder has held all these years. But the tank seam repair I tried on the 52 Merc radiator looked so ugly that I didn't even put it back on the car.
And I'll sing the praises of JB weld every time it is mentioned. Two IH truck gas tanks have been holding gas with a JB weld patch for over 20 years now. The frame of my glasses I wear every day is held together with JB weld for well over a year. Its simple and it works so why wouldn't I use it.
 
Soldering isn’t for everybody especially on radiators but I do like to solder battery cable ends on the local fiat cnh dealer used to make battery cables and crimp the ends in with the hydraulic hose machine . Jb welded a lot of radiators and had good luck
 
I soldered a radiator once, and it held, but I eventually replaced the radiator as it had been soldered before in another place and was rather sad. With the new radiator it runs a lot cooler.
 
I still solder battery cables, and actually silver soldered a fuel return banjo fitting for a buddies Allis Chalmers a few weeks back.
 
(quoted from post at 06:50:51 07/07/20)
(quoted from post at 04:32:58 07/07/20)

I have sweated hundreds of copper pipe joints, but never a radiator.. His repair was a blob of solder.
Ok, you just reminded me that I did repair the radiator in my IH Loadstar many years ago when a stone came through the grille and damaged a tube. That blob of solder has held all these years. But the tank seam repair I tried on the 52 Merc radiator looked so ugly that I didn't even put it back on the car.
And I'll sing the praises of JB weld every time it is mentioned. Two IH truck gas tanks have been holding gas with a JB weld patch for over 20 years now. The frame of my glasses I wear every day is held together with JB weld for well over a year. Its simple and it works so why wouldn't I use it.

rusty, it is not that you aren't supposed to use JB Weld. You are just not supposed to admit it here, LOL.
 
(quoted from post at 22:35:45 07/06/20) Epoxied radiators and mangled battery cables, doesn't anybody SOLDER anymore?

I'm glad you have infinite time, infinite skill, and infinite dollars to fix everything "correctly." The rest of us make do with what we have to get the job done.

You've obviously never had good dry hay on the ground with a storm approaching, and had a breakdown. Good on you. You're lucky. You should probably be buying lottery tickets.
 
(quoted from post at 09:55:27 07/07/20)
(quoted from post at 22:35:45 07/06/20) Epoxied radiators and mangled battery cables, doesn't anybody SOLDER anymore?

I'm glad you have infinite time, infinite skill, and infinite dollars to fix everything "correctly." The rest of us make do with what we have to get the job done.

You've obviously never had good dry hay on the ground with a storm approaching, and had a breakdown. Good on you. You're lucky. You should probably be buying lottery tickets.

Rest assured I've seen this from both sides, I farmed for many years in an unforgiving climate and I've done more repairs for others than you can probably imagine, and undone some pretty crappy "fixes".

I am quite impressed by some of the replies to this thread, glad to hear soldering isn't a completely lost art.

And, taking the time to do at least a half-decent repair before putting the machine back to work often DOES save time and money in the long run, hay down, or not.
 
JB Weld great stuff just bought some today to repair a fuel tank cap on a Yanmar. Let some of the solder guys see what they can do with that plastic.I fixed a leaking radiator tank on my Oliver 1550 with JB Weld that had been soldered twice and still leaked.
 
The new lead free solder (thank you California) works ok on new radiators and cables... but as for repairing older radiators it sucks, It doesn't mix with the older lead base solders..
 
(quoted from post at 12:55:27 07/07/20)
(quoted from post at 22:35:45 07/06/20) Epoxied radiators and mangled battery cables, doesn't anybody SOLDER anymore?

I'm glad you have infinite time, infinite skill, and infinite dollars to fix everything "correctly." The rest of us make do with what we have to get the job done.

You've obviously never had good dry hay on the ground with a storm approaching, and had a breakdown. Good on you. You're lucky. You should probably be buying lottery tickets.

There are emergency patches to get the hay off the field . Then there are proper reliable long term repair jobs .
Too often the emergency patch job is considered to to be a proper reliable long term repair jobs .
 
(quoted from post at 02:51:00 07/08/20) I was taught that "if a job is worth doing it is worth doing right", now you decide
what is "right"


Boler, different people live by different mantras. For my neighbors it was "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow."
 

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